Scuba in Aruba or Curacao?

[CruzinSouth]

We'll be on the AOS in October and we'll be in Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas. We have plans for Dominica and have done many dives in St. Thomas so we thought we'd try some place new, but was wondering if anyone had any experience in either place. Any help would be appreciated! :)

[gmcrow]

We've done both Aruba and Curacao. If you have to choose, make it Curacao. It is some of the best diving you will find in the Caribbean. Probably second only to Bonaire. Clear water, lush coral, plenty of fish. Dive Bus seems to be the consensus here for an operator. We have pics and reviews at http://www.cruisedivers.blogspot.com

[Tn Travelers]

Another vote for Curacao. You can do either boat dives or shore dives - your choice. There are several local dive operations that can provide service for either - or just get a day pass for one of the local resorts.

[helo driver]

Did guided shore dives in Curacao last year with Dive Bus. It was great! Great staff, very clear, good reef.

[scubadiver888]

One more vote for The Dive Bus in Curacao.

[King Neptune]

I've also been diving in both Aruba and Curacao. They were both good but if you only pick one, I'd go to Curacao and another vote for "The Dive Bus". They are a short cab ride from the pier.

[w&k]

If you can only do one, do Curacao and go diving with Suzy and Mark at The Dive Bus. It's the most fun you can have with a tank on. http://www.the-dive-bus.com Do a search for the 'serial cruisers' and you will see the blackmail pictures of us on their website.

 

In Aruba, we dive with Clive at Dive Aruba - great 6-pack boat, and the dives are really pretty. http://www.divearuba.com

 

I'm heading down to do both at the end of next month. We keep going back... this is the 4th year running (and we made it twice one year). You can take a look at the cruise website I put together for some more information on both operations.

 

If you change your mind about Dominica, go with Karen at Nature Island Dive if you port in Roseau (http://www.natureislanddive.com), and if you port in Cabrits, go with Helen at Cabrits Dive Center http://www.cabritsdive.com. They are both wonderful, and the diving is awesome.

 

Tell them Wendy from Florida sent you, and they will let you come and dive anyway. ;)

 

Have a wonderful trip and great dives!

 

Wendy

 

website

http://www.freewebs.com/grandprincess-02-27-09

 

dive pix

http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[bruce-r]

I've also dived both, and IMO, Curacao has notably better diving than Aruba.

[TheVegasMan]

Of those two, I dove in Aruba and the visiblity other than at the Antilla was not great. Maybe it was the time of year, I was there in August, but there was a lot of particulates in the water.

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Is it easy to get to and from the Dive Bus? I'm more concerned with getting back because I'm sure there will be lots of cabs in the morning at the pier. I noticed that they can not pick up at the cruise pier but do pick up at hotels.

 

HBC

[w&k]

Just grab a cab coming off the ship, and Suzy will call you a cab for the trip back to the dock when you are ready.

 

If you prefer, you can have Suzy pre-arrange transportation with Cheraldine at Coast-2-Coast tours, but we find it easier to just walk off the ship and grab one or two of the taxi vans that are sitting there waiting for folks.

 

It should be $4-5 pp each way.

 

Have a great time!

 

Wendy

[lynninsc]

We are considering snorkeling with The Dive Bus in March. Anyone have any experience using them for snorkeling and not diving? Is the Carpile visible for snorkelers, or only if you dive? Are there beach chairs and umbrellas nearby for rent?

[TreeCity]

When you dove with Clive was he the only one on the boat. There was a report in Undercurrent about him being the only one on board and you were on your own for the dive? Did you have a divemaster with you?

[w&k]

lynninsc- There used to be loungers on their beach, but somebody stole them, and to my knowledge, they have not been replaced. The snorkeling is fantastic, particularly if you do their guided snorkeling tour, so you have someone with you to point out all the really cool stuff. However, you do need to make prior reservations to guarantee a snorkeling guide. Carpile is fairly deep, so you would probably see the top of it, but the bottom of carpile would be possible on a really clear day - it just depends on the visibility on the day you are there. So far, we have not made it all the way down to carpile - there is just too much to look at on the way!

 

TreeCity- Yes, Clive is the only one on the boat - he's both Captain and Divemaster. When you are doing an anchor dive, Clive leads you the entire time. However, on a 'drift' dive, Clive leaves the group at a certain point to go fetch the boat, and he follows you down the reef. When you come up, he's right there to pick you up - no worries (air left in my tank is a terrible thing ;)). If you wanted to stay with him the entire time, I'm sure that would be fine, too. On the trips we have done with Clive, the second dive site has always been very close to shore, in case you are wondering about that.

 

Wendy

[lynninsc]

Thanks so much for the info. Do you think the location is close enough to the Kontiki/Mambo beach area that we could rent chairs/umbrellas for the day there after we were done snorkeling and just walk it?

[w&k]

where anything else is on Curacao.

 

Once we do 2 dives, sink some Polars, have a yummy fish lunch, sink some more Polars, and swap dive lies, it's time to go back to the ship.

 

The only thing I know is that the hut is right next to the Beaches hotel. Hope that helps!

 

Wendy

[dandaman]

I can highly recommend Curacao. We were there on Celebrity Constellation in 2007 and hired a taxi to take us to Porto Mari. They have a dive shop on site, and diving is directly from shore. The reef and beach are beautiful.

[2moody]

Just some information for those of you diving in Aruba. If you are on a

RCCL ship they probably book through Red Sail Diving. Don't do it.

The dives themselves were good, but the equiptment was awful.

We had 20 of us on a ship and a number of us had holes in our

BCD's we had to constantly inflate, one of my friends got 2 different BCD's and when he got to the bottom it wouldn't reinflate. Two of us had problems with our breathing hoses. It was not fun and if we had been beginners someone could have been hurt.

The staff was bad too. They had plenty of workers but they just stood around talking. It was raining and cold and the 2 girls that worked on board didn't help anyone they huddled together and talked. Noone helped us put together our stuff, or change tanks between dives. Now I can do it myself, but I have never been on a dive where there are workers standing around doing nothing not even attempting to help. We helped each other get back on board after our dives - no help from staff. Very unprofessional. I am female and dive alot I have never encountered a worse operation and equiptment.

[MrSchwump]

Color me skeptical, but I have a hard time believing an account by any diver who would use the term "breathing hose" in describing what I presume is the regulator.

[TheVegasMan]

The second stage regulator is attached to the hose that is connected to the first stage regulator. Apparently the hoses either had small holes in them or were not connected tightly.

 

At least she didn't call it the "thingamajig" or "dohickey".

[Dive Master]

The second stage regulator is attached to the hose that is connected to the first stage regulator. Apparently the hoses either had small holes in them or were not connected tightly.

 

At least she didn't call it the "thingamajig" or "dohickey".

 

 

This is why I ALWAYS take my own "thingamajigs" and "dohickeys" with me.I ALWAYS set up and change out my own junk.I put my trust in myself when it comes to life support dohickeys.

[2moody]

Thanks for mocking me you guys. I was distracted while I was writing

my post and I knew I was getting my terms wrong, but I didn't think i was

going to be beat up over it. My only reason for the post was because

of the bad experience my group of 10 out of the 20 divers on board had.

I felt there were too many people, bad equiptment, and poor staff. we

usually book outside of the ship and this time we learned our lesson. So

believe me if you want or not. By all means book with them and find

out for yourselves. This all happened in october so maybe things have

changed. When the majority of 10 people in our group have faulty

equiptment think that's a problem. I promise I have never called

anything a thingamajig or dohickey

[CruzinSouth]

Thanks for all the responses to my question. With the overwhelming response for Curacao, how could we go wrong? Sounds like we'd be foolish to pick it over Aruba. Our cruise isn't until October, but I can't wait! Thanks again! :)

[Boytjie]

I just booked the RSVP charter of the Eurodam in February 2010 and have to make a choice between Aruba an Curacao for diving so this information is very helpful.

 

I know, I could do both, but since we only have two ports of call (other than Half Moon Cay) I will settle for one day of diving. We are in Curacao from 8 am to midnight so there is plenty of time for diving and sightseeing too. We are in Aruba from 7 am to 3 pm; enough time to dive but that would be it.

[Donna G]

I am also doing Aruba and Curacao in October on the AOS. As I have never dived in either destination, I'm really looking forward to this exotic location. I wonder how it compares to Cozumel or Grand Cayman? What are the average depths?