Wreck Diving Adventures
Sep 15, 2011
The Caribbean is one place that is never short of good airline deals and island destinations. How can you tell which island is right for you and your travel interests? If you want to do something off the beaten path and still take advantage of the crystal clear Caribbean Sea, check out a wreck diving excursion in Aruba. You can literally dive down to pay a visit to wrecked ships and boats and see what has become of them and what kind of creatures inhabit them today. Aruba is often considered the best place to wreck dive in the Caribbean and is also home to the Caribbean’s largest wreck. Both professional divers and scholars arrive on flights to Aruba with international airlines to check out some of these historic vessels. Find the best fares now for cheap tickets to Aruba and take a dive into another world.
A great wreck for beginning divers to explore is the Pedernales. Once an oil tanker, the Pedernales was torpedoed by Germans in World War II. You’ll find this shallow wreck site between 25 and 40 feet below the water surface. Aruba’s pride and joy is the Antilla, the largest wreck in Caribbean waters at almost 400 feet long. The Antilla was once a German freighter and today is a top spot for wreck divers. It lies on its port side just 500 yards from the shoreline. The captain sunk his own ship instead of surrendering to his enemies. The Antilla is covered in corals and almost looks more like a reef than a ship. The water around it has little to no current, making it pretty accessible for newer divers. The Jane Sea, a 250-foot English cement freighter, is a little farther out to sea and best for divers with some experience. If you don’t mind the hour-long boat ride out to the wreck site and the deeper dive, you’ll see some beautiful inhabitants like sponges, sea fans and brain corals. Jane Sea is also fun because you can swim in and out of the ship’s hold. Besides corals and other species growing on the wrecks, you’ll encounter plenty of schools of fish when you dive. Some local fish you might see are parrotfish, yellowtails, grouper, angelfish, and silversides.
Find the best fares and airline deals online and head to Aruba to explore these wrecks and many more. If you haven’t dived before, don’t worry - many hotels offer scuba lessons and certifications. You can take a simple 90-minute course, plus an hour of pool practice, to be ready for some of the easier dive sites. An advanced course for Open Water certification will take a few more days. Start your search ASAP to get the best airline tickets for cheap flights to Aruba and get ready to dive into history.