Aruba Snorkeling Adventures

When I went on my honeymoon to Aruba one of the things I was looking forward to most was snorkeling. I had never snorkeled in my life and I couldn't wait. It just looked like so much fun and I had heard that Aruba snorkeling was some of the best there was anywhere in the world.

We booked ourselves on one of the Depalm Island packages that included both snorkeling and the Sea Trek adventure (which I highly recommend). After a short ferry ride to our destination our group split in two. Half went to Sea Trek and half to the snorkeling spot. My wife and I were in the group that went snorkeling first.

I couldn't wait to get into the water and see what all this Aruba snorkeling talk was all about. But as they handed out the snorkeling gear I made a big mistake by passing up the optional life vest. I thought to myself, "I know how to swim and the water's not deep anyway." Oh boy was that a mistake.

You see even though I'm a good swimmer, I didn't realize that snorkeling wasn't quite as easy as it seemed. It took a bit of practice to do it right. And as it turns out we had chosen a poor day for our first Aruba snorkeling adventure as a storm a few miles offshore made the water unusually wavy. I ended up getting knocked around a bit more than I was comfortable with and even scraped my back up on a piece of coral.

I was pretty disappointed in my first taste of Aruba snorkeling but I was determined to give it another try. So the next day we took a ride to Baby Beach where the water is as calm as a bathtub. We spent some time snorkeling there on our own and I was able to master it pretty well while enjoying the underwater scenery.

A couple days later we took a big trip with a group called the Jolly Pirates that took us to 3 different snorkeling sites. The water was much calmer than it had been on my first Aruba snorkeling adventure and I had a lot more fun this time. At one site called Malmok there were starfish as big as a car tire's hubcap. At another we got to see the WWII era shipwreck called the Antilla. The Antilla was a 400 foot long German freighter that was sunk in the 1940s and today sits in 60 foot deep water. If you're afraid of heights this can be a little unnerving as you look at the sea floor 60 feet below you.

I highly recommend the Jolly Pirates and aruba snorkeling in general. I know I can't wait to be back.

Check out my Aruba vacation web site where you can learn more about different things to do in Aruba.