very new to diving and wondering how to arrange a trip.

[vladimir]

That they are but at the same time with one small exception in the gratuity of 10 dollars per day their charge is up front and honest. You get on the ship and dont buy one single item then you are paying only what the ticket cost is. On the other hand the greedy and yes I did say greedy airlines wont come out and charge a higher price for the ticket but instead lure you in with un underpriced ticket then punish you for wanting to take your luggage. That is greed when you deceive people to gain profit.

Anyway this is not something to debate so I am sorry to have ruffled some feathers

No ruffled feathers here--I don't work for an airline. I do find it interesting that a lot of people share your attitude towards them. The way I see the luggage charges, they are giving you the option of leaving your bags and saving $25. If they just raised the prices on all travelers by $25, those who travel light would be forced to subsidize those who check bags. I understand that modern air travel can be annoying, but it's hard for me to fault the airlines for trying to keep their fares cheap enough to compete for passengers. As for deception, I see their luggage fees posted on their websites, easy to find.

 

[k ellis]

No ruffled feathers here--I don't work for an airline. I do find it interesting that a lot of people share your attitude towards them. The way I see the luggage charges, they are giving you the option of leaving your bags and saving $25. If they just raised the prices on all travelers by $25, those who travel light would be forced to subsidize those who check bags. I understand that modern air travel can be annoying, but it's hard for me to fault the airlines for trying to keep their fares cheap enough to compete for passengers. As for deception, I see their luggage fees posted on their websites, easy to find.

Awe ok I see I misunderstood your reply. So I can agree with your last response. All in all my whole hatred towards the system stems from the cost of the flight versus renting a car and driving to a destination. I can rent a car for say 175 dollars a week unlimited miles. For a family of say 4 they can all pile in this car and drive to Mobile the gulf coast (Texas to Florida panhandle region) for less then 12 hours from my home. so with 175 dollars plus round trip fuel of 200 dollars (375 dollars total) I can enjoy a drive and stop and enjoy life when I get tired. I can also carry FREE luggage of unlimited proportion and eat a real delicious meal at any time I choose not only in the airline terminal. this versus say 300 per person plus 30 dollars for baggage.

All in all the airlines are more a pain in the neck for semi local destinations and cost 10 times as much if not more for the only good trade off being arrival a short period sooner. Now the deception I spoke of is not an unhidden one. Yes the prices are posted. But its like if you buy a movie on ebay. You see the same movie at walmart for 20.00 you see it on ebay for 10 dollars but they shipping and handling is 15 dollars. The intent is not to outright lie because its all right there in front of you. The intent is to attempt to get someone to say "10 dollars man thats cheap" this is the same thing airlines are doing.

What they have done for years is you can book same day flight and return and most of the time its more expensive then if you book a 2 day stay. The reason for this is most people who fly same day are buisness people. Airlines realize that buisness people rely heavily on buisness meetings and other buisness related things so they charge a larger fee.

You are correct in saying everything is posted in front of you and I agree with that whole heartedly. My point was in the fact that driving to your destination as opposed to flying in this economy just makes plain since if you have the time available for it.

 

[vladimir]

My point was in the fact that driving to your destination as opposed to flying in this economy just makes plain since if you have the time available for it.

We can certainly agree on that.

 

[Damselfish]

well if you are set on flying to Aruba then the advice given is great. A cheaper alternative thats unique is going on cruises that go to your destination. These can sometimes save thousands of dollars that would otherwise line greedy airlines pockets.

yes, but you then either pay for expensive and often lesser quality dive excursions through the cruise line, or have to figure out what to book in each port (harder for a new diver) and sometimes arrange getting there and back. All to get maybe 2 dives a day, instead of at least 3-5 you'd easily and conveniently do if you were staying on land.

 

[k ellis]

yes, but you then either pay for expensive and often lesser quality dive excursions through the cruise line, or have to figure out what to book in each port (harder for a new diver) and sometimes arrange getting there and back. All to get maybe 2 dives a day, instead of at least 3-5 you'd easily and conveniently do if you were staying on land.

Thats true. It was merely a suggestion. I have had some cruise dive excursions really bomb the quality test then some really excelled. Cruising is what it is though and its an opportunity to see a variety of places and later on determine which one you would want to spend more time on.

 

[scuga]

I am going to Crystal River to dive with manatees and do my OW skills. I guess I am just worried about having to many variables like thick wetsuit vs thin, Freshwater vs Salt. Anyway, I won the trip to Aruba (my wife did) so it's free. I am definitely not made of money but throwing money at the problem was the only way to get everything I need done.

 

[vladimir]

Freshwater vs Salt.

Once you have your freshwater weighting dialed in, take the weight of you and all your equipment and multiply by 1.025 (the approximate specific density of the saltwater near Aruba). That is what you'll need to weigh in Aruba, so add lead (.025 x total freshwater weight) to get to that figure.

Anyway, I won the trip to Aruba (my wife did) so it's free.

I guess that airline discussion was not particularly relevant then.

 

[k ellis]

Wow now Im jealous LOL

 

[Herk_Man]

I'll tell you what we did for our first scuba trip and I'm very happy we did it this way. We went down to our local dive shop (LDS) and sat down with the owner (might want to call ahead and ask when they are the least busy). We let him know what kind of diving we were interested in, what type of accommodations would be to our taste, what kind of topside activities would round out the experience and what our budget was.

He listened carefully and then booked the entire thing for us (after offering a few options for each component of the trip and getting our input and ok.) Airline tickets, hotel, dive shop, rental gear, diving packages, etc.

And this did not cost us anything. Dive shops get points from many locations for bringing business and those points are later turned in for free or discounted trips that they take for themselves. So they are very happy to do this for you. Just make sure that they are taking your needs into consideration and not booking a trip based on what they are trying to get points for. (This is normally not a problem because ultimately the dive shop wants your business so taking care of you is their main focus.)

The trip we took to Bonaire on our LDS's recommendation was absolutely perfect for our diving and vacationing style and will be remembered for a lifetime. And the next time I do a dive trip, I'm going right back to my LDS to do it through them again.

(And in case you're wondering, I did a little poking around during the process and the LDS was getting me as good or better than I could find myself. And they booked the trip through Caradona Dive Adventures so the combination of the dive shop's experience and the expertise of a real travel agent got us a great trip at the best price.)

 

[dhuskins]

I am going to Crystal River to dive with manatees and do my OW skills. I guess I am just worried about having to many variables like thick wetsuit vs thin, Freshwater vs Salt. Anyway, I won the trip to Aruba (my wife did) so it's free. I am definitely not made of money but throwing money at the problem was the only way to get everything I need done.

Congrats to your wife for winning the trip and welcome to the wonderful world of diving.

Crystal River's water temp is about 72 degrees. Aruba's water temp last May was 78. You can expect the water to be around 76-78 when you go there.

To your original inquiry:
I went back through my dive logs and found a pair of dives suitable for a beginner, while still loaded with things to see.

The wreck of the Antilla is a 51' deep dive. Green Eels, turtles and, while I was there several juvenile drum fish and juvenile damsels. You do not need to penetrate the wreck to see the animals. (I recommend you don't go inside the wreck as it requires specialized skills/equipment.)

The wreck of the Perdernalis is much more shallow (26'). It is a nice second dive after the Antilla. Plenty of life everywhere.

I also enjoyed a shore dive on the southern tip of the island. The dive site is called Mangel Halto Reef. It starts out as a calm pool with a break in the reef to allow you access to the ocean side. We dove to 58', but you don't need to go that far down to see the life there. My log book reminds me that the site is completely covered with christmas tree worms of many different colors. It's a great shore dive.