Dive Review of Pure Diving/Air BnB in
Aruba

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Pure Diving/Air BnB: "Aruba 2024 TYrip", Nov, 2024, by Francis Loncar, WI, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 13240.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Visited Aruba over the Thanksgiving holiday, diving for half the family, sitting on hot sand for the rest. We had dived here in 2021 using 3 different dive companies, this time we used only one, Pure Diving, right near the airport. I had seen some good reviews for Pure Diving, and was not disappointed; originally the plan was to try other dive shops, but the service and attitude was so good that we ended up doing 48 dives between the 3 of us. We had one refugee from another local dive shop that kept him from diving for 4 days due to mechanical issues. Never saw a happier person after his 1st dive trip with PD. The dive op is not much to look at, cargo containers used to store gear and refill tanks, an outhouse bathroom with real plumbing, their own dock and a shaded seating area to wait as the divers set up their gear. The boat is an open 36’(?) vessel with a small dry storage area in the bow, very stable and more than adequate for the short rides to the dive sites. A snack for the surface interval consists of fresh fruit. Fresh water is also available. The boat takes a maximum of 12 divers plus guides. Entry is either giant stride or back roll. A ladder in the stern with a negative angle is the only real challenge with this dive boat, but the crew helps you get back on. The camera bucket is only 1 gallon in size, okay for GoPros, but not much else. The ops location is very handy behind the airport, as most dive sites are 1 to 2 km away, and they have their own parking lot, plus they have a van for pickups. Check-in is 8:30am and the boat usually leaves by 9, sometimes a little later due to divers coming from the cruise ships. Each dive site has it’s own mooring anchor, so gearing up and getting in the water is a relaxed affair. There are usually 2 dive groups based on experience, sometimes 3 if there are students. 1st dive is a deep one for experienced divers 80 to 100’, and a dive time of around 50 minutes, though for those who have lots of air they’ll let us explore near the boat for another 10 minutes. Visibility on the deep dives is close to infinity, shallow dives can be murky if the wind is strong. About half of our dives were drift dives due to the current. A 45 minute surface interval is enforced between dives. Second dive is shallower around 50’ max. While we brought our own gear, the rental gear looked in good shape, would not hesitate to use it. They usually arrive back at the dock by 1pm. Water temps were around 85F, but at times we did hit a thermocline. The corals were quite nice, a mixture of hard and soft ones with very little bleaching although brain corals look like they took a big hit. Fish life was plentiful but small for the most part, a few barracuda were seen, and some fleeting glimpses of sharks and eagle rays. There are some lionfish, but active hunting efforts keep the numbers under control. The reefs appeared to be in better shape than in 2021. Prices were very reasonable considering it is Aruba, but they do charge 5% for using a credit card. The Dive Masters were all extremely competent and helpful, I felt they struck a good balance between safety and allowing us freedom on the dive. On land they were efficient, and it seemed everyone could handle all aspects of getting divers ready for the trip. I was very pleased with Pure Diving, relaxed but didn’t waste your whole day, had the afternoon to do other activities with the family.
Websites	Pure Diving
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Kauai, Cozumel, Fla Keys, Wisconsin, Palau, Maui, Grand Cayman, Aruba, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos, Big Island, French Polynesia
Closest Airport	AUA	Getting There	from MSP, Delta via ATL
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	100-200 Ft/ 30-61 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Had to stay within sight of DM
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Since this was a dayboat, no extra facilities for UWP

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Dive Review of Pure Diving/Air BnB in Aruba

Pure Diving/Air BnB: "Aruba 2024 TYrip", Nov, 2024,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Pure Diving/Air BnB in
Aruba