Aruba Trip Report

[Scotty]

Aruba will be a great place for a family. Very safe, you won't get sick and you will have a great time. Mexico is not as safe a place but it will be cheaper. At least 90% of people get sick in Mexico. You can drink the water in Arbua. Yeah. We will be going back to Aruba many times. Mexico never again. We hated it.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

At least 90% of people get sick in Mexico. You can drink the water in Arbua. Yeah. We will be going back to Aruba many times. Mexico never again. We hated it.

Just who do you travel with? I have been to Mexico five times and never got sick. Nobody I travelled with ever got sick and I don't know anyone there who got sick. Don't make blanket statements like that. Mexico may not have been your cup of tea but that doesn't mean you can leave people with the impression that "90% of people get sick in Mexico". If that were true no one would go.

 

[Scotty]

I know of over 70-80 people that have gone to Mexico. Of all the people who went most got sick. I used the figures and it came to 89.6%. That's where I got my info. I'm just telling you like it is. I can say what I like as long as it's not abusive.

 

[michaelp68]

I agree with the other posters. Clive of Dive Aruba is a great choice for the reasons stated by everyone else.

When I return to Aruba, I'll use him again in a second over the other dive operations.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I know of over 70-80 people that have gone to Mexico. Of all the people who went most got sick. I used the figures and it came to 89.6%. That's where I got my info. I'm just telling you like it is. I can say what I like as long as it's not abusive.

We ought to post a poll in the Cozumel forum and put your statistics to the test. What do you say? put a little wager on it? Say $50.00 to the other's favorite charity? Money where your mouth is and all that.

 

[Bob]

No doubt about it, Aruba is a great place. However Bonaire has the best reefs in the Carribean. It's clean, safe, no bugs and you can drink the water. almtree: Bob

 

[ScubaFrog]

I am leaving for Aruba on Saturday March 6th. I too am diving with Clive, Dive Aruba. I dove six years ago with Dive Aruba and would not chose anyone else. I will keep you updated when I get back.

:scubadive DIVE ARUBA #1 :scubadive

Well, I am back in the COLD Boston area after a week of awsome weather and diving in Aruba. I chose "Dive Aruba" with Clive Paula. He has a great web site for those that are looking to dive in Aruba. The address is www.divearuba.com Some of the nice features that Clive offers are free pick up and drop off at your hotel, small groups (only takes max. 7 divers) ice cold water and juices, and many years of experience diving. He runs an outstanding dive operation. I dove 9 dives total during the week. Two dives each day except Wed. I did a night dive.

Here are my dives by the day:

Monday
Pilot Boat
Depth 90 feet
Bottom Time 35 min.
Vis. 60-80 feet

Sponge Reef
Depth 50 feet
Bottom Time 45 min.
Observed several large morey eels, parrot fish.

Tuesday
Debby II
Depth 70 feet
Bottom Time 45 min.

Antilla Wreck
Depth 50 feet
Bottom Time 40 min
The Antilla is400 feet long and sits on it's side. The captain caused an explosion in the engine room on purpose so that he would not have to surrender the ship. We entered the cargo areas of the ship and dove inside. I have dove wrecks before but never actually went inside one. It was a great experience. Observed a huge grouper that seemed to watch us during the dive.

Wednesday
Harbor Reef (Night Dive)
Depth 50 feet
Bottom Time 45 min.
I have never completed a night dive until this one. It was a great feeling to dive in complete darkness. We saw schools of neons that followed our dive lights. We also saw parrot fish laying on the bottom and trunk fish.

Thursday
Airplane wreck
Depth 80 feet
Bottom Time 40 min

The airplane is an old DC-3 that was used for drug trafficing. It was owned by Pablo Escavar. The highlight of the dive is when we dove through the plane and saw morey eels and a ton of sea life.

Baily Barge Reef
Depth 50 feet
Bottom Time 48 minGreat dive also. The barge was a restaurant that was in the marina. They sank the barge in 100 feet of water. We dove the reef due to the depth of the barge. This dive we saw our first baracuda.

Friday
DePalm Slope
Depth 65 feet
Bottom Time 45 min

Skalahein
Depth 50 feet
Bottom Time 48 min
Our final dive of the week. We ended our week with the best dive. We saw 4 reef sharks that were about 4 feet in lenth. We also saw baracuda and a sea turtle.

In closing, I would like to say that anyone planning a trip to Aruba should contact Clive. Dive Aruba treats people exceptionally well and gives them personalized treatment. The small groups are also better than being in a large group of divers because you can explore inside of wrecks rather than just swim by them. Two thumbs up for Dive Aruba!!

 

[Scuba5man]

I would not recommend Read Sails in Aruba. On a Two tank with them the dive master mixed beginners with experienced divers when he didn't have to. In addition we had tanks that blew two o-rings and had multiple BC failures. We had 20-knot winds and the vis was 30-40 ft. We asked to move south but we were told they couldn’t due to other commitments.