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Dive Review of Native Divers/Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club in
Aruba


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Native Divers/Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club, Jun, 2004,

by Richard Manners, New York, USA . Report 1326.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A

Overall Rating
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments I have been diving frequently with my wife and 15 year old daughter the last 18 months. In general we have enjoyed all of our dive vacations - however, there is something special about diving with Romeo at Native Divers.
First - we fell in love with Aruba and bought a timeshare at the Marriott - It is on the beach, beautiful, extremely safe, and has all the amenities you could want. Our favorite time of day(out of water) was walking along the beach in the evening and deciding where to settle down for dinner.
Native divers is a small two person operation with Romeo taking divers out and Vanessa handling the booking. Romeo specifically caters to small groups and there were never any more than 6 of us diving. He takes tremendous pride in Aruba and is happy to share his knowledge. He seeks out the best sites and dives with you to point out his favorite areas. At the end of the dive you can stay down while he surfaces if you still have air.
The Marriott recommends Red Sail who have a dive shop on site - but no boats. Red Sail is about 3/4 mile down the beach. We dove with Red Sail last year - they do send a car to pick you up - but their boats are crowded and they frequently repeat the same sites.
We find we most enjoy small non-crowded dive boats with personal friendly attention - which is the hallmark of Native Divers. We enjoy the diving in Aruba and feel that along with all Aruba has to offer it is one of the best vacations for a diver.
For a nominal fee Romeo stored our gear on the boat and cleaned it daily. There is something great about waking up in the morning and walking from your room a few feet to the boat with everything waiting. Diving is a heavy sport - but occassionally it is nice to be pampered. Vanessa even booked us for horseback riding trips and 2 snorkeling trips for my other non-diving children. These were great.
The only problem we had was that this trip the water was more choppy than usual and on the small boat the trips to the southern part of the island were a little rough. Fortunately, Romeo had already purchased a larger 37 foot boat which was to be ready by Aug 2004 with more comfort in rough waters and an area for photographers. He still plans on only taking small groups.
We are going back next year and are looking forward to seeing our friends at Native Divers again. Can't wait to dive off the new boat.

Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving In the last 18 months I have been diving in Key Largo, St. Martin, US Virgin Islands, Fort Lauderdale, Bonaire, and Curacao.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions
Weather sunny, windy Seas choppy
Water Temp 81-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy
Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw
Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments See below
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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