Diving in Aruba?

[cruzbound]

One of our stops in 2013 will be in Aruba. Has anyone dove there? What is it like? I would appreciate some names of private dive operators as I really don't like to book with the ship.

 

Thanks, cruzbound

[Laurie S.]

I'm diving there tomorrow with Dive Aruba. I'll post about it later in the day.

[cruzbound]

Any dive report for us Laurie in Aruba?

[Sailfish]

I dove with my dive group in Aruba several times. Though anytime we can go diving is great, Aruba has become one of those ports we no longer schedule as a dive port. As is often the case, so much of how you perceive a dive destination depends on conditions at the time you are there. With so many exceptional dive ports like Bonaire and Curacao, Aruba just simply doesn't even come close - and we dove there three different times, so we gave Aruba a chance. It's not the worst dive port we have ever been to (St. Maarten and Ocho Rios come to mind) but it's pretty low on our list. Visibility, unless you get lucky, is not that great and to me, that's a big deal. The reefs are not protected as they are in Curacao and Bonaire, so they are not teeming with fish either. The wreck dives we did there were interesting, so if you were to go, that would be my recommendation.

 

That doesn't mean you should not go diving there, but if you have to choose between other southern ports, I would tend to tell you to skip Aruba. Even securing the entire dive boat with a generous group discount, diving was more expensive than many other ports where the diving is far superior. Hopefully more divers will reply and give you feedback.

 

My dive group and I are well traveled (and somewhat jaded) divers; Aruba unfortunately does not do it for us. That said, I will dive just about anywhere, anytime - and if the diving isn't the best, oh well. I wouldn't take my dive group to Aruba, but if I were on a cruise without them, I probably would go diving just because I can.

 

Suzi

[Laurie S.]

I agree, I would never dive Aruba again. We weren't thrilled with Dive Aruba for several reasons. The main one was the personality issue. Then, my boyfriend is a Master Instructor with 4,645 dives to his credit. He has been diving 38 years and teaching for 33. Clive kept arguing with him that he was carrying too much weight. Russ always weights as an instructor and his bcd has 70 pounds of lift. He's a good-sized guy, too. He always uses 26 pounds with a 3 mm and Clive kept insisting that he was overweighted! When Russ said he always carries extra in case a diver is in trouble and Clive replied that that was his job. He didn't even get in the water on the first dive, so how could he have handed a diver problem?

 

The actual diving was fair at best and we only could get down below 100 feet on the first dive. The second dive was almost in the same area and the maximum depth was 50 feet. Although we had two good dives, they were the worst of our trip. Nevertheless, if you're underwater and breathing, you're happy. :)

 

I'll post a review about all of our diving in a couple days. Briefly, Samana was the best, and Grand Turk was the worst, thanks to the operators at both places.

[chriscamp]

We actually had problems with Dive Aruba in April 2110. After traveling to Clive's home to sign paperwork and pick up gear. He drove us to the marina. He boat had been damaged, so he had hired someone elses. He all had to carry our tanks and gear through the marina to the boat. During the first dive my son had trouble equalizing and Clive was no where to be found. He was at the bottom leading the rest of the divers to the wreck. I was left to try to asssist my son and finally abort the dive. Clive didn't even know what happened. Unfortunaetly my son was trying to force the dive and ended up having to miss the second dive due to severe pain. Our next stop in the Virgin Islands was so much better. As were our dives in Cozumel on 3/15/2012. I would never recommend Dive Aruba after this outing.