Aruba diving??

[handapanda]

Has anyone been diving in Aruba? I'm planning a trip in March and would like to have some opinions on dive sites and outfits. I know there are good wrecks and drift dives. I'd also be interested in a shore dive or two. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks.

 

[BLAZEHOK68]

i did some snorkeling in aruba. it was cool. went to the natural pool, to a little island that depalm tours owned and also on one of their boats to 3 different spots around the island where the 3rd stop was a wreck. very cool

 

[lgoins]

also did the same as above. didn't scuba, but snorkeled aruba. The wreck that he is talking about (can be seen on google earth) was great.

 

[swilcoxen]

Re: Aruba diving??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11720011#post11720011 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by handapanda
Has anyone been diving in Aruba? I'm planning a trip in March and would like to have some opinions on dive sites and outfits. I know there are good wrecks and drift dives. I'd also be interested in a shore dive or two. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks.

I was in Aruba in March of 2006 and the diving was fantastic. I don't recall specific Dive Sites off the top of my head, but we used an outfit Red Sail Sports. They have two locations; we used the one by the Holiday Inn on Palm Beach. The diving was excellent.

Random tip: If you like escargot, the Salt & Pepper used to bring out a BOWL of escargot for about $5 or $6.

 

[cplev]

Baby beach is cool for snorkeling, especially if you have company that is not "water-friendly". I went out outside the "lagoon" and was swimming with triggers, wrasse, and angels. There is also a snorkel tour to a wreck which is really cool for the non-scuba people. Reef diving is pretty scarce but there are lots of wrecks covered with corals. Red Sail sports is the biggest organization for diving. I went with a company called Pelican Tours and the dive masters were good at locating cools things to check out.

 

[KeeperOfFish]

I went to Aruba in April 2007 and did some scuba diving and snorkeling myself. For an amazing wreck dive where you will literally see thousands of amazing colorful fish the Antilla shipwreck is the way to go. I saw all kinds of angels, triggers, butterflyfish, snapper, grouper, wrasse, parrotfish, blennies, and more...I highly recommend it, it's amazing. The wreck is also encrusted with many colorful sponges, tunicates, and some coral. And oh ya, it's a 400 foot wreck...so you won't get bored!

As for reef diving, the best place on the whole island is Mangel Halto. It's right beside a beautiful lagoon, and is circled by shallow sand beds which have the most beautiful turquoise water. Beyond the sand beds, or a little walk/swim from the shore (depends where you go from) lies a beautiful pristine coral reef. Beyond the wave breaker is an even more pristine reef. The reefs have suffered little, if any, damage from humans, run-off, or commercialization. All the corals huge, happy, and healthy. Truly amazing. The water is a little choppy, but it's nothing that even an average or below average swimmer can't handle. You'll see gorgonians, huge colonies of different SPS, brains, sponges, soft corals, a variety of fish, and even sometimes a turtle, ray, or squid. It has an amazing biodiversity of life. Ask the locals for the exact location/information because it's not one of those "tourist dive spots", it's truly a beautiful hidden gem.

Also, both sites can easily be snorkeled and you still will have an equally amazing experience.