AHC10_Make Waves

Activities

Activities

Make Waves

by Susan Campbell All around Aruba, King Neptune beckons you to come and experience his captivating kingdom.

Whether you seek extreme adventures or you can’t even swim a stroke, there’s marine magic waiting for all. So, get off that beach chair and let’s make some waves!

Enjoy beachfront forays

Most resorts offer sensational swimming right off the beach in warm, calm, clear, protected waters. Rent a sun-searcher paddleboat to journey out a little, or get expert instruction to captain your own Waverunner, Hobie Cat, Sunfish, or ocean kayak. If you have a need for speed, try peeling out on a thrilling banana-boat ride or waterskiing, kneeboarding, tubing, or wakeboarding behind a wave-skimming speedboat. You can also experience the ultimate thrill of high-flying parasailing right off the beach giving you a bird’s eye view of what’s under the waves right beneath your toes! 왘 38 Nights

Photo by Jim Kruger

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Activities French angelfish

Immerse in underwater wonderland

There’s a myriad of ways to discover Aruba’s astounding undersea enchantment, and neophytes can begin without even getting wet! Start with a glass-bottom boat tour, a semi-submarine tour, or even a real submarine journey that takes you 120 feet down in air-conditioned comfort to view the amazing array of marine life that thrives below. Then there’s Sea Trek, a unique underwater walking adventure where you are surrounded by tropical fish yet don’t even get your hair wet!

What better initiation to the wonders of snorkeling or even scuba diving?

Sample superb snorkeling

Head out for sensational snorkeling right offshore at spots like Arashi Beach, Boca Catalina, Malmok, Baby Beach, and further out at Mangel Halto Beach. Frolic freely and safely among the throngs of angelfish, parrotfish, yellowtail snapper, and their friends amid surreal neon hues of healthy, living coral. If you haven’t snorkeled before, most resorts and dive operators offer lessons and equipment rentals. But if you’re seeking something that allows you to snorkel deeper and longer, try SNUBA – a cool combination of snorkeling and scuba. Air is supplied through a hose connected to oxygen tanks that float on rafts above. SNUBA allows you to follow those smiling parrotfish up SNUBA

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to 20 feet below without scuba instruction and without the weight of a heavy tank – it’s like underwater freedom!

Children as young as six can try Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youth, a.k.a.

SASY, which incorporates an innovative vest apparatus with continuous air supply.

SASY allows children to breathe easily while floating with their face in the water.

Children eight to 11 can also try Bubblemaker, a pool dive program designed to introduce underwater breathing to young sea explorers in preparation for SNUBA and, eventually, diving. After all, why should adults have all the underwater fun when you can make it a family affair?

Experience Aruba scuba

It’s ultimately fitting that Aruba rhymes with scuba since the two go together like two peas in a pod for divers of all experience levels. Serene, warm waters off the island’s leeward side afford

wonderful visibility from 60 to 100 feet below, with minimal current. There are dozens of boat and shore diving sites including cool drift dive opportunities in spots where barracuda, frogfish, sea turtles, stingrays, moray eels, and even dolphins can be seen. Night diving here is also an epic adventure since many colorful ocean creatures only come out after dark! Aruba is also a wreck-diving Mecca with dozens of sunken treasures to explore like underwater airplanes, ghost ships, and the Antilla, a sunken German freighter. The largest wreck in the entire Caribbean, it lies completely intact in only 60 feet of water; divers can explore the whole wreck, inside and out. Resorts and dive operators offer courses of all types from simple afternoon introductions to four-day Open Water Certification.

There are also Dive Master courses for those wishing to become true underwater experts. 왘

Wreck of the Antilla

Top left photo by Dennis Sabo. Top right photo by Tammy Peluso. Bottom photos by Michael DeFreitas

Activities Your ship has come in

Learn to “rip” and fly

One of Aruba’s best-kept secrets is that it offers prime conditions for anyone wanting to learn to windsurf. The bay at Fisherman’s Huts provides an optimum combination of protected, waist-high, clear water, constant trade winds, expert instruction, and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure even first timers will be “ripping” on the waves in no time. This location is also the spot for the annual Aruba Hi-Winds – a week-long windsurfing competition and party celebrating

the sport of windsurfing on a global scale with some of the world’s absolute best windsurfers always in attendance. If you’re looking for even more extreme adventure, try the newest craze taking off at Fisherman’s Huts and Boca Grandi: kitesurfing. It’s like skateboarding on the ocean with the added excitement of being tethered to a powerful kite and soaring through the air! You’ll learn to control your billowing kite on land and then take to the waves with expert instruction soon to become master of the sea and sky.

Aruba is home port for many fabulous boat excursions. Whether you seek the thrill of a 1,000-horsepower, turbo, twin-engine speedboat guaranteed to make you scream in both fear and delight or an über-romantic sunset sail, it’s just a reservation away. There are also pirate offerings replete with rope swings, classic oak, teak, and mahogany vessels, and party-hearty booze cruises with live music and wild entertainment. Or choose from special seafaring snorkel jaunts that take you to secret fishy hideouts and even up close to the Antilla wreck, or classy dinner cruises catered by the island’s fivestar restaurants. There are also guided ocean kayak tours along and through the magical mangroves for a unique ecoadventure. Of course, there are tons of charter options available – sleek catamarans, comfortable sailboats, luxurious yachts and more, either bareboat or fully crewed – to take you where you want to go, when you want to go there! 왘

Explore the Antilla Shipwreck onboard the semi submarine

You sit 5 ft below the surface in the vessel’s comfortable, airconditioned hull, and view the spectacular underwater marine life at the Antilla shipwreck and Arashi reef. Ideal for families. www.atlantissubmarines.com/aruba

Call Direct 588-6881 for reservations

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Photo by Pierre Arsenault

Activities

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD A visit to Aruba’s Butterfly Farm is an unforgettable encounter with nature in all its beauty and diversity. Step into a tropical garden teeming with butterflies from around the globe and prepare to meet some of the world’s most colourful creatures. Observe the life cycle of these fascinating animals from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.

The Butterfly Farm is also home to Aruba’s most unique gift shop.

Open 7 days a week 9 am - 4:30 pm Last tour starts at 4 pm Call us at 586-3656

J.E. Irausquin Blvd Z/N Conveniently located across from the Phoenix Hotel www.thebutterflyfarm.com

ARUBA’S #1 DISCOUNT CARD!

Catch deep-sea fishing fever

Cast a line out to fate and see if you can catch your own fresh fish dinner with an exciting sport-fishing excursion. An abundance of sailfish, white and blue marlin, wahoo, shark, barracuda, amberjack, kingfish, bonito, blackfin and yellowfin tuna are all waiting just offshore to test your skills. And if you are lucky enough to reel in a big one, many restaurants will cook and serve you your freshly caught catch!

Make waves on land

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Wonderfully wet family fun can also be found on land at Aruba’s water parks.

The new Morgan’s Island is the largest water park in the entire Caribbean! It’s a massive outdoor complex full of slipsliding, heart-stopping, and spray-crazy fun for all ages. Blue Parrot Water Park on De Palm Island is another great family option complete with the requisite water slides and fountains.

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Call (297) 583-4144 and start $aving! www.visitaruba.com/plus 44 Nights

Out to sea

The only drawback to discovering all the watersports Aruba offers is that someone might try to grab your empty beach chair! All the more reason to answer Neptune’s call and head back out to sea.

Enjoy! 쮿 Please refer to the listing on pages 46-47 for information on tour operators offering these activities.

Water Activity Tips Remember that the Caribbean sun is very strong, especially when reflected off the water and is at its strongest between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

To avoid burning and heat exhaustion, stay well hydrated, slather on the sunscreen and wear a hat and T-shirt.

On the water, remain safe by respecting the marked barriers and boundaries of activities and partake with a buddy if possible. When swimming, diving, and snorkeling be careful not to touch the coral as it is harmful for them, and on the beaches, please take only photographs and leave only footprints.

Top photo by Brad Dyksen. Middle photo by Shelly Au