Malmok Beach Review--snorkeling on our own

[sadiea]

My husband and I, along with another couple, recently got back from a Southern Caribbean cruise that had a stop in Aruba. When possible we prefer to do shore excursions "on our own" to save money and to avoid the crowds that sometimes accompany excursions booked through the ship.

 

After visiting Aruba a few years ago, we felt that Aruba's best feature are the beautiful beaches so we decided to snorkel at Malmok Beach. Our whole excursion for my husband and I cost $5.20 --$1.30 each way per person!! We brought our own snorkel gear and brought food from the ship in plastic ziplock bags for a beach picnic (yes, I know the cruise ship frowns on this) and took the local beach bus that heads north. The public bus is located outside the pier and is probably just a block or so into town--it was very easy to walk to. Locals were very friendly in telling me where to find it. We purchased round trip tickets from the bus driver (he accepted American dollars but gave us change in the local currency) and when the bus was fairly full, off it went. We rode the bus all the way north to Arashi beach just to see what it looked like and it looked a little too rocky and the waves too big for my taste. The bus turns around and heads south at Arashi beach and we were able to "preview" all the beaches on the ride up so we knew where we wanted to get off. The bus goes at least every half hour, probably more often, but I didn't ask.

 

We got off at Malmok beach and it was perfect. The beach wasn't very large, but the sand was soft and we found a little shade under a tree. What was great about the snorkeling here was feeding the fish! We took a bagel with us in a ziplock and put a little bit between our thumb and index finger. The fish just swarmed around us and it ate right from our hands. Other people were feeding the fish frozen peas. There were no facilities, no vendors, and no jet skiis. I think this was why the snorkeling was so good.

 

When it was time to go, we just stood by the road and the bus took us right back to the bus parking lot where we got on. Some other friends of ours rented a car to drive south to Baby Beach and said that it wasn't worth the money or hassel. The wished that they had done what we did and ride the bus for cheap! $80 or $5.20 for virtually the same experience--except they got more wind and rain on the south part of the island that day!

[cruiseapril]

Thank you for the review. That sounds like a good excursion.

[tadajulia]

This sounds like the perfect thing for me and my boyfriend. We, too, like going on our own instead of through cruiseline excursions and will be bringing our own snorkels. Do you remember the bus number that you took to get to Malmok or is there really only one and easy to find?

 

Also, this is another random question, but if there is only two of you there and you both want to snorkel, how safe is it to just leave your stuff on the beach? (I know enough not to take valuables, but I'm concerned with cruisecards and cameras).

 

Thanks for sharing!

[sadiea]

There were no bus numbers that I noticed. I think the buses only go north and there are several of them that make the beach loop. The buses go north and then turn around near the lighthouse and then come back into town. There is a parking lot where the busses are. Any local or pier person can tell you where to go.

 

We felt reasonably safe leaving our stuff just laying there on the beach. There were just a few other couples from our ship on the beach. I didn't see any kind of suspicious behavior or any "sketchy" people roaming around looking for stuff to steal. This beach wasn't crowded and a ways away from where most of the tourists are with the parasailing and jetskiis and such. I imagine that most of the theft, if there is any, happens on those beaches instead.

[mcmarya]

The bus number is 10--10A to go all the way to Arashi beach (end of the line). Plain 10 just goes as far as the Hotel Zone. Not sure of the designation for the ones that just go to Malmok--might be 10B. The buses load at the left end of the bus lot and it is well marked. The bus itself will display where it goes. The hotel zone ones come the most often. The Arashi bus runs at 27 minutes after the hour, except the one that runs at 8:15 am. The return is about 5 minutes before the hour. The Malmok bus seems to run about 30 minutes after/before the Arashi bus.

 

We left our stuff on the beach while we snorkeled and were OK--no valuables left other than an old digital camera. There are usually other people around. We actually got in at Arashi and headed to the left to Catalina Cove. It would easier to get in below Catalina Cove and swim to the right. There were a lot of rocks at Arashi to avoid and there were some pretty good waves. In spite of the fairly rough sea, the visibility was still pretty good and there were lots of fish to see.

 

We just gave the driver a $5 and he didn't bother to give us the change in Bonaire money which was OK--it's $2.30 round trip. They give you a little yellow ticket for your return trip.

[colonialinnkeeper]

I just read your thread about leaving things on the beach. My husband and I take small zip loc bags and put our credit card, ship card, money into it and tuck it under our swim suits when we are at the beach. Have been on many beaches in the Caribbean and never had anything taken but, then, we don't take leave anything of value behind.

[mcmarya]

We do that, too. Unfortunately, my husband brought along his leather wallet (not sure why) and put it in a zip lock bag while swimming. He didn't zip the bag up and his wallet was a soggy mess, though it did dry out eventually.