ARUBA

Aruba is situated in the southern Caribbean, 18 miles north of Venezuela.  The island is roughly 19 miles long and 6 miles across at its widest point.

We arrived in cloudy skies, very windy and a temperature of 26c, which was very comfortable.  We took a walk shortly after breakfast and came across very many iguana-type creatures, sunbathing not only on the rocks next to the sea but also on the walkway nearby. Although a couple were small, no more than 10” (25cm) and quite a pretty shade of green, the majority were well over 4’ (121cm)!  These are not my favourite creatures but thankfully the camera has a reasonable zoom!!

We had to be back at the cruise terminal by 1045 to board our motor launch to the waiting Atlantis submarine.  The sub was built in Vancouver in 1990 at a cost of $3.5 million.  It is 65 ft long (19.8m), holds 48 passengers, 3 crew and is all electric.

Entry into the sub was via the conning tower and a very steep ladder!  It was quite cramped but fully air conditioned.  We were taken to an area that contained a couple of boats, deliberately sunk to form an artificial reef for the start of our 45 minute ‘tour’.  It was very difficult to take photographs because of the light and the thickness of the glass which gave everything, including the people, a greenish-blue tinge!

We were surprised that there was no ear-popping and no sensation of diving at all, just the noise of the thrusters taking us down or up, and we did reach our maximum dive capability of 135 ft (41m) where we rested on the bottom of the sea. We did see fish, many quite small, but photographing them was an impossibility because we were travelling quite fast and so were they – generally in the opposite direction!

Still, it was great fun but we could have done with a much longer time down there!  Maybe next time!

A day at sea next, then to final warm destination, St Lucia.