Aruba options

[diverrick]

My wife and I are planning our next escape for July, and the ABC's came up as a possable place to dive. What we'd like to know is what options are available to get there from the US?
I checked airfare and it was a bit steep at least for the bigger airlines. Are there smaller companies that fly there that might be more affordable?, How about ferries, or other water transportation. What would be the best departure city?
I plan on getting to the East coast as a standby passenger (read CHEAP), but then getting on out of the USA seems to be the sticking point. I don't even know how far away these islands are from the US. Guess I need to start hitting the reference manuals.

 

[diverrick]

I am going to repost this as when I first posted it the threads were going fast and furious, and I got "0" responses to my querie. I don't think it stayed in "new posts" more than a few hours at best.
I would also like to add to the first post, that any of the ABC Islands travel info would be good. What companies fly there, air port code for the islands, Etc.

 

[Drewpy]

Erik- I am headed to Bonaire in July and Ill share my findings..
Its a long trip that for me involves three legs!
Oak-Lax
Lax - Montego, Jamaica
Jamaica-Bonaire
Leave Oaklnd @ 5:30 pm arrive in Bonaire at 2:30pm next day!
Return leg had the option of layover in either Atlanta or LA
I beleive the hubs for Bonaire are either San Juan PR
orJamaica..? As far as East Coast cities I am not sure other than ATL?

There is a website www.bonairetalk.com that might be a help?
There is a forum titled -Getting to Bonaire- that might shed some light?

Let me know if I can help any further..?

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Aruba Bonaire and Curacao lie a short distance off the coast of Venezuela. That is a long haul from the west coast and more than 900 miles from Cayman.

Getting there in one day can be difficult enough for many departure points, but impossible for west coast residents. The airport codes to search on are AUA (Aruba), BON (Bonaire), and CUR (Curacao).

Regional hubs are in MIA (Miami), SJU (San Juan, Puerto Rico), and MBJ (Montego Bay, Jamaica). You can also reach the islands from the South American continent, though that's not usually helpful for Americans.

From MBJ you can fly directly to BON or CUR and then connect to AUA. You can't get there from here is a common refrain.

 

[goofygirl]

The ABC's are some of the southernmost Caribbean islands, but most of the larger carriers offer non-stop service from NYC airports (LGA, JFK, and NWK? Newark) to Aruba (the most oftern visited of the ABC's) if you can get your butt to one of those you can get to Aruba. There are frequent interisland flights on DCA air so if you can get to Aruba you can get to any of the islands.

US Airways just picked up an Aruba route and they are offering pretty good airfare from NYC. About $600.

We got a pretty good deal last October, under $1200 for both of us, non-stop from JFK-AUA.

BTW we loved Native Divers, say hi to Romeo for us if you end up in Aruba!

 

[KidK9]

Whatever you do, don't use Red Sail Sports. They have terrible service and are the DEFINITION of cattle boats.

 

[diverrick]

thanks for the info. I didn't realize it would take more than a day just to get there. Plus I have yet to find an airfare that suits my pocket book.

 

[Luckyfishrag]

Whatever you do, don't use Red Sail Sports. They have terrible service and are the DEFINITION of cattle boats.

Any idea of who I SHOULD use? Thanks.
Lucky

 

[ronrosa]

Any idea of who I SHOULD use? Thanks.
Lucky

I'll be in Aruba for a week in June. Diving with Unique. Have heard mixed opinions on Aruba diving, but Unique has received many positive comments.

I'll post a report when I get back.

 

[goofygirl]

We dove with both Unique and Native Divers. Can't say a bad thing about either. Unique is a bigger boat, but not a cattle boat at all, dove with them when Romeo (Native divers) wasn't available.

Native is a really small boat, but that means you'll have Romeo pretty much to yourself and choose your own dive spot. The only time my husband and I weren't alone with Romeo was with only 2 other divers. He's a former tech diver and really knowledgeable and an all around fun guy. If you go with them say hello to Romeo and Vanessa from us (Michael and Kathy from NY)