Upcoming Aruba trip

[Will Rogers]

Hi all, Had a chance to attend a seminar in Aruba and am taking the kids (3 & 1). My wife and I have (before children!) done a lot of diving and are interested in feedback on the diving in Aruba from those who have been there and many other places as well. Who would you dive with and why? Any dives or sites not to be missed? Any restaurants we should be sure and hit? Any and all advise most appreciated!

Thanks,

Will

 

[KidK9]

Do not dive Red Sail Sports - they suck terribly and you will hate it. Otherwise, the diving is kinda cool. Reefs are decent but not as good as Bonaire or Curocao, which everyone will tell you. Do the Antilla wreck and the Sonesta Airplane. Those were my fave's.

 

[KidK9]

Where else have you dove? Maybe I can give you an area that is comprable.

 

[mike_s]

Hi all, Had a chance to attend a seminar in Aruba and am taking the kids (3 & 1). My wife and I have (before children!) done a lot of diving and are interested in feedback on the diving in Aruba from those who have been there and many other places as well. Who would you dive with and why? Any dives or sites not to be missed? Any restaurants we should be sure and hit? Any and all advise most appreciated!

The diving in Aruba is good, but not as "great" as some other locations. Still better than most places where most of us live in the US.

Dive the Antilla. It's a 400' freighter sunk by it's German crew at the start of WWII in about 50' of water. It's worth diving more than once while there if you like big wrecks.

Lots of people reccomend diving with Pelican, which is who I dove with. They were very good and I'd dive with them again. Two tank dives were $55 and one tank dives werew $35 I think. You'll also hear people here and other boards say very good thinks about Dive Aruba and Unique Watersports. RedSail has mixed opinons, but mostly because they cater to the "larger" resorts and cruise boat lines. most of complaints about them are "cattle boats". But I've never been on them so can't say for myself.

Where are you staying?

Aruba is a great island. The restaurants are some of the best on Caribbean islands. Most of the meats though are South American, which the steaks/beef is much leaner than US meats, but still very good. You can't go wrong with most restuarants on the island. www.aruba.com/msgbrd has some great posts about all kinds of stuff, including the restaurants.

got more questions, PM me and I'll get back to you.

-mike

 

[AGF]

I dove there last year and went throught he same process as you to find a decent dive centre.

I wanted somewhere that didn't impose undue restrictions on dive times, and where I wasn't going to get bouced from a boat as soon as a cruise ship docked. The only centre that came up time and again was Clive at Dive Aruba. he is a small operation and concentrates on taking experienced divers for good diving, and whilst observing safety he doesn't drag you out of the water after 25 minutes like some operations.

Diving in Aruba is not as good as Bonaire or Curacao, but is good enough for you to enjoy with a reasonable varity of reefs and a couple of decent wrecks - Enjoy!

 

[Will Rogers]

Thanks to all who responded. I'm looking forward to the trip.

Will

 

[AGF]

Go on then Will, tell who you've decided to dive with!

 

[michaelp68]

Clive of Dive Aruba runs a great dive operation. The link is http://www.divearuba.com/.

First, his groups are small.

Second, he'll give you as much or as little attention as you want/need.

Third, he'll let you stay in the water for your air and ndl limits, instead of pre-determined and limited dive lengths.

Enjoy.

Michael

 

[crpntr133]

Dive Aruba or Pelican either one. For more info do a search here, it seems that Aruba is the place to be this year.

 

[jlevine]

I spent a week with Dive Aruba and loved every minute of it. No set dive times. None! Two of us were down for almost an hour and a half (admittedly we were shallow at the end). Clive runs a great op!