Aruba - Clive Paula

[snorkymn]

So it's a bit late, but I ended up going with S.E. Aruba Fly N Dive. SEAruba Fly 'n Dive - diving in the Dutch Carribbean Mark is the shop manager and is a pretty good guy to dive with. Has a very good attitude about it all.. Diving is to be relaxed and fun, not rushed. So you were never told you had to get your stuff on and get in the water in a minute or anything like that. Though he does move a bit fast leading the dive.. I take a lot of pics and was experimenting with the camera, so wish he had moved a bit slower while in the water.

Overall They were a pretty decent bunch so I guess I'd recommend them. I was amazed at how colorful the soft corals were, and at how many fish I saw while there. Though I wish I had seen more "big" things like turtles, rays, and sharks, I'd still say the 6 days of diving were a success based on the corals, fish, and eels. Though I'd just avoid the Antilla and Anshari Reef sites next time. They're pretty overgrown with moss now that apparent chemical dumping has been done by the Golf Course up there. They'd probably go down as my least favorite dives. Though I saw a couple turtles and southern stingray up there, the only place I saw a stingray the whole week.

Who did you end up using?

 

[GoHokiesGo]

I never responded when I got back a few weeks ago (April 25-30), but I had a similar situation arise with Clive. He canceled our dives the week before we were scheduled to go down, so I had to rebook at the last minute before flying down there.

I went with Romeo at Native Divers after reading a few reviews for him on here as well. I have no problems giving him a recommendation and really enjoyed my dives with him. He's not a big operation and only takes a few divers at a time, he'll also pick you up directly from your hotel for your dives. I enjoyed that since it made the dives more personalized, and he took us to locations that met our comfort levels and what we wanted to see. We spent 2 mornings diving with him and did 4 dives total. Both days started with a deep wreck in the morning, and then a relaxing reef drift dive for the second dive. It was also my brothers very first dives, so he went through air really quick. They helped him with getting to the surface when he was out, and still let the rest of us continue the dives till we were ready to go up. On top of it all - he has a great personality and was fun to hang out with when above the surface.

Romeo's phone number on the island is 565-4090, and he's the owner for Native Divers. I'll be diving with him again whenever I make it back to the islands, and recommend him to others.