Well, okay then...
Aruba was fun, topside. Perfect weather. Good food easily found. Fun, touristy spots and fun out of the way places, too. All the people I met were really nice and friendly. Traffic was generally easy. They have roundabouts everywhere, which was awesome.
The diving was pleasant. But, to me, anyway, it was boring. Very boring. Very similar to Bonaire in some regards, Warm, clear water. Always relatively speaking, of course. Bottom temps were 78 - 80F.
I did take my macro setup, but I never took it in the water. We dived a couple of shipwrecks and a couple of plane wrecks. I saw one lettuce slug, which I got a poor picture of with my WWL-1 on full zoom. Our guide said she found one other lettuce slug for me, but she and most of the group had left me too far behind for her to show it to me.
We saw quite a few green moray eels. I saw 2 different lobsters. I saw 2 different scorpionfish. I saw several of some fish whose species I don't know. Pic below. Others saw a Southern Stingray and, a spotted eagle ray. I did not see any rays of any type. I also never saw a shark, a turtle, an octopus, nor a squid. It was pretty much all pretty tropical fish and coral. And the few very, very benign wrecks.
I'm told that the dive operation we used was the best on the island. They were super nice and very safe. But, it was more of a nanny state than I like. We were a group of 12 and had their whole boat for a week. The group included 3 tech instructors, 2 rec instructors, and everyone else was at least Advanced. We were all diving single AL80s of air. No nitrox or bigger tanks available.
We were diving with the boat/shop owner and his wife all week. Mostly his wife as our guide. We were required to stay with the guide. Usually, the husband was also with us, following behind the group. Dives were strictly limited to 45 minutes, including the safety stop - so, 42 minutes of actual bottom time - unless the dive went deeper than 60 feet at all. Then it was limited to 35 minutes (32 minutes of bottom time). On the last full day, the rest of my group rented ATVs and explored the island. I rented 2 tanks from the shop and did 2 solo shore dives at Hole-in-the-Wall (aka Rocky Beach). I got 2 very pleasant 1 hour, 15 minute dives, with no shepherd and no constant clacking of an underwater maracas to get someone's attention.
It was a nice trip. I had a lot of fun because the group I went with was good, fun people. But, like Bonaire, I don't see myself going back to Aruba.
I got maybe one portfolio-worthy picture, and this is it. Not finished editing it yet, but it is not going to get much better with more edits, so here it is, as is.
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