Aruba Trip Report

[o2scuba]

caymaniac once bubbled...
Imagine this..............there was only one place that would take you diving, it was at the Palms, next to the Concorde.......do these places still exist? In order to dive you had to go to the Palms, hold your fins and BC/reg. with tank in one hand, your mask and weight belt in the other hand and jump into their pool and put it all on then come up. With some of the divers I've met today this would never happen, there sure would be alot less divers.:boom:
The only other place that would take you diving was a cattermaran that was a "rum punch cruise", today it would not dare take you out.
The diving was good, I saw a school of squid of about twenty, I have the pic around somewhere. The yellow tube sponges on the bottom of the Antillia were 6ft. long. There was a moray at the wreck, also we did a penetration dive by squeezing through a hole in the sand under the wreck and coming up on the inside by a ladder...quite unsafe by today's standards.

Dive Safe,



Bear in miond, that was 20 years ago.

It has changed A LOT

There are several large dive operators now. The antilla has access to light penetration through holes you could drive a pick-up truck through.


There are also more wrecks sunk as artificial reefs now as well.





..............there was only one place that would take you diving, it was at the Palms, next to the Concorde.......do these places still exist? "

Nope.



The south coast now has moorings, so there is no problems locating the reef. Much like Bonaire the reeef strarts at about 25ft and slope downward. The dive industry has grown tremendously in Aruba over the last ten years.

Don't know what it was like in 1982 as I was still in high school and not a diver yet

Andrew

 

[caymaniac]

................Don't know what it was like in 1982 as I was still in high school and not a diver yet

Andrew

Bummer Andrew, there are alot of places in the Carribean that have received hurricanes and trashed reef areas that were awesome. Just to think of a few, St. Croix, Cayman Brac, Bonaire. You wouldnt
believe how beautiful it was. But then that's like someone telling you while you are on a dive vacation " You should have been here yesterday!" The great thing about going to those places years ago was: The day at Little Cayman when we dove with a Manta Ray, it did a loop over my wife.
The day we had 200 ft.+vis on Bloody Bay
Diving Jerry's Jam on Bonaire and seeing the wonder of it.
Diving anywhere on the north side of Klein Bonaire.
The Dive Master saying on the Brac " this is as good as it gets"
Diving with a Hammerhead off the Brac.
Having a six ft. green eel swim into one side of my BC and out the other, now he's long gone.
Diving off St. John when there was only one dive op, the most people for four days on the boat were my brother and myself and one other guy or just my brother and I.

Caymaniac

 

[o2scuba]

caymaniac once bubbled...




"Bummer Andrew, there are alot of places in the Carribean that have received hurricanes and trashed reef areas that were awesome. Just to think of a few, St. Croix, Cayman Brac, Bonaire. You wouldnt
believe how beautiful it was. "



Thanks for making me feel young I guess pushing the big 40 isn't so bad

On the flip side of that coin: I love technology. Today we have a lot more cool gadgets, cameras and safety procedures.

While it would have been nice too see some places before they became so overdeveloped. I've had the oppertunity to travel to places that still have incredibly healthy reefs.

The point of my post was simply that the dive industry in Aruba has grown. Theree are still some healthy reefs and there are many wrecks that were not there when you were there. There are also quality dive operators now, rather than the "horror show" you described.

Caymaniac,

Where do you work/live in GCM?

 

[lns92]

I decided in September that I wanted to spend New Year's eve in a tropical paradise where I could do some good diving and where my non-diving wife would have a good time, too. Initially, our dream vacation was the Maldives. I live in LA, but we were going back to France for X'mas. That was already half of the trip. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any airfare for less than $5,000 per person. We had no flexibility on the dates. It took me 10 days of Internet inferno to book my trip. I virtually went everywhere. Virtually. But each time, either the planes were booked up, the hotels were sold out or the prices were prohibitive. We wanted an island with a warm weather, warm water, some nice diving and some form of non-beach/water activities. Also, I wasn't going to spend $20,000 on the trip and we had rigid travel dates, coming from France and returning to LA.

Finally, I found Aruba that seemed to have everything we were looking for. So, here's my report. As there is a lot of information available on Aruba, I'll try to stick to little publicized facts. For the rest, you can check www.aruba.com or many other sites.

The Nature

If you're looking for lush vegetation, like in Maui, you won't find it in Aruba. The island has a semi-arid climate and no natural soft water. It's pretty flat, too. Some like it, some don't. It didn't really matter to me. Just know what to expect. You won't see a lot of animals either. The iguana is Aruba's mascot. We had several of them that visited our hotel every day. Aruba's real plus are its beaches. Super white, super fine sand. Blue turquoise and light green jade water at a perfect 82°F (28°C).

The Island

Aruba has an interesting mix of culture. All the Arubians speak Papamiento (their language), Dutch, Spanish and English. You'll hear a lot about the Arubians being nice people and how safe the island is. It's true. Aruba has Dutch-like schooling and healthcare systems to explain for it (and good weather, too). If you drive around, you won't see the kind of poverty found in a lot of the other Caribbean islands. And driving around is easy as Aruba has excellent roads. Keeping with the Dutch tradition, all businesses (except for hotel stores and restaurants) have to shut down at 6 pm during the week and all day on Sunday. Not necessarily a big deal. Just be prepared.

The Cities

If you land by night, you'll see how developed the island is. It almost looks like a giant suburb with single-family homes connecting a few cities. The two main cities are Oranjestad, the capitol, and San Nicolas. I wouldn't waste too much time on either one. Unless you're into cheap 14kt gold jewelry and live in the middle of nowhere the rest of the year, stay away from Oranjestad. The city is basically set up as a shopping mall for the "cruise people". You'll find a better selection at your local JC Penny… As to San Nicolas, the half hour drive is only recommended if you're looking for a certain kind of "working" companionship. Need I say more?

The Hotels

Not a lot of hotels for the size of the island. You'll find low-rise hotels on Eagle beach and high-rise hotels on Palm Beach. Eagle Beach tends to have more wind and less palm trees. Palm Beach is more crowded. Best high rises are the Hyatt, Mariott and Radison. Best low rises are the Amsterdam Manor Resort and the Bucuti Beach Resort. You won't find any high-end hotels.

Restaurants

Well, I'm French. Food's a big deal. Not on Aruba. Most of the restaurants will serve either the local grouper or some Mahi-Mahi smothered in a heavy Thermidor sauce, all at New York City prices. The concept of simple seafood grilled with a little olive oil and lemon juice hasn't reached the island, yet. Don't waste time driving down to Oranjestadt or San Nicola. I found all the good places to be in the hotel area. Three recommendations for fine dining are a terrific steak house (Texas de Brazil), a pretty decent Italian (Hostaria da Vittorio) and a seafood place (Water Grill). They are all near the high rises. Quick and cheaper recommendations are "El Patio" and a BBQ place, both on the North side of the main road to Oranjestad.

The Wind

If you're one of those people who can't stand the wind, don't go to Aruba. It blows constantly all over the island. I didn't mind it. In fact, I loved the climate. It never was too hot or too humid. No mosquito, either. Just the perfect weather conditions that are seldom found in the rest of the Caribbean.

Diving

Finally! It is said that Aruba is not a diving destination. I'm not sure what it means. I had a really good time in the water. There are basically 2 main diving areas. The North Coast has calmer water, but pretty lousy viz. The South Coast has fairly rough water, a hell of a lot more wind, but great viz (60-100 feet). If you're easily sea sick, stick with the North Coast where the Antilla lies (the largest wreck in the Caribbean). In my opinion, only the South Coast is really worth it. The coral reef there is pretty good and offers some nice drift diving. I had heard a lot about Aruba's wrecks. I dove several of them, including at night, and was a little disappointed. Marine life and colors were far better by the coral reefs.

We saw a lot, but mostly small fish. Fishing in Aruba, unlike in Bonaire, is not prohibited (a shame). Abundance of all sorts of angelfish, Moray, balloon fish, Parrot fish, frog fish, scorpion fish, butterfly fish, squid, lobster, rock beauties barracudas, trumpetfish as well as several varieties of coral (of course) and a lot of sponge. Probably one of the nicest sightings was a bunch of four squids swimming (virtually flying) in the open water in broad daylight. Rays, sharks and turtles are supposed to visit the island as well. We didn't see any.

I dove with Red Sail. I had read some bad stuff about them, but they were the only ones offering Nitrox. We were never more than 12 or 15 on a boat that can accommodate many more. Most of the DMs were great, especially Anthony and Giovanni. The rental equipment was good. I would definitely recommend them. If your main goal is diving, the best combination is to stay at the Hyatt and dive with them. The dock is right in front of the hotel. The hotel and the store are right on the beach. It doesn't get more convenient and you won't need a car.

The water temp was 82°, every day, at 90 feet. I didn't hit any thermocline. Read Sail only had 2mm shorties with long sleeve. That's OK for the first tank. It did feel a little cold (sue me) on the second tank. I had brought my hood and wore it. I could have used a full suit.

New Year's Eve

A special note on Aruba on December 31. Arubians love firecrackers. Theirs is called "pagara", a very long string of very loud firecrackers that they put around each block, or each house to ward off the bad spirit. Also, at night, hundreds of fireworks lit up the sky for several hours. It was a great show.

Conclusion

The main question when you try a new place is: Will I go back? The answer is probably not. There are plenty of other options that we have yet to explore. We had a pretty good time, but the main reason for choosing Aruba was flawed. I picked Aruba hoping that my wife (who doesn't dive) would enjoy it as much as I would. She did not. Virtually no nightlife (except for casinos) and lousy shopping. If you're strictly looking for a beach destination, Aruba is great. We were expecting a little more.

Hi Arnaud, You described aruba like you were born there. This summer my family and i went back for a second time. This year my daughter was certified and we dove the Antilla and the Pertanalas ( spelling), and yes Anthony was really great. It was the second year I went with Red Sail. I had my own BC and Reg, my daughter and boyfriend rented. The BC's did not hold air and both got sea sick. They did manage to dive the antilla two times and loved it. Aruba's diving is rated a 5 on a scale of 1-10. You did not mention baby beach. It is about 40 minutes from the the Windom Hotel not far from the prison and the goat farm. The snorkling was outstanding. There is every fish under the sun there in shallow water. With regard to resturants, by far Madam Janetts is the best and the prices are great. On weekends when all the stores are closed there is a flea market on the main drag going in the direction of baby Beach. I was able to buy dive hats and shirts and and many other leather items for 75% less than in the stores. In short, I will return next year. dive Safe, louie