We are looking at staying at one of the Divi resorts either at Palm Beach at the Phoenix resort or at the bottom of Eagle Beach at the Dutch Village Resort.
We particularly like to snokle from the shore would either resort or beach be better for this activity?
Is there any good places to snorkle off of the beach in Aruba?
This is our first time in Aruba so thank you for your help.

drive up to Malmok or Arashi beach. Both are north of the highrises. Easy to get to and great snorkeling right of the beach. You can also try Baby Beach at the south end of the island. That is a 30 minute ride from the hotel area.

Yes, there are some places to snorkle from shore in Aruba. One is Baby Beach - about a half hour drive from the hotel zone past San Nicholas. Another is past the Marriott Hotel about a mile or two going toward the Lighthouse. There is also snorkeling at DePalm Island. Once you get to Aruba, get a map and all the snorkeling places are marked on it.

There is great snorkeling off of the Palm Pleasure. They make 2 stops and run from 2-5. Its a BLAST

I agree with all of the above. The Phoenix has rock breakers on either side of their beach were you can snorkel a little there. You are then in the high rise area and it is an easy drive up to the other snorkeling areas. Also, the Phoenix use to run a bike trip to the north snorkeling areas.

Hello,

When I was in Aruba two yrs ago someone on this board gave me an excellent snorkel place. Unfortunately I lost the directions. It was not to far from the airport and the brewery. My husband and I loved the snorkeling there. If anyone is famaliar with where I am talking about please give me directions. We will be back June 24-30. Thank You for your help.

There is not much to see in front of either you mentioned.Go to catalina bay its a good starting place take some bread with you as fish will swim up to you and feed out of your hand.

Thank you for the suggestion. We will give it a try. The place I was talking about in my previous posting was somewhere near the airport and the brewery. I know you drive past the two. But hey I will try Catalina Bay. Is it possible you can give me driving directions on how to get there from our hotel {Tamarijn} Thank You for your reply.

Megabass,

Where is Catalina Bay? I'd like to try snorkeling there.

Is it near the high rises? Is there parking?

There is a little reef off of Palm Beach between the Wyndham and the Phoenix. The water is pretty clear and decent amount of fish on the windward side. One warning: there is a fair amount of carribean sea urchins there. I was there in March and on the last day of our vacation I was out there. A 4 foot trumpet fish shot right under me. As I turned to look back over my right shoulder at it the fingertips of my left hand hit the tips of the urchin spines. This was because the water was only about 3 feet deep in that spot. The water ranges about 3 - 7 feet deep around the reef.

Anyway, I now know a lot about the carribean sea urchin now - that's "bushi" in papiamento. I had 6 little punctures in one finger and one in another - with a black-blue dye in them. It felt like a wasp sting for about 5 minutes and then the fingertip with the 6 holes got very swollen and completely numb - so at least it didn't hurt. Everyone at the hotel had different advice from "you must go right away to the emergency room and have them cut out" (by the way the tips of the spines stay in you like a splinter). Through the hotel (Wyndham) I talked to a doctor who said "nothing to worry about"

Anyway - way off topic - long story short - not the greatest snorkeling of your life but pleasant and very convenient if you are staying at that end of Palm Beach. But, as always, pay attention to your surroundings!

Dave P