The tiny Caribbean island of Aruba, which forms one third of the so-called ABC islands along with Bonaire and Curaçao, is located about 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela, and is just over a 2-hour flight from Florida, making it makes it a relatively easy location to visit.
Without a doubt, the most popular recreational activities in Aruba are snorkeling and scuba diving, with the latter attracting a large number of enthusiasts to the area, which is why it is considered one of the best places for wreck diving in the entire Caribbean; only Bermuda has scored higher. . Among the wrecks is that of The Antilla, a 400-foot German freighter, which was sunk at the start of World War II, and is the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean Sea and is inevitably the top attraction for diving fans.
Dive sites can be found just off the island’s sheltered western and southern shorelines, in close proximity to the major Palm Beach hotels, ensuring tourists are well catered for. The dive sites are calm, rich with marine life of exotic variations, including seahorses, rays, manta rays and barracuda, even the occasional dolphin or sea turtle may visit, making for a dramatically colorful and unforgettable experience.
The offshore reefs are second only to the many wrecks in popularity for diving, with depths ranging from 40 feet to over 100 feet in places. Isla Di Oro is an excellent site, with a wide expanse of reef growing out of a shallow shoal, and you will no doubt be joined on your dive by some curious angelfish who come along and linger for a while. One beautiful reef that can be reached is known as the hole in the wall, which allows a diver to pass a sheer reef wall, to Mango Halto, where a strong current pushes through a sandy channel and into a beautiful lagoon.
Surprisingly, at certain points, nurse and sand sharks sleep in the crevices of the reefs and present opportunities for a diver to get close enough to touch them. Night diving on the reefs is also an absolute must, as everything looks completely different under the torchlight. The corals are quite spectacular, add to that the unknown quantity factor adrenaline rush, and it all adds up to a memorable and exhilarating experience.
Sometimes it is possible to pre-enroll in a one-hour training course in a swimming pool, where many tourists quickly discover that diving is not as difficult as they thought. The instructor will then accompany a group on their first few dives, and in most cases confidence follows quickly. The southern coast of the island is the calmest, making it a great starting point for the inexperienced. Diving in Aruba is truly a delight, there is so much to discover and marvel at. Serene mangroves, gorgeous reefs, incredible shipwrecks, and a diversity of underwater marine life will have you pinching yourself at the sheer scale of breathtaking views.