Three Places Worth Snorkeling in Aruba
There are a ton of places to snorkel in Aruba! Anywhere you can go in the water safely with some goggles is going to be cool. But if you wanted to narrow it down to just three good places to go, this is where I’d say to make sure you bring your snorkel (and your GoPro if you have one!).
Baby Beach
Baby Beach is the ideal white sandy beach with the perfect water to wade out into without dealing with waves or deep, dark water. It’s also nice that it has a restaurant and food truck right there on the beach!
Snorkeling here is a lot of fun and easy for newbies or nervous swimmers to experience. Head out into the water and go left under the rope to see a lot of fish! Don’t worry if they get close to you -- a lot of people feed the fish here so they’re extra friendly to the snorkelers.
If you want to feed the fish, stop at a store on the way to the beach and grab some frozen peas and carrots. They float and the fish love them! It makes for some great GoPro footage too!
Boca Catalina Beach
Catalina Beach is long so you can pull off pretty much anywhere and be on the beach. We heard that there were turtles here because they liked to eat the grass on the ocean floor.
I had snorkeled with turtles the year before in Curacao and one thing I knew was that you have to get there early in the morning before the swimmers and boats push them into deeper water. Try to get in the water around 7:30 am. It will be chilly but you will be so distracted by everything around you, you won’t even notice the temperature!
Make sure you have a good snorkel so you don’t have to tread much water. It’s a far way out so if you’re a nervous swimmer or not a strong swimmer, I would advise skipping this venture or wearing a life jacket.
To get there take the LG Smith Boulevard, go past the Tres Trapi Steps area with the larger parking lot, and pull into the smaller parking lot up the road. The beach there is hard, like solid sand. You will see an entrance to the ocean so you can walk in easily. Off to the right is a rope with buoys attached to it. At the back left corner of those buoys were the turtles!
We saw some turtles on the way out but for some reason, the turtles were at that corner every morning. You will see a lot of fish on the way out as well.
On your way back, go under the rope and head back towards the big white building. It’s a little further down from the beach area. There is a lot of coral and fun fish to see all the way to shore.
I snorkeled here 3-4 times and each time was super exciting. When we were further out by the turtles, we just followed the grass and saw a huge spotted eagle ray and a barracuda! It was amazing!
Just watch the rocks and coral as you come to shore so that you don’t bump into them.
Natural Pool
Please make seeing the Natural Pool a priority when planning a trip to Aruba. It’s a little unorthodox in how you have to get to it but it’s an incredible journey and so worth it! You have to rent a jeep or take an excursion to get there.
Only 4x4 vehicles are able to drive on the bumpy, off-road path that leads to the pool. The drive is incredible because it’s like you’re on another planet and you’re high up overlooking the ocean and the entire island. There’s a parking lot at the pool and steps that lead down to it. It’s not a far walk at all. Everything I had read online made it sound like it was a long trek in the sun but it was just one staircase away!
The pool changes based on the tide so either way, be very careful. The rocks are slippery and the tide may blast over the rocks and into the pool. When in the pool, use your snorkel and goggles and explore! The fish are really cool and it’s fun because it’s not too big so you can head to the side and relax if you need to. I recommend getting there early — around 9-10 am— because more people show up as the day goes on.
Since there are so many great places to snorkel, here’s a bonus!
A couple of friends and I decided to rent Seabobs on the last day there. It’s this device that you hold onto and it pretty much pulls you through the water. It’s a guided tour which is cool because then you can see and do more things. We did the tour mainly because we were interested in seeing the Antilla shipwreck.
It took a while to zoom out to the shipwreck but the journey was so fun! Since you’re not expending any energy, you can hold your breath for longer and cruise underwater for a long time.
The shipwreck was so eerie and cool at the same time. It was massive — way bigger than I thought it would be and it looked like it had turned into a fish hotel. There were fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors swimming around and through the ship!
The only downside was that there were some jellyfish that stung us a few times. You can’t see them so it was always a surprise when one got you.
Otherwise, it was still amazing to dive underwater, fly through the ocean and visit the Antilla shipwreck. We were in the water for approximately an hour and a half and we ddin’t want to get out when it was over. If we had more time in Aruba, we would’ve gone back and done it again!
Renting a Seabob was a great way to experience the ocean without having to swim or worry about a snorkel. You only need goggles. It’s perfect for people who are nervous in the ocean or have no worries at all!
Baby Beach, Boca Catalina, and the Natural Pool were my favorite places to snorkel in Aruba. If you’re looking for an easy and fun excursion in the ocean, I recommend renting Seabobs.
Feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions! I can’t post videos here so if you want to see videos, visit my Instagram and they are in the “Aruba Round 2” highlight.