Searched in the Caribbean Forums for "Aruba" and "SCUBA" and did not find a lot of information, so am posting here.

We will be coming to visit in early May and are interested in both snorkeling and SCUBA. Any recommendations for areas to dive, tour operators and equipment rental on Aruba?

Found many recommendations for restaurants and activities in my searches, so those are getting tucked away.

Cheers!

John

There are some dive operators in Aruba listed here:
http://www.destinationcaribbean.net/...mp;parentid=12

and snorkeling here, including beaches with good snorkling:
http://www.destinationcaribbean.net/...mp;parentid=12

Hope it helps.

Thank you bajangirl! I'll check those out.

Cheers!

John

check out a bulletin board
aruba-bb.com We went to Aruba about 4 years ago and we used the bulletin board to find out lots of current information on dining, snorkel trips etc...
Have fun!

Thanks girlonthego, http://aruba-bb.com/ was a website I had bookmarked to check out, so will hang around there too.

Cheers!

John

We used Mermaid Divers and they were very good. We went to 2 dive sites, the Antilla Wreck and an airplane wreck which was near to the Renaissance Hotel. For snorkeling we stayed mainly at Malmok Beach.

You'll find lots of information and advice on the specialized discussion forum, scubaboard.com. There's a section for the "ABC" islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).

If you want to dive/snorkel you might want to consider a quick flight to the B&C of the ABC Islands - Bonaire and Curacao. The diving in both places is spectacular, and closer to the reef than Aruba (also not as windy)... Quick flights.....

Agree with Debi - Scuba and snorkeling on Bonaire is simply incredible. Much much better than Aruba and so easy to get to - can do it right off the beach.

Just got back from the trip and had a great time overall. Got two dives in while we were there . . . and have to say that I'm not impressed with the diving around Aruba. I know, I know, Bonaire was highly recommended, just wasn't happening on this trip.

Dove with Red Sail Sports, who were recommended, and chosen, over JAD. JAD was willing to accept my two dives three years ago and take me out; RSS wanted us to do a pool refresher, followed by a shallow dive. This was probably a good, and safer, course of action. <grin> I had 64 dives before our trip to St. Thomas three years ago, but the last had been in '84. Probably SHOULD have had a refresher then too. Anim was our instructor for the refresher and first dive and I would highly recommend diving with her. Very personable, took good care of her charges and took time to point out things of interest on the dive; why do I always forget to look UP when I'm diving?

We did a 25' dive on the Pedernalis, an oil tanker sunk during WWII by a German U-boat. Started on a section that didn't have much wreck left and progressed to the larger section of wreck, which was the best part of the dive. Lots of fish and found a large eel under a section of plating. Visibility was not great, being around 40'.

Second dive was on the Antilla, which we had read to be the 'great' dive on Aruba. Lying in about 60' of water, the Antilla is a German freighter scuttled at the beginning of WWII. It IS a fantastic wreck, with lots of structure still intact; superstructure juts up to within about 20-25' of the surface. There were quite a few fish to be seen, but the poor visibility (still about 40') combined with the depth, was not as enjoyable as I had hoped. If you got more than 40' away from other divers, they just sort of disappeared in the murk.

There had been storms off the coast of Venezuela and clouds and unseasonable rain on Aruba. These may have contributed to the visibility on our dives. Snorkeling the reefs was otherwise just about as much fun, with a LOT more to see. We snorkeled off the beach close to the Antilla, where the catamarans bring snorkelers and off Baby Beach. Turns out our wives had a lot of fun snorkeling behind the Marriott Surf Club and saw things we didn't see elsewhere!

The rest of the trip was great, and I guess I'll have to write a review for that soon. Next stop . . . maybe Bonaire!

Cheers!

John

Aruna can no snorkeling to speak of and the diving in our opinion is marginal. Curacaco is much better and Bonaire is the besrt. It will cost $400 for air and 3 dives leaving at 8 returning at 6-7PM but it is worth it if you want quality diving.