Magical Marine Adventures Aruba Nights 2015

Activities

Activities

Magical Marine Adventures

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 are multiple magical marine adventures 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!

Dive into an 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 semi-submarine tour, or even a real submarine journey that takes you 130 feet down in air34 Nights

conditioned comfort to view the amazing array of marine life that thrives below.

Then there’s Sea Trek at De Palm Island, 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. And if you’re lucky, you might even spot a sea turtle!

If you haven’t snorkeled before, most resorts and dive operators offer lessons and equipment rentals. If you’re an experienced snorkeler you should try the new Seabob underwater scooter that gets you

down into and around the sea life faster!

But if you’re seeking something that allows you to snorkel even 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 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 eleven 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? E Nights 35

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Activities

Activities

Experience Aruba scuba

Learn to “rip” and fly

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 occasionally 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. (Snorkelers can also see it well from above and SNUBA participants can get really close as well.) Resorts and dive operators offer courses of all types from simple afternoon introductions to four-day PADI Open Water Certification.

There are also Dive Master courses for those wishing to become dedicated underwater explorers.

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 HiWinds – 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 kitesurfing at Fisherman’s Huts and Boca Grandi. 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.

Your ship has come in

Aruba is home port for many fabulous boat excursions. Whether seeking the thrill of a 1,000-horsepower, turbo, twinengine speedboat guaranteed to make you scream in both fear and delight or an über-romantic sunset sail, it’s just a E

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 8:30 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

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, or classy dinner cruises catered by the island’s five-star restaurants. There are also guided ocean kayak tours along and through the magical mangroves for a unique eco-adventure.

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!

Make waves on land and sea

Blue Parrot Water Park on De Palm Island is another great family option complete with the requisite waterslides and fountains. This is also a wonderful spot to snorkel or SNUBA up close with gigantic neon blue parrotfish; in fact, this is the only place on Aruba you are guaranteed to see them!

You can’t go wrong when you head out to discover all the watersports Aruba has to offer on top of and beneath the waves, except maybe that someone might grab your empty beach chair while you’re gone! But no worries, they have no idea just what they are missing! K De Palm Island

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, amber­ jack, 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, some restaurants will cook and serve you your freshly caught catch!

The Antilla wreck

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