The highlight of our second day in Aruba was the Atlantis Submarines Expedition Tour. We checked in at the Atlantis Submarines Adventure Center in downtown Oranjestad at 11 A.M. The tour began with a brief orientation dockside, followed by photographs of every party which were available for $10 when the tour returned.
We had about 30 minutes to walk around the souvenir shop and take some pictures of the surroundings. This is the Crystal Casino as seen from across the street of the Adventure Center.
I really like the side views from the Adventure Center.
From this deck, adjacent to the Atlantis Submarines Store, we boarded the SubSeeker shuttle vessel to travel a few miles to meet Atlantis VI near the Aruba saltwater desalination plant.
The transfer onboard SubSeeker was relatively quick and well-organized.
The ferry shuttle ride took about us 20 minutes away from shore and then we had to transfer onto the semi-submarine. It was a very wobbly transferring boat, which added some excitement to our ride.
The shuttle ride out there was gorgeous and our favorite part.
Once aboard the submarine, moored just off the south-east coast of Aruba, it took us for a thrilling dive to the Barcadera Reefs where we viewed two shipwrecks. Atlantis VI can haul 48 passengers and has a crew of 3. The seats are very close together and every couple of seats share a circular glass porthole.
Plastic cards next to the windows have the names and photos of many of the fish commonly found on Aruba’s reefs. The nice part is that the sub was fully air-conditioned.
The underwater portion of the tour began in shallow water where first one side and then the other side of the submarine could get a good view of the sloped reef. The visibility wasn’t as great as we thought it would be. That may have been because it rained a couple days before.
During the excursion we were able to view an array of colorful corals and tropical fishes.
While going down in the submarine we had the opportunity to get an up close view of exotic marine life and two sunken wrecks while diving to depths up to 130 feet. The narration of the sub crew was educational and entertaining. It was interesting to discover that the Atlantis Submarine Aruba made its first dive in the southern Caribbean waters on October 15 1990 and has been operating successful dives since then.
Along with the wrecks, we were able to see some exotic marine life, including colorful schools of tropical fish, huge sponge gardens and beautiful fields of coral.
The deepest point – 141 ft.
On my way out of the submarine. The tour duration was approximately 1 Hour 45 minutes while the actual time in the submarine is about 50 minutes.
And at the end of our once-in-a-lifetime voyage (one time was definitely enough for us :)), we received an official dive certificate as proof that we had participated in this incredible experience along with over six million passengers. The captain of the Submarie Atlantis VI waves goodbye.
After that we spent a couple of hours at the Renaissance Mall, which is perfectly located in the heart of Oranjestad, a short walking distance from the main street and across the street from the Adventure Center.
The mall is home to luxury brands, like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Rolex, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Cartier, Chopard, CH Carolina Herrera and many more. There are over 60 stores, cafés and full-service restaurants available to make anyone’s shopping experience enjoyable.
We also visited these cute local souvenir stores across the street from the mall. We didn’t find anything interesting for us to buy there , but we definitely had a good time.
