Snorkeling - Curacao or Aruba??

[island284]

We'll be cruising to Panama in January and want to snorkel in either Curacao or Aruba.

 

I have heard the winds may be a problem during January which is a worry even though we are adequate swimmers and have snorkeled in the calm waters of the Caribbean.

 

We prefer to take a ship sponsored excursion as opposed to booking something on our own. Does anyone have a specific RCCL sponsored snorkeling excursion they would recommend?

 

If anyone has an opinion about this and which location would be better I'd appreciate any additional information!

 

island284

[Lsimon]

We'll be cruising to Panama in January and want to snorkel in either Curacao or Aruba.

 

I have heard the winds may be a problem during January which is a worry even though we are adequate swimmers and have snorkeled in the calm waters of the Caribbean.

 

We prefer to take a ship sponsored excursion as opposed to booking something on our own. Does anyone have a specific RCCL sponsored snorkeling excursion they would recommend?

 

If anyone has an opinion about this and which location would be better I'd appreciate any additional information!

 

island284

 

I've never done a ship's excursion in these areas. In Aruba if you want to do snorkeling look into the Midushi or Jolly Pirates - both of which are great excursions and very similar. We've done the Jolly Pirates from a cruise stop no problem. If you take a snorkeling boat trip through the cruise line it will likely go to the same places - if it mentions sunken ship there is only one all the snorkeling excrusions (private or ship) go to.

 

In Curacao we didn't snorkel, but went for lunch to a beach area where the Kontiki beach club is. There are several "clubs" along this beach including Mambo and some others. The area is protected by a barrier and looked great - wished we'd taken our suits and gear and not just gone there for lunch. The clubs all have nice facilities with chairs for rent, restuarants, bathrooms, etc. Easy cab ride - and you can arrange a return trip with the driver who takes you there.

[Penguinlo]

I felt the sea was a little rough in Aruba. Hard to get back to the dive boat after we surfaced.

 

In Curacao, we did the animal encounter dive at the sea aquarium (sp?) through RCCL. You did not have to be certified to dive here. It was only 12ft deep I believe. You were in an area with stingrays and there was another area with turtles and another with sharks. They gave you a bucket with small fish to feed. I also think they had a snorkel group also. We enjoyed it. They have a photographer who dives with your group and takes pictures. You can purchase one or all if you like. They also would put all of them on a disc for you.

 

Not sure if this helps.