Aruba anyone?

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Iguana Don

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OK peeps,

I have a young lady that is looking for information on Aruba, any of you Caribbean Jet Setters have any info?

ID
 
we were in Aruba in Sept, 2000 - going back in June 2001 - I'll try to answer any questions - what does she want to know?
 
Hi Iguana Don,

Aruba is not a dedicated dive destination like its sister Bonaire, and the diving on Curacao is much better as well. It is not an especially attractive island in terms of natural beauty except for superb beaches, being quite arid, flat & sparse/scrubby of growth. It is much less pretty than Curacao (there are some nasty industrial areas here) with its tropical hikes, etc. It does have glitzy hotels, upscale shops, and restaurants (especaily Indonesian) with excellent food. Many describe it as like Miami Beach with casinos, & think this is not too far off. All of this is not to dampen your spirits, but to give you a realistic expectation. I'm sure you'll have a good time. It is a honeymoon, after all.

The big diving draw on Aruba is the wreck of the Antilla (at 60', nicely encrusted; do it as a night dive, too), with other worth while wrecks being the California, Pedernales & Jane Sea. There are some patch reefs off the northern point at 50-60'. Other reefs deep, like Kantil & Natural Bridge, both at 110". Winds & rough surface conditions can reduce viz & make diving difficult, especially on Caribbean side of island. For shore diving, places like Santana Reef & Porto Chiquito are both easy to get to & decent dives.

For dive shops, try Unique Sports (800-450-2084) or Aruba Scuba Center (800-845-3483). Red Sail & Pelican, two of the biggies, mostly get modest to poor reviews by others, although Red Sail under new management & is trying to improve. If you go with them, call Greg & find out when the cruise ships are diving with him--don't go then.

Also can check out:

Aruba Aqua Sports (2978) 23380
Dax Divers (2978) 51270
Mermaid Divers (2978) 35546
Depalm watersports (2978) 24545
Native divers (2978) 68763
Pro Divers (2978) 25520
S.E.A. Scuba (2978) 34877
Scuba Aruba (2978) 34142

Many of these also have websites.

Hope this gets your friend started.

DocVikingo
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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