Aruba Recommendations

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SteveC - 22 Feb 2005 16:04 GMT

I am going to Aruba in late March for my 15th wedding anniversary and am
looking for recommendations on a decent dive operator. I prefer a smaller
dive operator and want to avoid large, cattle car operations, especially
those that cater to the cruise ships. Any advice (other than telling me to
go somewhere else!) are appreciated.

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Matt Cushing - 22 Feb 2005 16:27 GMT

> I am going to Aruba in late March for my 15th wedding anniversary and am
> looking for recommendations on a decent dive operator. I prefer a smaller
> dive operator and want to avoid large, cattle car operations, especially
> those that cater to the cruise ships. Any advice (other than telling me to
> go somewhere else!) are appreciated.

I went in December and I went with Red Sail Sports. I was a first time
diver and I was pretty impressed with the instructor, a woman from
Holland named Jip(pronounced Yip). They are located in the High Rise
section of town, away from Orangestad (which is where the boats come
in). I did two dives with them - the Pedernales(20 feet) and the
Antilla(45+). I went the 50th week of the year, so the whole island was
pretty dead, but there were only 6-8 people on each dive.

As long as you are in Aruba, you MUST go to a restaurant called El
Gaucho, and you might want to make reservations ahead of time. The
steaks are cooked Argentinian style and they are amazing with the
dipping sauces they have.

Chalet Suisse is excellent also, a little pricey though.

Feel free to email me if you want more info about the horseback riding
place we went with.
M@

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punk-tilous - 22 Feb 2005 22:20 GMT

>> I am going to Aruba in late March for my 15th wedding anniversary and am
>> looking for recommendations on a decent dive operator. I prefer a
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> place we went with.
> M@

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one because my experience with
Red Sail was not very impressive. First of all, I never tried their office
in Oranjestad. Rather, I tried the office in Palm Beach since my hotel was
not too far from there. First of all, Red Sail claims to be one of the
biggest operators in the Caribbean, with operations in numerous islands. I'm
afraid this size is also their bane because they gave me the feeling of
being in a cattle boat. The people working the office in Palm Beach seemed
very impersonal and almost like automatons. I booked a dive with them and
they promised to pick me up at a certain time. They did not show but since I
was less than a mile from the launch dock in Palm Beach, I decided to hoof
it with all my gear and barely made it. I found nothing special about their
divemasters and other crew on the boat.

The other dive operator in Palm Beach is Pelican Adventures. In fact, the
share the share the same dock as Red Sail, just across from the Holiday Inn
at Palm Beach. I found this operator much more personable. It's a smaller
operation but the divemaster and other people on the boat were first class.
As an example, after the dive, their shuttle was out picking up some divers
at various hotels and rather than make me wait a half hour or so, one of the
dive assistants actually offered to drive me back to my hotel in his own
personal car. I don't think anyone at Red Sail would even volunteer to do
something like that.

Anyway, based on that one experience, I would take Pelican over Red Sail any
day.

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Matt Cushing - 23 Feb 2005 13:53 GMT

>>>I am going to Aruba in late March for my 15th wedding anniversary and am
>>>looking for recommendations on a decent dive operator. I prefer a
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
> Anyway, based on that one experience, I would take Pelican over Red Sail any
> day.

That's what this group is for, to tell our personal experiences in
places:) Disagree away!!!

Check to see if there is a Pelican Adventures place in Aruba. The name
sounds familiar.

I've been thinking of planning a long weekend down in FL near Palm
Beach. Is there any time of year you would recommend as a good time to
go down there?

M@

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Dan Bracuk - 24 Feb 2005 22:23 GMT

Matt Cushing <matt@DITCHSPAM.cushingonline.com> pounded away at his
keyboard resulting in:

:I've been thinking of planning a long weekend down in FL near Palm
:Beach. Is there any time of year you would recommend as a good time to
:go down there?

Anytime, except hurricane season and winter.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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nb318@hotmail.com - 25 Feb 2005 19:05 GMT

Check to see if El Gaucho reoponed..unofficial word is they closed due
to Salmonella. Better bets less touristy are Madame Janette's and
Mirandi. Also Que Pasa and Gasparitos.

Ann@bonairecaribbean.com

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Dan Bracuk - 23 Feb 2005 00:46 GMT

"SteveC" <spcl4339@mindspring.com> pounded away at his keyboard
resulting in:

:I am going to Aruba in late March for my 15th wedding anniversary and am
:looking for recommendations on a decent dive operator. I prefer a smaller
:dive operator and want to avoid large, cattle car operations, especially
:those that cater to the cruise ships. Any advice (other than telling me to
:go somewhere else!) are appreciated.

Suggestion number 1 - see if the the resort at which you are staying
has a dive shop. There is a lot to be said for convenience.

Suggestion number 2 - Dax Divers. I dove with them several years ago
(which means things may have changed). The drill then was that they
picked us up at the hotel with an inflateable in tow. We would drive
somewhere, launch the boat, and do our dives.

Suggestion Number 3 - At least one day, dive the Sonesta Airplanes.

Have a good trip.

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

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