Going to Aruba in September — several questions

My wife and I are going to Aruba in September, never having been diving there before.

What is considered to be the best dive operation in Aruba? Is there any shore diving, or is it all boat diving?

Any thoughts or advice on Aruba diving, operators, sites, places to go, things to avoid?

Thank you for your help.

I dove with Jads Dive Center for the past 2 years and had a good time.

I also dove with a small operator next to the Marriott and we went out on a little skiff. No real complaints.

As far as shore diving, there are a few places but the one I used a few times was from a house on Rocky Beach that Jads has access to.

Temps in August and June were in the low 80's and upper 70's at the deeper depths. Lots of dives end up being drift, actually most do unless you are near the resorts up north on the west side. I never dove the east coast.

Baby Beach has a shore dive but you have to ask the locals about the current that day. It has been the opposite of what it normally is in the past. Jads in located right next to Baby Beach.

I hope this helps.

They need someone to sneak in some lion-tamers for them as spearfishing is illegal but the lion-tamer and like spears are needed there.

I haven't either but Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Aruba, ABC Islands

We go to Aruba every year around thanksgiving (timeshare) and I always dive with Clive at Dive Aruba. They will pick you up at your hotel/resort. His boat is located in the marina in downtown. The ride there from the resort areas will be MUCH shorter than going all the way to JADS at baby beach. Clive allows you to dive your profile. My average dive time with Clive is about 65-70 minutes. A lot of the dive ops on the island limit you to 45 minutes max per dive.
Search for "Aruba" here on Scubaboard and you will see other reviews of Dive Aruba and some of the others on the island.

thank you for all the replies!

I second the vote with Clive. He is a great operator. I had some of my longest dives with him.

I just got certified in Feb and I have over 100 dives in on Aruba. I own Aruba Bob snorkeling. Check out my web site: arubabobsnorkeling.com
The divers really like our snorkel tour.
Jads is a very great dive shop to use. We do alot of shore diving on our own and we night dive all the time. We got over 200 lionfish the last trip I was there. We eat them and they are great if you know what you are doing. I will be there first of Nov thru Mid March so let me know when you are coming. Aruba Bob