Scuba Diving Aruba

Why dive here

Why Aruba works so well for divers

Aruba is a small, dry island about 29 kilometres (18 miles) off the coast of Venezuela, roughly 30 kilometres long and less than 10 kilometres across at its widest. It is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and most visitors know it for its white beaches and steady sunshine. Divers come for a different reason: the trade winds blow almost constantly from the east, which leaves the island's west and south coasts in calm, clear water for most of the year.

That sheltered leeward side is where nearly all of the diving happens. The reefs here are gentle slopes rather than sheer walls, the water is warm all year, and many sites sit close to shore. It is an easy place for a newly certified diver to build experience, and the wrecks give experienced divers plenty to explore. If you have never dived before, Aruba is also a comfortable place to learn to dive.

The island also sits south of the main Caribbean hurricane belt. Storms are rare here compared with islands farther north, so dive trips are less likely to be cut short by weather, even during the official Atlantic hurricane season.

What you can see underwater

Wrecks are Aruba's signature. The German freighter Antilla, scuttled by her own crew in 1940, is one of the largest shipwrecks in the Caribbean and lies close enough to the surface that snorkellers can see parts of it. The broken tanker Pedernales, hit in a U-boat attack in 1942, rests in shallow water and suits newer divers. Several aircraft and smaller ships have been sunk on purpose as artificial reefs. Our guide to Aruba wreck diving walks through each of them.

Between the wrecks are coral reefs with brain coral, star coral, sea fans and big barrel sponges, home to parrotfish, angelfish, moray eels, trumpetfish and the occasional sea turtle. Sites such as Mangel Halto and Boca Catalina are covered in our Aruba reef dive sites guide, and the best beach entries are in the shore diving guide.

Good to know

Diving Aruba responsibly

Aruba's reefs face the same pressures as reefs across the Caribbean: warming water, coral disease and invasive lionfish. Divers can help in simple ways. Keep your fins off the coral, keep your buoyancy under control on the shallow sites, never touch or feed marine life, and leave everything you find where it is. Aruba has banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone, so check the label before you pack.

Parts of the coast are protected as a marine park, Parke Marino Aruba, and the rules there are simple: look, don't take. When you dive with a local operator, ask about their reef etiquette before you get in the water. Good dive centres are happy to explain it.

Scuba-Diving-Aruba.com is an independent guide. We don't run a dive shop or take bookings. The aim is to give you an honest picture of what scuba diving in Aruba is like so you can choose the dives that suit you.