We All Live in a <White> Submarine 🐠

Today was the day I’ve been waiting for since before we arrived in Aruba! Today we took a tour on an Atlantis submarine! As someone who gets pretty bad motion sickness both in the air and on water, I was a bit anxious at the prospects of going in an underwater vessel, but I couldn’t let a bit of fear ruin a chance of a lifetime. I also knew that this would be the perfect birthday gift for my dad, and a core memory for our family.

A few days before our tour, I bought tickets online through De Palm Tours, they handle a lot of the tours on the island (we will be doing a guided bus tour later in the trip with them as well). They run a maximum of three tours per day: 11AM, 12PM, and 1PM. The tour was advertised as a 2 hour excursion. I chose the 11AM time slot, thinking we’d be done in time to enjoy lunch in Oranjestad.

This morning we departed the house around 10AM, to make our required arrival time at the Atlantis gift shop of 10:30AM. The parking situation around that area is a bit up-in-the-air, so I added a bit of extra time to find parking. Luckily, someone had just left the main parking area so I was able to immediately find a spot. Upon arriving at the gift shop, I checked us in and received our five boarding passes. We were then sent to wait around the side of the building while all other passengers checked in.

Once everyone was checked in and arrived in the waiting area, one of the employees joined us to provide important pre-boarding information and to take photos of each group for “security purposes.” These photos would also be available for purchase in the gift shop after the excursion.

A few interesting facts about the submarine:

• The Atlantis subs have been in operation for 38 years, serving Aruba for 34 years
• The subs were made in Canada and certified by the US Coast Guard
• Each sub seats 48 people
• We would be riding on the Atlantis 6

The plan for the excursion was to depart the waiting area at 11AM, take a 30 minute ferry to the submarine location, spend an hour in the depths exploring the ocean wildlife, and finally taking the 30 minute ferry back to the mainland.

Once aboard the ferry we met our guide, Donald. He was my favorite part of the entire excursion. He was very friendly and personable, and was also full of knowledge about everything, and always ready with a good joke. You could tell he really enjoys his job and loves having a good time.

After about 30 minutes on the ferry we arrived at the submarine site. One by one everyone disembarked the ferry, stepped onto the sub deck, and made their way down the ladder into the belly of the sub.

Inside the submarine, it was ambient with minimal lights. However, it was comfortable. Each of the 48 passengers had their own seat, with ample access to portholes with views into the water.

We spent about an hour under water, reaching a maximum depth of 147ft. We saw several shipwrecks and learned some cool history about them.

Fun fact of the day: The white sand we see on the beach is actually fish poop. Parrotfish eat the coral and poop it out in the form of sand, they can poop hundreds of pounds of sand in a single year.

After about an hour in the sub, we emerged from the depths. We disembarked and boarded the ferry once again for a 30-minute trip back to the mainland.

Overall, I would 100% recommend this excursion to anyone looking for a fun and educational experience. For all 5 of us, it cost just under $500, which might be a bit pricy for some, but it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime journey!