Anybody been diving in Aruba or St. Lucia?

[marly]

We'll be there in December and I'm trying to decide what to do. How's the diving there? Does anyone have a recommendation who to go with?

 

Thanks,

Marly

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Driving is quite easy is in Aruba. As part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, they drive on the right just like we do. Traffic through the city of Oranjestad can be heavy at times but the city is only a few blocks long. The rest of the island has fairly light traffic using two-lane roads. They use the international road signs you may have seen in Europe; some signs are in Dutch. Rental car companies will give you an island map so it's easy to find your way around.

 

We rented with Thrifty which has a desk in the Renaissance Hotel located on the waterfront, about a 15-20 minute walk from the cruise ship pier. We drove to the main tourist sights, filled the tank when we were done and returned the car in plenty of time to visit the downtown shops.

 

BobK/Orlando

[bruce-r]

KingBob, I think you might have added an "R" to marly's question.

 

The diving in Aruba is good, but not as good as Curacao or Bonaire. http://www.divearuba.com is who I used and had a good time. Here are a couple of threads and here and Here

 

I don't personally know about the diving at St. Lucia, but my impression from what I have read here is that it is quite good, definitely worth the effort to make arrangements to dive there. Unfortunately, I can't make a recommendation for a dive OP. Check This Thread and the St. Lucia section in the ports of call area.

[Jerry_G]

bruce-r

I dove St Lucia last February. Both my wife and I really enjoyed it. We did the RCCL excursion because it looked like a very long day, AND it was. We actually arrived back at the cruise ship right at the departure time. We dove at http://www.ansechastanet.com/. The water was clear and the coral was beautiful. We saw a school of squid(1st time for me) and some of the most unique coral formations that I have seen. My wife and I are thinking of spending a week vacationing there. Diving was a little different. They take you into the water at about 10 feet and make you demonstrate mask removal and regulator retrieval. They do this for everybody regardless of your experience level. The first dive was a beach dive into the preserve. The second one was a boat dive but was in the same preserve. By the way if you go to the link above the cove/beach on the lh side of the picture is where you will dock dive and eat lunch. On the second dive they take you out around the bend and you look out onto the twin pitong. What makes for a long day is that you have a good 60-75 minute boat ride to and from the dive site. Would I dive there again? YES YES YES Good luck

Jerry

[marly]

Thanks everybody!

Marly

[AlexandraIsHere]

Diving in St. Lucia was very good. I am thinking about going back for a week to explore more of the diving options. I haven't dove Aruba yet, but might have the chance to do that when I'm there on a cruise Thanksgiving week.

[AlexandraIsHere]

Oh, forgot to say we dove with "Dive Fair Helen" on St. Lucia and they were terrific. They had 2 boats going out and initially were going to mix the levels of divers on the two boats and everyone would have been limited to the newest diver's abilities. We talked them into having one advanced boat (mostly divemasters and instructors and VERY experienced non-professionals) and one newbie boat (8 of 10 had fewer than 8 dives). Consequently, we all had a great experience. I'd go with them again.

[10X]

I've never dived in St. Lucia before, but since we have some snorkelers in our group, were going to try this place with Island Divers. They have a Dive Package and a Snorkel Package that include transportation to/from pier, equipment, and lunch.

 

http://www.tikayevillage.com/

[caribbean2000]

If you want to do it on your own on Aruba, this site is very helpful:

 

http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/

[nho9504]

I've never dived in St. Lucia before, but since we have some snorkelers in our group, were going to try this place with Island Divers. They have a Dive Package and a Snorkel Package that include transportation to/from pier, equipment, and lunch.

 

http://www.tikayevillage.com/

 

Princess also includes all equipments. Both have 2 tank dives, both have transportation. Princess is a boat ride to the diving sites and back. Both provide lunch.

 

I am not sure using Island would be a better deal as one has to keep in mind the dive locations are far away from pier and going with ship would ensure one would not miss the boat.