Arashi Beach Snorkeling Guide [Rated + Reviewed]

My husband and I love snorkeling and have had the opportunity to snorkel all over the world! I’ve created a snorkel rating system to compare all these sites.

Please see the rating key below.

OVERALL SNORKEL RATING KEY

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   World-class snorkeling and worth traveling just for the snorkeling alone!

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Incredible snorkeling and should be on your list of top things to do!

🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Decent snorkeling and worth the effort!

🤿 🤿   =   Worth consideration if you are running out of things to do!

🤿   =   Not worth it!

If you want to discover my 4 FAVORITE Aruba snorkeling sites in ONE comprehensive list, click on the link below!

Arashi Beach was the easiest Aruba snorkeling site to find.

Put in Arashi Beach in Google Maps, and follow the main highway, L.G. Smith Blvd, north straight to the beach. There is plenty of signage and a huge parking lot.

After you snorkel, you could stay and hang out on the beach. The wide beach is gorgeous! White powdery sand and turquoise waters.

There are several palapas to offer shade, but you have to snag those early. Alternatively, there is a guy who will set you up with chairs and an umbrella.

There’s even a little snack shack that offers up some basic items like sandwiches, burgers, salads, fresh seafood, finger foods, and cocktails.

Nice setup.

As you walk towards the water, you can snorkel to the right or left.

The snorkeling on the LEFT is fairly easy and will bring you to Catalina Cove/Boca Catalina, another fantastic snorkeling site I’ve also reviewed.

We also snorkeled on the RIGHT side of Arashi Beach. Be aware this is considered an advanced snorkel because of the rougher conditions.

For the advanced snorkel, walk almost to the end of the beach on the right. When you look to the right, you will see where the waves are breaking.

Enter the water BEFORE this point and stay to the left where the waves are breaking.

Then snorkel to the right parallel to the shore.

We snorkeled in the early afternoon, and the waves kicked up quite a bit of sand.

The visibility that day was not great, especially during the part from the beach entry to the reef. You’ll see that in the photos below.

Maybe if we had gone early in the morning it would have been different.

As you are facing Arashi Beach, walk all the way over to the left side where the rocks are located.

There are a few sandy patches (which you can see from the photo above). Walk in and put on your snorkeling gear.

Then snorkel to the left towards Catalina Cove.

→   Advanced snorkel (right)

Entry is a little tricky. The water can be choppy and shallow. Expect to navigate around rocks.

Wear dive booties. Only proceed if sea conditions permit.

→   Beginner snorkel (left)

Entry is easy. Just find the sandy patches and walk in to put your snorkeling gear on. 

→   Advanced snorkel (right)

On the right side of Arashi Beach (advanced snorkel), we saw a variety of fish including blue-striped grunt, parrotfish, and schools of blue tang.

The coral was actually in decent shape, which surprised me. The types of coral we saw were elkhorn, brain, starlet, and pillar coral.

Be super careful navigating this reef. It is shallow, and you will have to maneuver your body around the coral and waves.

As you can see from the photos below, visibility was not ideal the day we snorkeled due to the waves. Regardless, we still saw some beautiful marine life and coral.

→   Beginner snorkel (left)

On the left side (beginner snorkel), we also saw a fair amount of fish including large schools of blue tang and blue-striped grunt, French angelfish, spotted trunkfish, a honeycomb cowfish, one barracuda, and even a stingray!

** I have labeled the photos “right (advanced)” or “left (beginner)” to designate which section of Arashi Beach the snorkel photos were taken with my favorite underwater camera.

Aruba is not well known for snorkeling unlike its close neighbor Bonaire, but there are still a few sites that are worth popping in the water for.

Arashi Beach (on the left side) is great for beginner snorkelers to see some schools of fish. And you may even get to see some of the larger marine life like a stingray if you are lucky. The best Aruba snorkel sites though are Tres Trapi (lots of turtles!) and Mangel Halto.

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Questions about our Arashi Beach snorkeling experience?

Let me know in the comments below!