Atlantis Submarines Aruba — Attraction in Oranjestad (city)

We were very excited to do this excursion on our most recent trip to Aruba. Sea life and wrecks are extremely fascinating to us. We spoke with a representative at our resort, who highly recommended it. We specifically chose this sub for the deeper tour over the 5ft tour because, it promised 2 shipwrecks and a plane wreck. We were booked in for 11am and taxied downtown, only to be told we were actually booked in for the 1pm. We had to wait 2 hours. Finally the shuttle to the submarine arrived. Before boarding an employee said, everyone needed their photos taken for security purposes. They snapped it and we boarded. I have to say, the shuttle was the worst part. It was a covered shuttle, with no air and 40 bodies. The heat was unbearable and hard to breathe. You could not see out of the windows, they were very dirty and foggy. The ride itself was very rough, by the time we arrived at the submarine, I wasn't feeling very well. The water is so incredibly blue out there! We boarded the submarine and began our descent. I will say, all of the staff we encountered at the the kiosks, the shuttle and the sub were all very friendly and informative. The submarine ride itself was smooth and very exciting to be down under the sea. I wish I wasn't so sick from the shuttle over. We did see a lot of fish, lots of Dory (Blue tang). We saw 2 shipwrecks, very cool!! Wrecks have always intrigued me. It was a real buzzkill when we were told that they were not wrecks at all!! They were purposely sunk there, purely for the submarine tours!!!! Wow! And there was no plane wreck!!!! The shuttle back was just as sickening as the one there. Don't get me wrong, it is thrilling. We got to travel on a submarine 135ft below sea level, see fish and real sea life. That's amazing but, as a family we paid $500 USD to see artificial shipwrecks, and no plane wreck. To top it off, when we returned, our "security purpose photos" were printed and placed in cardboard frames for sale, $12 each. To conclude, we are happy to say we made a trip down under the Caribbean sea in a submarine, we did see some some cool sea life. However, it was a large price to pay to only see part of what was promised and then be told the part we did see isn't even real! Then, pay more money for "security photo" and be sick for the rest of...

Wonderful experience seeing the fish, reef and even the sea turtle---5 stars for all that.

Customer service 1 star!!! They told us to arrive at 12:30p. We like to be early and planned accordingly, but all the parking lots were full. I ran in to ask where to park and they were not helpful. I asked what happens if we don't get here by 1pm if we can't find parking and they shrugged their shoulders. I was worried we would miss the boat. It might have been nice if they had told me not to worry that we would not even be getting on the ferry until 1:15p. Then they thought it was hilarious and pointed out a spot that just opened up out front when we finally arrived having found a spot a ways a way and running like crazy people. Not a good start.

Then they forced us to take photos--they lied about that saying it was for security but it was just to try to sell us the photo (like a cruise) to the point that they aggressively forced us to walk through the store to look at the $12 photos on the way out. Shouting after us as we chose not to stop and look.

Guide 1 star! Ferry ride was rough--take dramamine!! But it was a beautiful ride to the sub marred by the guide who felt it necessary to tell inane jokes the whole time. This was not a booze cruise where we might giggle our head offs over nonsense. Unfortunately he kept it up the whole submarine ride--making sexist jokes about the female fish eating the male fish. It would be nice if they offered a tour that provided more fish identification and info and less standup stupidity!

Pandering to the worst image of dumb tourists ruined this fine adventure. Grow up and behave like adults---let the experience stand on its own without...

This was by far the worst experience of a week long trip to Aruba. First, be prepared to experience the musical tastes of the crew which will be blasted at very high volumes. On our short ride out to the sub (15 minutes) and during the entire sub ride, we were subjected to what I would call american ‘club’ or ‘hip-hop dance’ music. While all musical endeavors are to be respected, there is a diverse group of people who take these tours. To absolutely blast one very niche genre of music is totally bizarre and I found it lame. Meaning, it was out of place with the backdrop of a beautiful coral reef. It was essentially a cacophony of ideas and sounds.

Second, you must also prepare yourself to be tortured by the the baseless sense of humor of the crew as well. For example, there were numerous jokes about drug smuggling from Venezuela. I could go on, but totally horrid wanna-be stand up comedy going on with no respect for the audience.

Lastly, there was virtually zero educational value to this tour. Ideally one could learn about the reef and hear some detail about it, since there seems to be a dreaded discomfort with silence on these trips.

If you are looking for an educational, exploratory, experience to learn about nature and the island of Aruba, this is definitely not it. If you are slightly buzzed drunk and want to party down on a little submarine in close quarters with sweaty strangers, this is your ticket...