Aruba options

[Seadiver5]

My wife and I just returned from leading a large group of divers to Aruba. We dove with Red Sail Sports and were completely impressed with the level of service we received from them. They accomodated our every wish.

It was obviouse that they were not used to dealing with a large group but they made up for it with incredible enthusiasm and their desire to please us.

I Certainly wouldn't count them out before giving them a chance.

 

[cdiver2]

My wife and I have dived with Pelican a couple of times and have been very satisfied with them.

 

[KidK9]

My wife and I just returned from leading a large group of divers to Aruba. We dove with Red Sail Sports and were completely impressed with the level of service we received from them. They accomodated our every wish.

It was obviouse that they were not used to dealing with a large group but they made up for it with incredible enthusiasm and their desire to please us.

I Certainly wouldn't count them out before giving them a chance.

I disagree, I would count RSS out. There are other options that people are sooo happy with, like Clive from Dive Aruba, and I have NEVER seen bad reviews of his operation. I just wouldn't risk it...I know I'm not the only person on the board who has received terrible service from RSS. And it's not like I didn't have enough tries with them...I dove with them 4 days out of my 7 day vacation. EVERY single day I dove with them, it was the worst I have seen out of an operator. Just my $0.02

 

[snturner]

My son and I found cheap tickets to Curacao from Kansas City, MO. We are useing Dutch Caribbean Airlines https://www.flydca.net/servlets/AvailableFlightsServlet
out of Miami. Pretty cheap compared to the major airlines.

 

[Damselfish]

Be aware that Dutch Caribbean Airlines was formerly ALM, also known as "All Luggage Missing." Many people had problems with ALM, I don't know how they are nowadays?

(My story is, only trip I used ALM, we walked into their office in Bonaire to confirm return flight. Turns out they'd cancelled us because "we weren't on the flight down." The clerk insisted on this despite the fact that we were physically standing in front of her. Fortunately we had checked and there was still room, so it was just funny.)

 

[ScubaFrog]

I disagree, I would count RSS out. There are other options that people are sooo happy with, like Clive from Dive Aruba, and I have NEVER seen bad reviews of his operation. I just wouldn't risk it...I know I'm not the only person on the board who has received terrible service from RSS. And it's not like I didn't have enough tries with them...I dove with them 4 days out of my 7 day vacation. EVERY single day I dove with them, it was the worst I have seen out of an operator. Just my $0.02

I dove with Clive from Dive Aruba. He has an outstanding operation. I dove the entire week (9 dives total including a night dive) I would not use anyone else but Dive Aruba.

 

[michaelp68]

I, too, dove with Clive from Dive Aruba. I thought he and his operation were great.

 

[I.M.Deep]

Any idea of who I SHOULD use? Thanks.
Lucky

I am in Aruba 6/9 -6/15 we are planning to use Dive Aruba. I will give you a report. We are looking at making a day trip or so to B and C $90 round trip. I'm not sure yet who we would use.

 

[Finman08]

I have been going to Aruba for the past ~10 yrs and have always gone with Pelican. Professional & knowledgable DMs, great crew and fair prices.

Granted...I have not used anyone else on the island to compare but...why would I?

Enjoy,
Chris

 

[Kat]

Diverrick:
Would you be able to fly out of Chicago? There is a flight every Saturday that flies out of Midway Airport, on ATA (American Trans Air) The airfare is very reasonable. You can shop price because you can book it directly w/ ATA -OR- book it w/ Funjet Vacations -OR- book it w/ ATA Vacations. If Chicago is an option for your departure city, it might be worth looking into. ATA's flight times have been fluctuating lately, but as of early June, they are departing at 10:35A I think it is about a 5 hour flight, and possibly a time change to EST. (I can't remember exactly)
As for dive ops, stay away from Red Sail, they will bump you when the cruise ships come in. I used Native Diver when I was there. Just me, my boyfriend & Romeo. For the whole week we dove. You can't beat that!