grunzster once bubbled...
Does Pelican do more sites than Red Sail?
I'm going in a few weeks, was thinking of doing Red Sail, but just saw their schedule.
Same 4 sites all week. Not that I don't want to do the Antilla, but every day and the same time!
Here's the Pelican schedule:
Mon-Thurs + Sat-8:30-12:30-South Coast 2 tank
These dives take you to the South East coast of Aruba. This is where the best vis is. There can be some swells, usually not too bad, but can be.
Dives vary as there are many sites. There is a nice wreck dive-"Jane C", intentionally sunk in the early 80's after being siezed by the government(found with illegal substances by coast guard) Sits upright in about 110ft. It's a large wreck (150ft).
There is also a DC-3 plane wreck on the south coast. Storms have caused the wreckage to break up over the last few years, but there are still some intact pieces.
There reefs start at about 25 ft and slope downward (steep) to about 100-130 where it turns to flat sand bottom. The current varies, it can be quite strong. Reef dives are usually drift dives.
Mon-thurs+Sat 1:00pm- "Pedernalis Wreck"
Max depth 25ft
Nice dive. Lots of sunlight thus great photo ops. Wreckage forms a small reeflike are. Schools of thousands siversides. Barracuda common. Huge green Moray, spotted moray, octopus and a gazillion yellowtail.
During WW2 Aruba's refinery was providing 20% of the jet fuel to the allies. Thus the refinery became a target of GermanU-Boats. Allied intelegence, aware of the threat, placed the Pedernalis (an oil tanker)+2 other ships along the shorline north of the refinery. At night, all lights were shut down at the refinery, and these ships were lit up like xmas trees. It worked, the u-boats were fooled and fired their torpedos at the ships. Thinking they had succeeded in blowing up the refinery, they left. The pedernalis was damaged, caught fire, and drifted until it ran aground. It rested blocking the shipping lanes and was thus towed to the north west shore. Only the mid sction was damaged. The two ends were cut off and used to produce another ship (used in the invasion of Normandy). The remaining wreckage sat, protruding from the surface in 25ft of water. After the war, Dutch Marines stationed on Aruba used the wreckage for target practice (you hit it, you get an Amstel!). What remains is a pile of twisted, blown apart metal. There are a couple of unexploded shells down there too(3 footers!).
Mon, Wed, Sat 3:00 (fri 9:30)- "Antilla" Wreck
Max 60ft. 400ft freighter, blown in half, easy penetration. Lots of reef fish, octopus, green moray, spotted moray, stingrays, turtles, barracuda,frogfish.Porcupines
The Antilla, suspected of supplying u-boats, was surrounded by Dutch Marines and commanded to surrender. The captain anchored off the north west shore and asked for time to get the crew ashore. During this time, the boilers were superheated. Just before leaving the ship, the last crewmmembers opened up valved to allow sea water to rush in. Once the water reached the boilers, there was a big explosion that ripped the ship in two. The scuttled ship lays on it's port side. The main mast still sticks out of the water as does a section of the starboard.
The wreck is very large. One can dive it many many times and still see things you may have missed. I still enjoy this dive after more than 150 dives on it.
Tue, thurs 3:00 "Arashi" Reef
Max 45ft
Nice dive. Reef composed of mostly soft corals. Also several large brain corals. The southern ledge is home to many morays. Arrow crabs everywhere, octopus, stingray. There is wreckage of two small planes. Pretty well busted up.
Wed 10:00, Fri 3:00 "Malmok" reef
Max 70ft. Small water tanker, sits upright, intact. Dive starts at the wreck then onto adjacent reef. Fun dive! marine life similar to Antilla site.
Sun 10:00 1 tank south coast
Night dives are tues and thurs 7pm. You need to sign up early. Night dives have a minimum number of divers and can be cancelled if not enough interest. Good idea to talk it up on the am boat so others will sign up.
ps- Schedule may have changed some, but thats the outline.
pps- disclaimer:
cannot guarantee the accuracy of the wreck stories. Above statements are based on both history and local folklore. Neither the author or agents shall be accountable for misinterpretation or validity of statements. Marine life described above may or may not be encountered by divers. Author/agents do not guarantee readers of encountering said species. Wreck penetration requires special training. Engage in wreck penetration only with proper training and equipment, see dive operator for details.