Aruba in May

[Davediver]

I am thinking about heading to Aruba with my family in late May. Unfortunately, I will be the only diver. Looks like we will stay at Oceania Condos at Eagle Beach. From my reading the posts regarding operators, it appears the Native Divers, JADS and Dive Aruba(Dive with Clive) are the ones to use. I have lots of questions:
Anybody used any of the three as a single diver?
Will I need a car or will the dive ops pick me up?
What is the weather like in May?
How are the seas?
What is the sea temp?

Any guidance is welcomed.

 

[kvp]

I am thinking about heading to Aruba with my family in late May. Unfortunately, I will be the only diver. Looks like we will stay at Oceania Condos at Eagle Beach. From my reading the posts regarding operators, it appears the Native Divers, JADS and Dive Aruba(Dive with Clive) are the ones to use. I have lots of questions:
Anybody used any of the three as a single diver?
Will I need a car or will the dive ops pick me up?
What is the weather like in May?
How are the seas?
What is the sea temp?

Any guidance is welcomed.

Try Unique Sports of Aruba. They will pick you up at the hotel and take you back after the dive.

May is a good time of the year. It's before the summer families. Visibility should be very good - 60 - 70 feet. Water temp should be good also - 79-80 degrees. There should also be a lot of fish life. A very good time of year.

Since you're a single diver, you can buddy up with someone else on the boat or you can just hang with the guide if you don't like to have an insta-buddy.

Any other questions, you can post or pm me.

Enjoy your trip,
Ken

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I always use Native Divers. My wife is a non diver, but Romeo doesn't make you buddy up so it isn't a problem. He will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel. He lets you dive until your air gets low not when the first person runs low. He only takes out 6 or 7 divers at a time. I haven't used Clive or JADS, but these 3 seem to be the best small dive operators on the island.
FYI about Unique, I went on their boat once and never again. They had 22 divers and 2 DM's piled on a dive boat. They have had a couple other issues also. Do a search on here to form your own opinion

 

[kvp]

FYI about Unique, I went on their boat once and never again. They had 22 divers and 2 DM's piled on a dive boat. They have had a couple other issues also. Do a search on here to form your own opinion

Yes, they do have 2 big boats, but they always have enough DM's to keep the groups around 6 or 7 people. Many times, they limit the number of divers just because they don't have enough staff to keep the ratio's in line.

Ken

 

[kvp]

I always use Native Divers. I haven't used Clive or JADS, but these 3 seem to be the best small dive operators on the island.

Yes, Native Divers, Clive or Jads are very good choices, but I wouldn't dismiss all of the other dive shops. There are other good operators besides those 3.

Ken

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Yes, they do have 2 big boats, but they always have enough DM's to keep the groups around 6 or 7 people. Many times, they limit the number of divers just because they don't have enough staff to keep the ratio's in line.

Ken

I can only relay my not so positive experience with Unique and won't dive with them again because of it.

 

[BillM777]

I was just out with Romeo - Native Divers - last week. Highly recommend, small groups and he avoided the busy dive sites. We did 3 days of two tank dives and at each site we were the only boat there. Usually just 4 or 5 divers total on the boat. He goes down with you but then lets you explore. He will point out interesting stuff. If someone runs low on air early he will send just that diver up.

Romeo will pick you up in his van at your hotel.

 

[snowdog]

I will be heading to Aruba in May for a week of diving. It will be my first trip to Aruba, but...
I have friends that have dove there and they have used a few different operations...
Hands down, they all say JADS should be your first choice.

Pre-booking with them through the email process, can be a bit slow. But well worth the wait. I feel its always better to have your dives booked before you get there, I have also learned the good operations tend to book early.

 

[robstercraw]

Dave, I am going to Aruba Apr 29-May 5 and will be alone as well. Will prob be using either Jads or native. If you are going around the same time, I can pick you up (Im getting a car) and we can dive together. PM me if interested and we can coordinate schedules.

Rob

 

[SDiverJim]

I am thinking about heading to Aruba with my family in late May. Unfortunately, I will be the only diver. Looks like we will stay at Oceania Condos at Eagle Beach. From my reading the posts regarding operators, it appears the Native Divers, JADS and Dive Aruba(Dive with Clive) are the ones to use. I have lots of questions:
Anybody used any of the three as a single diver?
Will I need a car or will the dive ops pick me up?
What is the weather like in May?
How are the seas?
What is the sea temp?

Any guidance is welcomed.

Well I unfortunately had a less than perfect experience with Native as a single diver. I had contacted him by email before my trip this past February. He gave me 2 numbers to call him and said just to wait till I arrived on the island. I walked over to his beach hut. It's right outside the Marriott surf club on the beach. We arranged to have him pick me up Tuesday in front of my hotel at 9:00. He did not arrive by 9:30. I went back to my room called him had to leave a message. I walked down to the hut again and the girl there called him on her cell. I did speak to him and he stated he had to cancel because he couldn't get anyone else to go with us. He stated he tried to call but I wrote the wrong room number down. My wife was with me as I gave it to him and she agreed I wrote the correct room #. He said he was sorry and he had a group going out Thursday and I could join them. Thursday same thing happens. I call him and he states he left a message that the other party cancelled and he couldn't take me out alone. I never received a message) I walk over to Diversity, which is located next to Moomba and to the side of Marriott Surf Club. I explained that I only have a few days left. ( I did not mention my previous unfortunate experience) He says " go get your gear I'll take you out in an hour by yourself!" I did 2 more dives with them on Friday am with 4 other divers. They were obviously accomidating. They let me be my own guide but kept a close eye on me. They prepped my gear and had it washed and dried and packed on the boat for Fridays trip. Great experience!!

http://www.diveversity-aruba.com/guestbook.php