Snorkeling in Aruba?

[JamesD]

How is the snorkeling in Aruba? I'm thinking of going there on Honeymoon, and while I might do a dive or two, which I'm sure are fantastic, my finance only snorkels.

 

[shellim123]

I just came back from Aruba on the 9th. I did not snorkel. But I did a dive. The dive was great! We went out on a boat with snorkelers though and they said it was fun. Most of them were new to snorkeling. But said it was hard to see very deep. They did see a lot of fish

 

[JamesD]

So most of the dives are deeper? I know that the good snorkeling is always in the shallows (from my snorkeling at least) so just curious.

How did you like Aruba overall? Anything to do besides dive (I would goto Bonaire, but there is nothing to do there besides dive as far as I could tell last time I went)

 

[shellim123]

I am not certified yet! But going for my pool dives on Monday. I did just the intro. It was about 25'. around a wreck. I had a blast. Did not get to see much of Aruba. Just the shopping and Carlos and Charlies! Very windy. They say it is all the time

 

[blawler1]

There are a couple of decent sites north of Palm Beach reachable by bus or taxi. Boca Catalina is one of the better ones with plenty of patch coral in 5' to 15' (this is where most of the snorkel boats from Palm Beach go, so it can get crowded and you have to keep a watch for boats. This site is accessible from shore. The Antilla wreck is visited by both divers and snorkelers and is located near Boca Catalina, but is only accessible by boat.

If you get a rental car, the sites down towards San Nicholaas are much better with full reef developments in 10' and deeper water. Puerto Chiquito and Malmok are good snorkel and shore dives. Puerto Chiquito is the better dive site and a shorter surface swim. Malmok is probably a better snorkel site as it has much more to see in shallow water, but it is a long surface swim (over 100 yards) As the water is only 2 to 3 feet deep, a walking in the waist deep water is the best way to go (put your fins on when you get to the deep part)

 

[jbilicska]

There are a couple of decent sites north of Palm Beach reachable by bus or taxi. Boca Catalina is one of the better ones with plenty of patch coral in 5' to 15' (this is where most of the snorkel boats from Palm Beach go, so it can get crowded and you have to keep a watch for boats. This site is accessible from shore. The Antilla wreck is visited by both divers and snorkelers and is located near Boca Catalina, but is only accessible by boat.

If you get a rental car, the sites down towards San Nicholaas are much better with full reef developments in 10' and deeper water. Puerto Chiquito and Malmok are good snorkel and shore dives. Puerto Chiquito is the better dive site and a shorter surface swim. Malmok is probably a better snorkel site as it has much more to see in shallow water, but it is a long surface swim (over 100 yards) As the water is only 2 to 3 feet deep, a walking in the waist deep water is the best way to go (put your fins on when you get to the deep part)

Pretty good snorkeling right there as blawer1 says. You can go out to the Antilla as a snorkeler on a dive boat if you have a partner. The snorkel trips aren't that good. To little time in the water and like mentioned above you can drive to all the sites.
Enjoy
Joe B

 

[htn123]

http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/Aruba/index.htm

This link give lots of info about diving. I like Boca and Catalina cove. That's people pay the Jolly Pirate to take them there to snorkel. You can get there on car and pay nothing .
Also, if you have a car, check out Baby beach. Awesome for snorkel. Make sure to bring a loaf of bread or something. Tons of fishes there, they will the bread right out of your hand.
Enjoy.

 

[JamesD]

Thanks all for the links and information, really useful to know.

 

[highlandfarmwv]

I think the poster a couple back meant Mangel Halto instead of Malmok. Malmok is north of the hotels. Mangel Halto is truly great snorkeling. Malmok average.

 

[rhyz]

Came back from Aruba on the 7th, the trade winds had been stronger than normal there during the time there. Diving was good with alot of snorklers on the sights we had gone to. Vis wasnt that great, according to the residents it wasn't normal. I wouldn't take a charter unless you want to view some of the deeper spots. But would rather drive and hit the spots mentioned before. less time constraints and just as much if not more to see.

There is alot to do topside, from shopping to bar hopping to hitting the flats. Just depends on what you like to do. You wont get bored thats for sure.