Looking to dive Aruba 2/19-2/29

[amajamar]

I'm going to be in Aruba for 10 days between Feb 19 and Feb 29, 2008. My girlfriend and I are looking to dive five or six days during that stay and I want to stick with the smaller operators for a more personalized experience.

We are new to diving, OW certified with about 15 logged dives and want to dive within our comfort level and ability.

I have emailed some of the smaller operations regarding availablity, but have not yet received any responses.

Does anyone have any suggestions or know any of these operators personally in order to make some reservations for diving?

Thanks in advance!

 

[tarheeldiver]

I highly recommend Clive at DiveAruba very small op and the most he takes is 6 I think but most days we had less, plus Clive is a nice fun guy to be around.

 

[amajamar]

Well, after emailing a few of the smaller dive ops there, he is the only one to reply! He has availability during our stay.

There was a thread somewhere else I read where he was refered to as "strict"... Did you find that to be true and what does that actually mean???

 

[Stichus III]

amajamar,

I recommend Jads at Baby Beach. They work in small groups and because of their location at Baby Beach (San Nicolas area), consistently dive the best sites in Aruba.

 

[amajamar]

Yeah, well I emailed them a couple of times and have not heard back from them with any info. Can you shore dive there? If so, how much is it to rent tanks from them?

I read someone's post about the only shore diving in Aruba is there.

Also, (to hijack my own thread!) since you guys have experience diving in Aruba, can you make suggestions on appropriate tipping?

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I always dive with Romeo at Native Divers. He is a small operation. He doesn't do email, if you want their phone number, I can PM you with it.

 

[h2oSkier]

Amajamar, we made our first trip to Aruba a few weeks ago and dove several days with Clive at DiveAruba largely based on the recommendations from the board. We had a great time and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. I'll certainly use him again if we return.

With respect to him being 'strict' - he's a one man operation (Captain, Divemaster, ...) and wants to keep things orderly on the boat while tieing up and offloading divers. It's really nothing more than asking people to stay seated until he's ready.

As far as diving, he dives with the group and comes up with the first diver or at a turn point to fetch the boat on a drift dive. He'll let you dive your plan and generally won't limit your dive time. Of course this means that his 2 tank morning trips can run a little long.

Be sure to book your spots early as he tends to fill up quickly.

 

[amajamar]

I always dive with Romeo at Native Divers. He is a small operation. He doesn't do email, if you want their phone number, I can PM you with it.

They have links online to contact them but they haven't responded yet. I don't want to spend $20 on a phone call...!

 

[amajamar]

Amajamar, we made our first trip to Aruba a few weeks ago and dove several days with Clive at DiveAruba largely based on the recommendations from the board. We had a great time and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. I'll certainly use him again if we return.

With respect to him being 'strict' - he's a one man operation (Captain, Divemaster, ...) and wants to keep things orderly on the boat while tieing up and offloading divers. It's really nothing more than asking people to stay seated until he's ready.

As far as diving, he dives with the group and comes up with the first diver or at a turn point to fetch the boat on a drift dive. He'll let you dive your plan and generally won't limit your dive time. Of course this means that his 2 tank morning trips can run a little long.

Be sure to book your spots early as he tends to fill up quickly.

Where did he take you? Can you ask for specific locations? Reefs vs. wrecks, etc.

 

[h2oSkier]

I believe he has a standard schedule but I wouldn't hesistate to make a special request in advance.

We dove a mix of wrecks and reefs and I enjoyed the variety of the sites.

Day one we dove Finger Reef followed by a drift dive on Masbango Reef. Finger Reef was an interesting site sloping down from 15' to ~ 130' highlighted by Black Coral which I hadn't seen before. I'd describe Masbango Reef as a sloping reef transitioning to a ledge dropoff at 50'. It's an easy drift dive which you can start at 50'-60' and gradually work your way up for a nice profile following the previous deep dive.

Day two were the airplane wrecks and a drift dive on sponge reef. You'll dive two airplanes on the first dive - one at 80' and one a short distance away sitting at approximately 50'. Sponge reef is appropriately named with a large variety of soft corals and sponges primarily between 20'-50' and home to the most photogenic octopus I've encountered.

Day three we dove Debbie II Wreck+Arashi Reef followed by the The Antilla wreck. Dive #1 starts with a tour of the reef (rumored to be home to a frog fish unfortunately no sightings on our day but I did see Lobzilla on this reef) and ending on the wreck which holds quite a bit of life. Most of this dive is in 50'-70'. We ended our diving with the best known and largest wreck in Aruba - The Antilla. It's over 400' in length with the deepest portion at about 60'. It's laying on its port side with significant life and is wide open for some nice swim-throughs and easy penetration.