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Dive Review of S.E.Aruba Fly and Dive in
Aruba

 
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S.E.Aruba Fly and Dive, Dec, 2006,

by Joel Solomon, NY, USA ( 2 reports). Report 3137.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Aruba is a great trip from the NY metro area because it is a direct flight. On the way home, you go through US customs on Aruba, which eliminates the big bottleneck at JFK. On our return, we were advised to be at the Aruba airport three hours early. We checked our bags and got through customs within about half an hour, so I would not get there quite as early next time. Jet Blue ran on time, as always.

And now for the diving... I hooked up with S.E Aruba Fly and Dive. I had a very enjoyable experience diving with them and would happily dive with them again. I dove on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the week between Xmas and New Year's- a peak week. There were 12 divers the first 2 days and 18 the last day. !2 divers on the boat was very comfortable. On the last day, there were a lot more divers and the shop ran a second boat. !8 divers was cozy but not crowded. All things considered, pretty good... There were enough divemasters and staff to keep things running well. Ben, the captain, picked me up from my hotel every morning. He explained to me that on the first day the crew sizes the new diver up to determine how experienced they are and to see how much help they need. If you are an experienced diver, you are given some latitude. If you seem to need help, the staff rides closer herd on you. There was a DM in the water per 6 divers. Divers had the option of diving on their own with their buddies instead of following the group. The dive briefings were good and informative. There were suggested bottom times. Only once was the dive a bit shorter than I would have liked it to be. The dive operation was professional, friendly and competent. The level of service was in the middle. You aren't on your own, like I was in Florida, but you aren't fawned over the way I have been in Cozumel or the Turks and Caicos. This was fine with me.

I won't bore you with specific dives, but I can say that there was alot of coral in very good shape. There were a lot of fish and a lot of schools. Aside from seeing 2 turtles (my first in 50 dives) and a scorpionfish, there weren't very many striking or unusual fish. I did see the biggest rainbow parrotfish ever and an enormous puffer. Aruba also has the most honeycomb trunkfish that I have ever seen. The only thing that was a bit of a bummer was that we had to wait for about half an hour before we could splash when we dove the Antilla. Apparently there are a limited number of mooring sites for the wreck and we had to queue up and wait for a site to open up. It was the first time that I was stuck in traffic waiting to dive.

This minor disappointment notwithstanding, I had a great time diving with SEAruba and would recommend them instead of the bigger dive ops on Aruba. I had a great vacation week and a great time diving. Aruba was a successful trip and had piqued my interest in Bonaire.

Joel Solomon

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 51-100 dives
Where else diving Belize, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Fort Lauderdale
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 78-82°F / 26-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-75 Ft/ 12-23 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Return after a speficied time or with 500 psi. Buddies were allowed to dive on their own.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 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 [None]
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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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