Aruba - dive operaqtor that will leave us alone

[EricK]

Hi all - first post.
I used to be an active instructor (Club Med, Turks & Caicos, Davie, FL). Now, just a vacacationer.
My wife and I (and more family) heading down Aug 6-14, 2004. She is advanced, around 90 dives, we bring our own equipment, including computers. We are staying at the Renaissance.

We are looking for a dive operator that will put us on the boat, then leave us alone. Definately NO group dives, and we tend to stay long, usually no deeper than 80 ft - so we need to get off the boat early, and we come back late.

I know Aruba is NOT known as a wild-out diver's destination (we've been some time ago), but want an operator that will let us be.

Would love to here you experiences. Thanks!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Can't help with Aruba but welcome to Scubaboard!

 

[LWith58]

My Wife and I dove With Dive Aruba 2 years ago and had a very good experience. They had one small boat with a single captain/dive master to take out small groups of 4 - 6 divers. It had the feel of a private boat with personalized service, very nice people. All of the diving was done just outside the harbor and to the south/east. For the most part the reefs are so-so but, the further south you go, the better condition the reefs are in.

Check out their website http://www.divearuba.com send Clive Paula (owner-operator) an e-mail let him know what you would like to do, I’m sure he will accommodate your needs.

 

[michaelp68]

Hi all - first post.
I used to be an active instructor (Club Med, Turks & Caicos, Davie, FL). Now, just a vacacationer.
My wife and I (and more family) heading down Aug 6-14, 2004. She is advanced, around 90 dives, we bring our own equipment, including computers. We are staying at the Renaissance.

We are looking for a dive operator that will put us on the boat, then leave us alone. Definately NO group dives, and we tend to stay long, usually no deeper than 80 ft - so we need to get off the boat early, and we come back late.

I know Aruba is NOT known as a wild-out diver's destination (we've been some time ago), but want an operator that will let us be.

Would love to here you experiences. Thanks!

Contact Clive from Dive Aruba at www.divearuba.com.

I dove with him and my father-in-law dove with him twice.

He runs a great operation. He's very professional and personalizes his services to fit your needs.

Like LWith said, his boat is small, so even if he has other divers, it will never be a big group.

He will definitely give you the flexibility and independence you want, and being a local and longtime diver in that area, he'll have lots of information for you on all of the dive locations he could take you to.

Good luck.

Michael

 

[smokey braden]

dear erik,
this past spring my family and i also stayed at the Renaissance.
we dove with clive.
http://www.divearuba.com/
he keeps his boat at the Renaissance dock so it was a very short walk.
clive is very good about returning e-mails.
contact him and i'm sure he will be able to accomodate y'all.
tell us about your trip when you get back.
regards,
smokey

 

[ppo2_diver]

Avoid Red Sail if you want to have a longer bottom time. I was down there in Feb. They limited the max bottom time to 40 minutes regardless of air supply remaining. These were the advanced dives I might add. They didn't do a lot of hand holding, but the max on the bottom time was a real drag.

 

[x-ring]

Hi all - first post.
I used to be an active instructor (Club Med, Turks & Caicos, Davie, FL). Now, just a vacacationer.
My wife and I (and more family) heading down Aug 6-14, 2004. She is advanced, around 90 dives, we bring our own equipment, including computers. We are staying at the Renaissance.

We are looking for a dive operator that will put us on the boat, then leave us alone. Definately NO group dives, and we tend to stay long, usually no deeper than 80 ft - so we need to get off the boat early, and we come back late.

I know Aruba is NOT known as a wild-out diver's destination (we've been some time ago), but want an operator that will let us be.

Would love to here you experiences. Thanks!

I've been to Aruba 3 times since 2000 and took my gear every time. Our first trip was with Mermaid. I never used them again because it was crowded (they have the lowest price), you had to crawl over the transom to exit and enter the boat, and there was a rigid exit time on the morning dives (afternoon dives were more flexible). The other trips were with Pelican Adventures. Very courteous staff, nice 46' boats, and I don't recall rigid bottom time/depth enforcement. The best dives in Aruba would probably rate as average at the better Caribbean locales, but it isn't bad (sure beats the quarry).