Walking to Boca Catalina from Marriott?

[mnwild]

Hello.

Is it possible to walk along the beach all way the to Boca Catalina from the Marriott? We plan on snorkeling there. I will have a rental car, but thought a nice stroll along the water would be fun. Any thoughts?

[Arubalisa]

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.604721&lon=-70.051682&z=15&l=0&m=s&v=9 It is about 2 miles each way. Bring plenty of water when walking in the heat. There is not one continuous beach. The further north you head from the Marriot the more it will be just rock cliff faces which you will walk atop of paths adjacent. The beach only extends about less than a mile of the way.

[mnwild]

Cool map....thanks!

BTW, someone posted on the map an area just south of Surfers Beach that says it is the best snorkeling spot on the island. True?

[Arubalisa]

Not in my opinion. I just wrote about it here http://www.arubabound.com/dive/snorkeling.htm

Imo, for the best shore snorkeling Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove.

http://www.arubabound.com/dive/snorkel_photos.htm a few photos taken with a new housing, I pretty had no clue what I was doing with. I thought the Trunkfish and Pompano were pretty cool.

Others prefer Baby Beach.

[mnwild]

Thanks! Great photos. It looks like you enjoy snorkeling as much as I do. I will post some of my own pics when I get back.

Do you recommend any good books to identify Caribbean fish? I have snorkeled a lot in Hawaii and my wife and I like to see how many different species we can find. We have a great book that specializes in Hawaiian fish and we can check them off as we discover them.

[Arubalisa]

http://www.isnorkel.com/product-exec/category_id/108/product_id/4333/nm/Caribbean-Reef-fish-ID-card this is something you can carry along with you in the water attached via a lanyard

or

Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas (Vinyl Bound) this is a book I use at home to id my photos. To me, the best feature is the breakdown by dwelling type, fin size etc. The one I have is also spiral bound so it makes it very easy to flip through the pages, which I do a lot of

[mnwild]

Thank you for all of your help! This board does a great service.

I like the looks of that book, it might even be from the same author as my Hawaiian book. It especially helps knowing the depth that the different fishes live at, to make correct ID.

Thanks again!

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by mnwild

Thanks again!

You are very welcome. It looks like you are arriving only a few days after we leave Aruba on December 29.

[mnwild]

Yep, we arrive on New Years Day! Too late for the New Years eve fireworks.

[sandy]

Just wondering how far Catalina Cove is from the high rise area. How do you get here if you don't have a rental car? Thanks.