Shore Snorkeling in Aruba: Can You Do It Without a Boat?

Shore snorkeling in Aruba works, and it works better than on most Caribbean islands. Six reefs are reachable from the sand or the rocks, and every one of them is free.

You do not need a boat. In fact, three of the six best sites have no boat access at all.

What shore snorkeling in Aruba gets you

Reef starts close to the beach here. At Boca Catalina you are over coral within a minute of wading in, and green and hawksbill turtles graze the seagrass most mornings.

At Mangel Halto the coral is the healthiest on the island. You swim about fifty metres from the sandy entry to reach it.

At Malmok Beach you get spotted eagle rays, and visibility that runs to thirty metres in the dry season.

Where a boat still wins

One thing, mainly: the Antilla. She is a 122-metre German cargo ship scuttled in 1940, sitting in 18 to 27 metres of water off Malmok, and she is the largest accessible wreck in the Caribbean.

From the shore you see almost none of her. Therefore, if the wreck is the reason you came, book a boat — the snorkeling tours go there.

Otherwise a boat mostly buys you convenience. The gear comes with it, and somebody else decides where to stop.

What you need from the shore

Water shoes come first. Aruba is limestone, and three of the six entries are over rock that will open a foot.

Bring your own mask if you have one, because the fit matters more than the price. Also bring water, since half these sites have no facilities at all.

A surface marker buoy is worth it at Malmok. Tour boats work that water all day, and a swimmer face-down is nearly invisible from a helm.

Which one to start with

If you are nervous or you have children, start at Baby Beach. It is an enclosed lagoon with no current where you can stand up almost anywhere.

If you are confident, go to Tres Trapi early for the nurse sharks. Check the surge from the steps first, though, and leave if the water is pushing sideways.