Aruba---August 28

Some Aruba city shots from the ship.



Chase likes the towel animal monkeys the best.

Tyler wanted to go to a beach in Aruba, so Chase, Jared and Tyler headed back out to go to Palm Beach which was recommended by a great family dining at the table next to us. They went to the other side of the island very easily, and since the ship was in Aruba until late (11:00 pm) they were able to stay a bit and use the beaches at the nice hotels there. Jared was very impressed with the beauty of the beach, how clean the city was, and there were no solicitors. He probably loved Aruba the best, so maybe we can try and go back someday.

The girls and I decided to stay onboard since we had already done our half day on the island and wanted to get cleaned up for dinner, but Tyler and Jared said we should have gone, it was so nice. We were sorry we missed out on a nice afternoon.


Chase enjoying the ship's chicken strips.
A nice shot of Chase and Aruba at dusk.

Our excursions from earlier that day:

Snorkeling in Aruba. Our excursion that Tyler and I took stopped at 2 locations. One, was at a reef not far off the coast, and the other at the Antilla shipwreck site.
Tyler on the boat ride.
Tyler loved how turquoise the water was. It was so shallow and clear, you could see the plant formations along the bottom, making darker spots in the water.
Tyler holding a starfish that was found along the bottom.
Some of the sealife found while we were at the reef. There were alot of schools of fish.

Antilla Shipwreck:

These are some pictures that I found online of what the Antilla looked like in drydock, and a good profile shot of the ship.

When Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, the relationship between the two nations was obviously strained. As part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, this extended to Aruba. The Antilla was a German U-boat supply ship that was anchored off the coast of Aruba at the time. A contingent of Dutch Marines gave the ship 24 hours to surrender.
The Antilla was fairly new at the time, and rather than see her turned over to the enemy, the Captain decided to scuttle the ship. After putting the crew ashore, he heated up the boilers, which were amidships, and opened the sea cocks. When the cold sea water hit the hot boilers, they exploded, ripping the ship in half. It sank in eight minutes.
At 400 feet long, the Antilla is the Caribbean’s largest shipwreck. It lies on its port side at a maximum depth of 55 feet, though it can readily be seen from the surface.

What it looks like now: Tyler and I went on a snorkeling excursion in Aruba that took us to the shipwreck of the Antilla.

The wreck was huge and kind of freaked me out so I stayed in one area, but Tyler was like a little fish swimming all over the place and taking pics. Here are some shots we took of it. It was really huge, and there were masts and lines still in tact. The current would pull you right into it, and before you knew it you would be so close to a mast or the wreck itself. The size was very overwhelming.