Recommendations for Aruba

[Scuba5man]

I would not recommend Red Sails in Aruba. On a Two tank dive with them the dive master mixed beginners with experienced divers when he didn't have to. In addition we had tanks that blew two o-rings and had multiple BC failures. We had 20-knot winds and the vis was 30-40 ft. We asked to move south but we were told they couldn’t due to other commitments.

 

[vapovick]

searuba.com "fly n dive" is a great op, the Jane Sea, and the Antilla is awsome. do the antilla at night. Aruba is a great island,

dont belive the hype !

 

[ronrosa]

Steve, I've never heard of anyone putting Aruba on a dive destination list. I think if you check with the dive community, [notwithstanding one or two divers here], magazines, dive shops,etc,you will not hear Aruba mentioned as a place to dive. There are so many other better places to dive, like Bonaire, which is close by, that I think you will be disappointed, if your main objective is diving, if you go there. Any flight you take there will pass over greater dive places.

I agree that you don't go to Aruba for a dedicated dive vacation. Diving is good, but not great. I like Aruba a lot. It is a very good for an overall vacation. Good diving, good beaches, good resorts, good shopping, etc.. If you want to dive everyday 2 or 3 tanks a day for a week, you will get bored with the diving. Good wrecks, but not much animal life or colorful reef life.

Everyone has an opinion and we don't all appreciate the same things in diving or topside.

Form your own opinion, here is my Aruba dive video from a few years ago. It will give you an idea of what the diving is like.

Right click and "save target as" to download.

Aruba Video

 

[alanfield]

Since when has there been a language called 'American'!!!

Personally I found Aruba not bad for diving - been to better places like Red Sea and Maldives, but certainly done worse in the Caribbean such as Cuba and Margarita.

 

[zuzanne]

We enjoyed our first trip to Aruba so much that we are headed back for two weeks in September. One week was not long enough, as we ran out of time before we ran out of things today.
We used Pelican for snorkeling and diving. We were just a short walk across the beach to their operation on the Pelican Pier across from the Holiday Inn. We were next door at the Playa Linda Resort which is a beautiful place. They were great to go out with. Treated everyone with respect and made sure everyone on the boat were enjoying themselves. They also have full line of rental gear available. We went on the Le Dome Gourmet lunch snorkeling trip. Great time as soon as we were on board, they served breakfast rolls, juices, coffee, tea and champagne. Lunch was awesome, actually served us individual mini beef wellingtons. The history of the old sailing ship and its upkeep was very interesting. The crew made sure that everyone was well taken care of right down to the rope swing if you were brave enough to try it. They took us to three different sights to snorkel including the wreck of the Antilla. On the return trip we were served fresh fruits and anything you wanted to drink was available the entire day. We also went on a jeep off road full day trek all around the entire Island, toured two caves and fed the hundreds of Hungry iguanas on the back side in the nature park. Did a half day horse ride to the Natural Pool and even went down on the Atlantis Submarine. We also enjoyed many very good restaurants with our favorite being Madame Janettes.

We can hardly wait for Sept to get here to go back.

Zuzanne

 

[Wijbrandus]

I love Aruba too! It's my favorite spot in the Carib yet.

However, the OP made his trip three months ago.

Welcome to Scubaboard, Scuba5man, but you might want to check the posts you respond to...

 

[alansalton]

here yor have a list of some attractions in Aruba Aruba Attractions

 

[SDiverJim]

I AM TOTALLY SHOCKED BY EVERYONE'S COMMENTS...

The best thing we did in Aruba was rent a jeep. Granted, they make no qualms about advertising that you are in a rented vehicle, but we took that Jeep all over the island and we had a BLAST everywhere we went! I can't believe you are saying that there is nothing to do after the dive! We had trouble finding time to just sit and relax by the pool! We would throw our snorkelling gear in the back of the jeep and drive around until we found a good snorkeling spot and just pull off the side of the road and hop in. Likewise, we never were at any loss for a GREAT place to eat or shop, or go horseback riding or ANYTHING we wanted to. We went to the world famous Charlie's Bar in San Nicolas...which I would highly recommend.

I'm sorry to say this, but if you don't "have anything to do after a dive" it's because you're not looking for anything to do...which is perfectly fine too, just don't make a claim that there ISN'T anything to do....

Steve, you will have a great time!!! Don't get caught up with the media hype just because 1 american is missing and probably dead. It is a totally isolated incident. My wife and I drove around the island at all hours of the day and night, and NEVER ONCE did we feel in any kind of danger...It is unfortunate that this whole thing has happened, because of ALL the caribbean island, I would say Aruba has to be the best balance of safety, good diving and plenty of topside activity. Don't let a few nay-sayers discourage you...like with anything, you can choose to have a great time or not; that is entirely you decision. If you are a person who likes to have a good time, then you will have a great time in Aruba.

AND LEARN HOW TO SAY "HELLO" IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE WHEREVER YOU GO...if for no other reason than simple courtesy.

I am with you. I was there in February and it was fantastic. The weather was perfect. Water temperature was excellent. I have to say that I have seen better reefs in Thiland but I would not hesitate to return to Aruba. I dove with Diversity next to the Marriott Surf Club and they were accomidating and professional. Maybe I have not dove enough to be the best resource but if your turning people away to other islands I am shocked. To each his/her own I guess. On a side note the food was great as well Texas De Brazil is a must.