Aruba was a little bit of an unusual port day because we would be there from 10-8 instead of the usual 8-5. The first thing apparent about Aruba was that it was mostly flat with fewer trees and there were houses and buildings as far as the eye could see. And even one area of high rise resorts off in the distance. Our dive didn’t meet till 1 so we got off and walked into town. We found a small market and several high end malls with boutiques and retailers like Michael Kors and Kate Spade. We quickly deduced that this was not just a quaint little Caribbean island. We walked along the beautiful waterfront of the harbor with every imaginable size of boat docked in it. No matter what’s on the island, they all have the beautiful water view.
We made our way back to the ship for lunch and to get ready for our dive. Diving is an equipment heavy sport and preparing is not always easy. Sometimes I start to wonder if it’s all worth it, but that only lasts until I jump into the warm turquoise water and see the beauty around me, and the thought never enters my mind again.
Once the dive group got together, we made our way just up the pier to our dive boat. This dive had about 17 divers, which is a fairly large group. We cruised along the perimeter of the island and saw vast white beaches in front of posh high rise resorts and gleaming white villas with terra cotta rooflines, all crowding the waterfront. The boat ride out was beautiful, and it’s always a time when you can feel the excitement in the air like electricity as everyone gets ready for the dive. We all struggled into our skin suits or wet suits and set up our regulator and BCD on the tanks, checked the air and made sure the equipment was working properly, and finally gOT our masks and fins. Everyone loaded their personal amount of weight to their BCD and we all sat back to the inevitable chatter about other dives and dive spots while waiting for the moment we can enter the water. When we arrived the dive-master, with her cool South African accent, did a safety briefing, talking about what marine life we could expect to see, and gave us an overview of the dive we were about to do. This dive was a 400 foot German warship that was sunk during WWII. She warned us that the metal has weakened over the years and part of the ship is collapsing in on itself and cautioned us not to enter the boat at all. We were split into 2 groups and ttook turns entering the water with a giant stride off the back of the boat to follow our dive-master, Manuel.
Although the water here is as beautiful as anywhere in the Caribbean, the visibility was not as good as some islands. So with only about 50 feet of visibility we didn’t see the ship at first, but as we swam further it looms large in front of us. The metal is only visible in spots as coral and saltwater have covered or corroded it. The dive-master in front of us approached the ship and swam directly into it. What?! Is this really the dive-master we were assigned to? Did he not hear the warning about entering the ship? I thought for a moment we had somehow been separated and ended up with another group. I looked around and thought I recognized everyone else from the boat, so I followed him in. It turns out we were only entering a hole in the stern and came right back out through another hole. I’m still not sure if it’s a great idea, but we didn’t enter the interior of the ship. The ship was huge and was indeed partially collapsed. It can be hard, with such a large and old wreck, to make out what I’m seeing. But I recognized the large mast lying on the sand and the deck railing was also apparent throughout. We emerged from the 50- 60 foot dive in about 45 minutes.
After an appropriate surface interval and a short boat ride, we arrived at another wreck. This one was much smaller and more deteriorated than the first. Colorful fish swan around the wreck, taking advantage of the nooks and crannies to hide. The dive was otherwise similar to the first. For me, wreck diving doesn’t compare to reef diving, which is not plentiful here.
The boat returned us to our pier and we spent a little time wandering through the market on the pier and took advantage of the wifi to FaceTime with our girls and for me to post a blog (running a few days behind because of lack of wifi).
We returned to the ship and watched it pull away. We don’t often see this in the dark and the lights on the island made Aruba look like a big city, which I guess it is in some respects. I couldn’t help but find my mind coming back to Natalie Holloway several times today. I wonder now what was the attraction of coming to this island for high school graduates? The beaches look fabulous,no doubt, but one of the main attractions here seems to be the night life, which is exactly where her trouble began.
Of course my impression of an island is unavoidably colored by the quality of the diving. But almost as important is the pace of island life. I prefer the less developed islands with small local stores as opposed to high end retailers in a marble and glass mall. And an island with a very “active night life” also doesn’t impress me. So Aruba, while beautiful in its own way, will not be added to my wish list of islands to return to. Maybe tomorrow our stop in another of the Dutch Antilles, Bonaire, will be different. After all part of the fun is seeing new places and doing things, no matter what the outcome.
