Here is the second of a few recap posts on our spring break family trip to Aruba, including our snorkeling adventure with Jolly Pirates! Check out part I here.
Family Trip To Aruba – Jolly Pirates
Easter Sunday
Ahoy there from the Hyatt Regency Aruba! Easter was smack in the middle of our trip, and we were excited to hear that the Hyatt had an Easter egg hunt planned for the kiddos. (The Easter bunny visited our home in Cville, so they got baskets there on our return.)
Waiting for the hunt to start with Grammie!
There were two sections: big kids and little kids. But like most egg hunts, it was a madhouse and there were a few tears after.
Everyone recovered, and we rallied for lunchtime by the pool!
I had fish tacos and a Balashi!
Jolly Pirates
The highlight of our trip for me was our afternoon snorkeling with Jolly Pirates! My sister did the booking for us, and we had a fabulous time!! We climbed aboard this pirate ship (complete with a friendly crew!) and had fun snorkeling at two different locations followed by some rope swinging and a dance party on the deck!
We traveled to two different snorkeling sites – the first was a sunken ship from WWII. Looking at it underwater covered in barnacles was like looking at the Titanic! A bit creepy. The water was a little rough, so the younger children stayed on board for that stop.
After 20 minutes or so there, we climbed back aboard and sailed to our second site, which was a calmer cove.
These guys got in with their goggles and just put their faces in the water to see the schools of fish we swam through! I didn’t even use a life jacket here because the water was so salty you basically float!
The Rope Swing
A highlight of a Jolly Pirates adventure is the rope swing! Guess who was the very first person to go off of it?! Barbara Younger!!
Go Mazen Go!
The Flip
I asked one of the ship mate’s if he could do the flip. He told me only if I was on his back! The next thing I knew I was actually on his back and he was telling me “DO NOT LET GO!” If you want to see the video version, go to my Instagram story highlight! It was incredible!
On the way back, we had an open bar of Pirate’s Poison (and plenty of NA options for the kids). And they cranked the music for the dance floor!
One of those magical afternoons on the water with the sun shining!
After our snorkeling, we were all exhausted and ended up having a casual dinner at the resort while watching Duke (lose, sadly) in basketball.
Fast forward to the next day when we spent our time at the beach and pool!
Happy Hour
This smoked tequila drink was our favorite!
Caya House
For dinner, we walked into the town to Caya House!
The ambiance in the outdoor courtyard was lovely!
I didn’t capture all the food we enjoyed, but it was all delicious. More seafood! And yucca fries.
Afterwards we strolled through the town a bit and got some ice cream for dessert!
Thanks for following along! Part III is coming next to wrap up our trip and share my final thoughts and recommendations!
Sarah says
Are your parents aging in reverse?! They look great! (And fun!) really enjoying these recaps!