Jolly Pirates Aruba — Attraction in Aruba

The best part of our Aruba trip! Jolly Pirates was soo much fun, definately a carribean party/snorkeling ship. I wish they had a Jolly pirates Soundtrank CD to buy cuz they played such good music and I was shazaming everything.

The crew was hilarious. We did the 4hour snorkeling trip at 9am on a friday cuz it had a discount on their website for friday and wednesday trips. the total for two people was $107.53. They provided snorkeling gear and flippers. The lunch was so damn delicious and the drinks started instantly and literally open bar the whole trip. they had pirate poison which was fruity and yummy and pina coladas on the rocks and other drinks to. our pirate ship wasnt full so the bartender walked around and asked about drinks and brought them to us which was some first class service! you can bring a bag and put snacks in it, i wish i brought snacks cuz we skipped breakfast and all that snorkeling takes energy and drinking on an empty stomach gets you buzzed faster and more hungry. i think i heard them say they will provide coke and mixers if you brought your own stuff to mix. no real dry spots to put your bags cuz everyone brings water on the ship. no lockers. theres a restroom on the boat. you dont have to snorkel or rope swing.

There were 3 snorkel spots.

the first snorkel spot was the Antilla shipwreck, they advise this snorkel for confident swimmers, they also provided life jackets. i was scared and waited on the boat. one of the crew members told me that i can go in and just hold on to the ladder so i can take a look and thats exactly what i did l. this shipwreck i think they said was 60meters deep i saw it and it was amazing. and so many fish. the water was strong but no waves. it was awesome!! im glad i manned up even for thew few minutes i was there and did the first snorkel.

the second spot was calm and the third. I saw 4 different kinds of puffer fish! a huge silver dollar and squid and everything it was beautiful and peaceful.

the third spot we got to snorkel, then eat and then rope swing. i didnt rope swing but it was fun to watch people doing flips and cannon balls.

the boat will be my main memory of aruba. the food was hot and yummy it was a rack of the best ribs ever and the best chicken ive ever had, mango, rice and pasta.

The best memory you can ever make, worth ever penny.

A MUST IN ARUBA!

Our Jolly Pirate ship was soo much fun you could see all the other snorkel ships and their passengers staring at us as we parked or cruised by. It was the biggest ship with real sails, and great stereo stystem lots of space. I just cant explain how much fun it was.

The marina is right in front of MooMba bar, and near Malmook...

I booked this excursion before I arrived to Aruba and am glad I did. My excursion was Tuesday, November 12, 2024 from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm. I didn't bring a bathing suit so I didn't do a rope swing which I wouldn't have done anyway, but I would have gone into the water. That was a me thing and not planning, and not an excursion thing. The staff was really nice and engaging in the guests.

This sail was what I wanted to do to relax and take some great sunset pictures and ground myself in a good way. My only complaint, which isn't a reflection of Jolly Pirates per say. I just think it could have been handled differently. There was a family vacation/reunion of some sort and there were about 30 people with one family and a few others that were couples and then I went on this solo because my friends weren't into this.

This family took up the entire front of the ship were you can sit and it would have been awkward sitting in the middle of a group of cousins. Now this family was VERY nice, talkative, etc. However no one was going to sit in the middle of their group.

When we got on the ship to sail they asked for staff to take a group photo that the rest of the boat had to sit and wait for. The lines for the bar and rope swing were longer due to so many of these groups going. Then we were supposed to exit the boat at 7:30 pm and I had 8 pm dinner reservations. This group took their time getting their belongings and getting off the boat. My taxi was waiting outside since 7:30 pm. I barely got back to my hotel in time for 8 pm and my friends were waiting. Thank God I didn't go swimming because I would have been a beachy mess. Then I had a hot drunk mess not a part of this group screaming in my ear and there was nowhere for me to move because the mini boat was full.

I think Jolly Pirates should have offered this family a private cruise or give the others an option to reschedule to another day or a refund. As nice as the people were in this family I may have opted to pick another day, it just would have been nice to be informed and be able to make a different decision if I wanted to. Maybe I would have pressed my friends a bit more.

I would definitely go again but I would be better prepared and make sure there isn't a...

To get things started, I rented a car and parked it at the Moomba Beach parking lot. The parking is free here. Good info to know before you go. I printed my ticket from Trip Advisor, but you HAVE TO GO INSIDE TO EXCHANGE IT for one of the RED boarding tickets. You also have to sign an electronic waiver. They are pretty prompt when it comes to getting the party started. Depending on how early you arrive, you can expect up to a 30 minute wait for someone to come get you to take you out to a motor boat which then transfers you to the main Pirate boat. You board and that’s when the party starts. The music starts playing and the party starts at 9AM here when it comes to drinking. The drinks are unlimited. They do close the bar at certain, short intervals to prep you for the snorkeling and to distribute the BBQ lunch that is included. Life vests and snorkeling equipment are available for your use and convenience. They take you to three snorkel spots, the 1st one being where the SS Antilla shipwreck is located. The current was strong here at the time and I was not able to get pics of it, but still enjoyed the experience. The next two places were more shallow snorkeling spots that had a variety of fish species and to swing and jump off the boat using the rope. After that it’s lunch time. They served us some nice BBQ ribs, chicken and rice. It was quite delectable. So my compliments to the chef in the galley. The lunch was delicious. As for the bar, I'm not that much of a drinker, but the Pirate’s poison drink was very good. They also had water and a kid friendly fruit punch. I really didn't taste the alcohol in it. Understandable since we were snorkeling. A wonderful experience if you have elderly folks or kids and if you just want the cruising and lunch experience. All in all I would definitely do this tour again. So with that said, Drink Up Me...