Arashi Beach, Boca Catalina and Tres Trapi: Snorkel Guide

Palm Beach and Eagle Beach are sand. For fish you drive north to Arashi Beach, Boca Catalina and Tres Trapi. The coast road from the Marriott to the California Lighthouse passes four spots where you can walk in from the rocks or the sand and see parrotfish, blue tangs, sergeant majors and often a turtle within five minutes. This is where Ghislaine sends every guest who packs a mask.

The road

Leave Palm Beach heading north on L.G. Smith Boulevard past the Ritz Carlton. The road narrows, the hotels stop, and you are on the Malmok coast: beachfront villas on the right, low cliffs and coves on the left, with pull offs for parking. In order from south to north: Malmok Beach, Boca Catalina, Tres Trapi, Arashi, then the lighthouse. The whole run is under three miles.

Malmok Beach

The first stop. A narrow strip of sand and limestone shelf in front of the villas, with a couple of concrete platforms for getting in. The snorkel catamarans moor here for their first stop and the Antilla wreck is a few hundred metres offshore (too far and too deep to swim from shore unless you are very fit and the sea is flat; take a boat). The near shore snorkeling is fine but Boca Catalina, two minutes on, is better.

Boca Catalina Beach

A small cove below the road, reached by stone steps from a wide roadside parking area. The water is glassy in the morning, 2 to 4 metres deep, with coral heads, sea fans and the island’s friendliest fish population. Blue tangs and sergeant majors come to you. Enter from the sand on the right or the rocks on the left; the left side has more life.

There are a few makeshift shade huts and no facilities. Bring water. Catamarans arrive around 10 am and again early afternoon, each dropping 40 snorkelers for 30 minutes; the cove is quiet before and between. Early is the rule here.

Tres Trapi: three steps and turtles

“Three steps” in Papiamento, and that is exactly what it is: three steps cut into the limestone, a few hundred metres north of Boca Catalina, with a small parking strip on the road. Drop in off the steps and you are on seagrass in 2 to 3 metres of water. Green turtles graze here almost daily, usually in the morning before the boats arrive. Starfish on the sand patches, sometimes a spotted eagle ray passing further out.

Rules we ask guests to follow: do not touch or lift starfish out of the water, keep three metres from turtles, and do not feed anything. The site is small and gets loved to death in high season.

Getting out is easier than it looks; use the steps, not the rocks.

Arashi Beach

The last beach before the lighthouse and the only one of the four that is a proper beach day. A wide crescent of sand, calm water, a beach bar (Arashi Beach Shack, good fish tacos and cold beer), thatched huts that go free on a first come basis, chair and umbrella rental, toilets and a real parking lot. Locals come on weekends with coolers; weekdays it is quiet.

The snorkeling is on the left side as you face the sea, around the rocks: parrotfish, grunts, the occasional moray. The middle is sandy and good for kids. The right side, toward the lighthouse, has more wave and is better for a swim than a snorkel.

Arrive before 10 am for a free hut and a close parking spot. Sunset here, then a walk up to the California Lighthouse, is a standard first evening for our guests.

Gear, conditions and safety

• Masks and fins: our homes have snorkel sets for guests. If you need more, the dive shops on Palm Beach rent for around $10 to $15 a day.
• Conditions: calmest December through May, but these are west coast beaches in the island’s lee, so they are swimmable almost every day of the year. If the wind is strong from the north, Boca Catalina gets choppy; Arashi stays calmer.
• Visibility: 15 to 30 metres on a good morning, less after a windy night.
• Sun: there is very little shade at Boca Catalina and Tres Trapi. Rash guard over sunscreen; the reef thanks you and so does your back.
• Boats: the catamarans and jet skis run a line a little offshore. Stay inside the buoys at Boca Catalina and do not swim out toward the Antilla.
• No lifeguards at any of the four.

The California Lighthouse

The California Lighthouse at the top of the road is named for the SS California, a ship wrecked nearby in 1891, not for the state. You can climb it for a small fee, and the restaurant at the base, Faro Blanco, does a decent lunch with a view down the whole west coast. The sand dunes behind the lighthouse are a 15 minute walk to the wild north coast, which is the island’s other face: no swimming, big surf, dramatic.

A half day that works

Tres Trapi at 8 am for turtles, Boca Catalina at 9 before the first boat, Arashi by 10:30 for a hut, lunch at the Beach Shack, back to the house for a siesta. Lighthouse at sunset. Total driving from Gold Coast: under 15 minutes.

Stay nearby

Oasis Hideaway in Gold Coast is 5 minutes from all four of these beaches, with its own pool for the afternoon. Ocean View 2BR on Palm Beach is 10 minutes south. The Hideout suites near Eagle Beach are 15 minutes. See all four at /stays/.

Questions people ask

Where is the best snorkeling from shore in Aruba?

Boca Catalina and Tres Trapi, both on the Malmok coast road north of Palm Beach. Calm, clear, 2 to 5 metres deep, with fish within a few metres of the steps. Mangel Halto in the south is the other contender.

Is Arashi Beach good for swimming?

Yes. It is a proper sandy beach with calm water, a beach bar, huts and parking. The left side when facing the sea has rocks and the best fish.

Can you see turtles at Tres Trapi?

Often, yes. Green turtles graze on the seagrass just off the three steps. Go in the morning, keep your distance and do not chase them.

Do you need a car to get to Arashi?

A car is easiest, 10 minutes from Palm Beach. The Arubus route to Malmok and Arashi also runs from the hotel strip, and taxis know the beaches by name.