paulwall
Contributor
Just got back from Aruba in defiance of the Alabama Governor's call for boycott.
Dove with Pelican Watersports, a decent operator with convenient shop and good boats.
Overall, I'd give the diving a 6+ (on a scale of 1-10). Mainly this is due to the schedule of the dive operator. One can only dive the Pedernalis and the Antilla so many times in a week.
Pelican watersports does a lot of Resort courses, and Cruise Ship dives, and as such has a range of diver experience on each dive. One memorable dive on the Antilla had a cruise ship diver practically walking in the sand with his new Scubapro split fins and an instructor (my "buddy" who didn't speak english (or dutch, or spanish) who left the group and pursued his own interests.
The diving offered was by no means challenging (unless you consider 25ft of vis a challenge in 25 ft of water). It is extremely easy diving, little current (any current automatically ratchets the dive into "drift-dive" mode, so the boat picks you up down current), under 100 ft (I hit 94 feet on the J/C wreck), and rigid time limits on the dives (45 mins maximum).
I was suprised to find that even certified divers were renting masks and fins from the shop, fins were full-foot POC's that I might snorkel with. I, of course had all of my own gear and was extremely comfortable the entire dive (even diving sans wetsuit 3 or 4 times a day). Water temps were 82-84, air temps in the upper 80's.
Ok, to the diving. The south coast is where it was best, I saw Mike's reef, Sponge Reef, Sonesta Reef (2x), the J/C (excellent dive!) wreck, and Shallow Harbor Reef. In the afternoon, I dove the Pedernalis (4x)(ok, if you are allowed to linger long enough to look under every plate), the Antilla (3x)(great every time), Malmok (Debbie II)(Nice dive), and Arashi reef (really interesting, but better in a small group).
The dive groups were usually very large (8-14 people) and dove as a "gang" being led by a guide. We were buddied up, but in my case I never knew my buddy before we hit the water. I considered myself Solo+1. I generally hit the time limit before I got below 1000psi, and often was the last person to surface.
I "challenged" myself by practicing basic skills, pretending to look out for the group (even being tasked with this responsibility briefly twice near the end of my trip, as the DM had to surface with a LOA or distressed diver), and spotting hidden reef creatures (stonefish, octopi, lobsters, and eels).
The eels are especially shy in Aruba. Everywhere else I've dived, they've been at least 8-10" out of the reef and easy to spot. With the exception of one tiny spotted eel, the morays were all hidden well under cover, they could not be coaxed out and fled at approach. I enjoyed spotting them and pointing them out to other divers.
The reefs are healthy, but I only saw 1 turtle. No other large fish or mammals (or reptiles). Lots of Blue Chromis, Blue Tangs,grouper and snapper of all varieties and small baitfish. Tropicals are plentiful, cleaning stations are everywhere, and sites ranged from wrecks to walls.
I really wanted to do a beach dive, but Pelican is too busy (and somewhat short-handed I understand) to accomodate all requests. They recommended Wendy's watersports for beach dives, but not until the 2nd to last day.
The staff is very nice (with a couple of exceptions). The boats have O2 and medical kits, are roomy and comfortable, the shuttle service is fine (but confirm your pickup times in advance). The shop, as stated, accomodates divers of all levels - from "not ready for prime time" to "Thank you, I'm perfectly comfortable leaving the group behind and striking out on my own. I'll find my way back." They are kind of adamant about keeping the dive group together (which really sucks when you've got people who zoom ahead, and others who struggle to keep up and suck down all of their air in 15 mins.
The wrecks at least have some WWII history/island history and are not all artificial reefs stripped of machinery and sunk. The reefs are strong, but not luxurious, the fish life is fair (better than I saw at Cozumel and Roatan, but I digress). The dive operator capable, and the seas flat and warm. Topside, my non-diving wife was not bored, and managed to find things to do while I was diving.
I'll definitely go back.
Dove with Pelican Watersports, a decent operator with convenient shop and good boats.
Overall, I'd give the diving a 6+ (on a scale of 1-10). Mainly this is due to the schedule of the dive operator. One can only dive the Pedernalis and the Antilla so many times in a week.
Pelican watersports does a lot of Resort courses, and Cruise Ship dives, and as such has a range of diver experience on each dive. One memorable dive on the Antilla had a cruise ship diver practically walking in the sand with his new Scubapro split fins and an instructor (my "buddy" who didn't speak english (or dutch, or spanish) who left the group and pursued his own interests.
The diving offered was by no means challenging (unless you consider 25ft of vis a challenge in 25 ft of water). It is extremely easy diving, little current (any current automatically ratchets the dive into "drift-dive" mode, so the boat picks you up down current), under 100 ft (I hit 94 feet on the J/C wreck), and rigid time limits on the dives (45 mins maximum).
I was suprised to find that even certified divers were renting masks and fins from the shop, fins were full-foot POC's that I might snorkel with. I, of course had all of my own gear and was extremely comfortable the entire dive (even diving sans wetsuit 3 or 4 times a day). Water temps were 82-84, air temps in the upper 80's.
Ok, to the diving. The south coast is where it was best, I saw Mike's reef, Sponge Reef, Sonesta Reef (2x), the J/C (excellent dive!) wreck, and Shallow Harbor Reef. In the afternoon, I dove the Pedernalis (4x)(ok, if you are allowed to linger long enough to look under every plate), the Antilla (3x)(great every time), Malmok (Debbie II)(Nice dive), and Arashi reef (really interesting, but better in a small group).
The dive groups were usually very large (8-14 people) and dove as a "gang" being led by a guide. We were buddied up, but in my case I never knew my buddy before we hit the water. I considered myself Solo+1. I generally hit the time limit before I got below 1000psi, and often was the last person to surface.
I "challenged" myself by practicing basic skills, pretending to look out for the group (even being tasked with this responsibility briefly twice near the end of my trip, as the DM had to surface with a LOA or distressed diver), and spotting hidden reef creatures (stonefish, octopi, lobsters, and eels).
The eels are especially shy in Aruba. Everywhere else I've dived, they've been at least 8-10" out of the reef and easy to spot. With the exception of one tiny spotted eel, the morays were all hidden well under cover, they could not be coaxed out and fled at approach. I enjoyed spotting them and pointing them out to other divers.
The reefs are healthy, but I only saw 1 turtle. No other large fish or mammals (or reptiles). Lots of Blue Chromis, Blue Tangs,grouper and snapper of all varieties and small baitfish. Tropicals are plentiful, cleaning stations are everywhere, and sites ranged from wrecks to walls.
I really wanted to do a beach dive, but Pelican is too busy (and somewhat short-handed I understand) to accomodate all requests. They recommended Wendy's watersports for beach dives, but not until the 2nd to last day.
The staff is very nice (with a couple of exceptions). The boats have O2 and medical kits, are roomy and comfortable, the shuttle service is fine (but confirm your pickup times in advance). The shop, as stated, accomodates divers of all levels - from "not ready for prime time" to "Thank you, I'm perfectly comfortable leaving the group behind and striking out on my own. I'll find my way back." They are kind of adamant about keeping the dive group together (which really sucks when you've got people who zoom ahead, and others who struggle to keep up and suck down all of their air in 15 mins.
The wrecks at least have some WWII history/island history and are not all artificial reefs stripped of machinery and sunk. The reefs are strong, but not luxurious, the fish life is fair (better than I saw at Cozumel and Roatan, but I digress). The dive operator capable, and the seas flat and warm. Topside, my non-diving wife was not bored, and managed to find things to do while I was diving.
I'll definitely go back.
btw what were the prices like.
