What to bring on an Aruba kayak and snorkel tour

This list is short on purpose. The single most common packing mistake on a kayak tour is bringing too much, because everything you bring has to live on a kayak with you, get wet, or stay in the car. Here is what genuinely helps, what we already supply, and the one item people forget every single week.

Bring these six things

Your swimsuit, already on. Both meeting points are outdoors, a boat ramp in Savaneta and a beach sign in Pos Chiquito, and neither has a changing room. Come dressed to get wet.

A towel. Leave it in the car for afterwards rather than bringing it on the water.

Reef-safe mineral sunscreen. Zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Put it on at least fifteen minutes before you launch so it has bonded to your skin rather than washing straight off into the reef you came to look at.

A hat and sunglasses, both on a strap. This is the item people forget. Anything not attached to you is one gust away from being at the bottom of the sea, and sunglasses do not float.

Footwear that stays on your feet. Water shoes or sandals with a heel strap. Flip flops come off in the water and then you are the person chasing a shoe.

A refillable water bottle. We carry drinking water for the group, but having your own within reach means you actually drink it.

Wear this, not that

A quick-drying shirt or rash guard beats cotton by a wide margin. Wet cotton stays wet, chafes under a life jacket and offers almost nothing against the sun. A loose long-sleeved light shirt is the best sunburn insurance on the water and it is cooler than it sounds, because the breeze on this coast is constant.

Leave the wide-brimmed floppy hat that has never survived a windy day. A cap with a strap, or a hat with a chin cord, is the one that comes home with you.

What we already provide

The kayak and paddle. The life jacket, which is provided and worn on the water. Full snorkel gear, mask, snorkel and fins, so you do not need to buy anything at the airport or rent from a shop. Drinking water and fresh fruit. And your guide, who works in English, Spanish and Papiamento.

The only gear worth bringing yourself is a prescription mask if you own one, or your own mask if you strongly prefer the fit of it.

Leave these behind

There is no locker at either meeting point. Anything you bring is either on the kayak with you, in your own car, or with somebody who stayed behind.

So: rings, watches, necklaces and anything else you would be sad to watch sink. Hotel key cards demagnetise in salt water, so seal them or leave them. Large bags have nowhere to go. Paper money that is not in a sealed bag will come home as pulp.

Phones and cameras, honestly

Assume everything gets wet, then decide. If you bring a phone, bring it in a proper waterproof pouch on a lanyard around your neck, not in a pocket and not loose in a dry bag you will open at the wrong moment. Cheap pouches fail at the seal, so test yours in a hotel sink with a tissue inside before you trust your phone to it.

Action cameras with a float and a wrist strap are the low-stress option. Anything with an interchangeable lens should stay in the car.

The sun, which is the real hazard

Aruba sits close to the equator, the trade wind keeps you feeling cool while you burn, and the water reflects a second dose up at you from below. People who have never burned on a beach burn on a kayak.

Cover the places nobody covers: the tops of your feet, the backs of your hands, your ears, the back of your neck and the underside of your chin. Reapply after the snorkel stop. A shirt beats sunscreen for the parts a shirt can reach.

Glasses, contact lenses and medication

Contact lenses and snorkel masks are a poor combination, because a flooded mask can wash them out. If you wear them, keep your eyes closed while clearing the mask, or use a prescription mask instead. If you wear glasses, bring the strap.

Anything you need on a schedule, including inhalers and motion sickness tablets, should be taken before you launch and mentioned to the guide at the briefing. See our seasickness page for the timing on tablets.

Where to next

Read the swimming requirement, the weather policy, kayaking with kids, or the full price list.