Aruba is a Beautiful Place to Dive.. and shop.. and golf...
Written: Dec 20 '99 (Updated May 28 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice, easily accessible dive sites. Good visibility, colorful reefs. Beautiful turquoise water!
Cons: Never enough time to dive all the sites!
The Bottom Line: Aruba, with its sparkling turquoise waters (great visibility) is safely tucked away outside the hurricane zone. You can dive, snorkel, windsurf, or relax on the pristine beaches.
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| diverpam's Full Review: Aruba |
Aruba is a great little island, 17 miles north of Venezuela. It is actually a desert island - unusual for the Caribbean. At the highest point on the island (not too high) you can stand next to a giant cactus and look out and see the ocean all around. The water is beautiful and sand is sparking white. Aruba is famous for its Divi Divi trees - they all lean in one direction due to the constant tradewinds.
Diving With Red Sail Sports
My husband and I have gone diving in Aruba the past two years. This year we dove with Red Sail Sports. They have a very nice, professional operation. Friendly and helpful staff and crew members were there to answer all our questions. We had purchased a dive package and one day I had some ear problems. They let us swap out our dives for that day in exchange for a wave runner rental.
More Than Diving
Our package also included a sunset sail - it was a blast! WE went out of a big comfortable catamaran, with lots of good rum drinks and tasty munchies.
Diving Conditions
Visibility was about 80' and the water temperature was approximately 82 degrees. We dove with just our dive skins and were perfectly comfortable. There are several good dive sites in Aruba.
My Favorite Site
The first place I wanted to go this year was the Antilla Wreck - we didn't get to dive it last year. Dive operations have certain days that they visit the Antilla. Be sure to check with your dive operator of choice early in your visit to book your dive. It was incredible to be inside that huge ship! It's not something you want to miss.
The Antilla is a WWII German freighter and one of the best, largest wrecks in the Caribbean. The Antilla is over 400 feet long and rests on its port side at a maximum depth of 60 feet. You can see it from the beach, but it's quite a bit further out than it looks.
There are lots of colorful fish in this wreck. We even saw a beautiful, large anemone the day we were there. It was an easy dive and we left just as the snorkelers were pulling up. (Even if you don't dive you can still check this one out!)
Other Sites We Enjoyed
DePalm Slope
DePalm Slope was also another nice dive. There was a bit of current, so we did a drift dive there. Lots of nice coral and plenty of colorful fish. We left the camera on the boat and just had a nice, leisurely drift.
Airplanes
There are two sunken airplanes and you can easily swim inside the DC-3 for interesting photo opportunities. The toilet is still intact. Need I say more? It is a very easy dive in 55-60 feet.
Other Activities
Aruba also has a lot to offer when you're not in the water. There is great shopping and there are several casinos. Duty free shops all over the place... and yes, I left money wherever I went.
There is also a Robert Trent Jones golf course with some incredible views. It's a wildlife sanctuary, so you know know for sure what you might see.
Rent a 4-wheel drive for at least a few days while you're there so you explore the entire island. It's a fun island with plenty to do on land as well as under water.
Recommended:
Yes
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diverpam
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Member: Pam
Location: Collierville, TN
Reviews written: 263
Trusted by: 347 members
About Me:
~~~~So many oceans...so little time!~~~~
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