From: kosicki@ratchet.Prime.COM (Bernie Kosicki)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Re: Aruba picks/misses (Q)
Keywords: Aruba
Date: 12 Nov 92 12:58:45 GMT
Reply-To: kosicki@ratchet.Prime.COM (Bernie Kosicki)
Organization: Prime Computer R&D

My wife and I vacationed in Aruba this October.  We managed to sneak in
a day of diving, and one day of snorkeling.  I must say, after diving
Bonaire last year, that the diving in Aruba did not impress me.  They
are very much into wreck diving, because there are quite a few wrecks,
but I beleive more importantly because the reefs are not very colorful. 
It just seemed to me that the color on the reefs is very flat and dull. 
There does not seem to be much care taken in preserving the reefs
either.  To be honest, it seems to me that people are much more
intrerested in parasailing there than in diving.

On the flip side, I think any day you can get undser the water is better
than a whole day on land.  So here are the details of what we did:

Snorkling:
----------
1) Some shallow reefs on the North West side of the island.  There was
not much to see.  There really is not much coral growing shallow, it's
very sandy and goes off rather gradually.  We were about 200 yards
offshore, but only in about 20 feet.

2) The Antilla Wreck - It does not make much sense to snorkle this
wreck, as you are actually in about 60-70 feet.  The water is very
choppy because it is an exposed area.  This is the "Marquis" dive site
on the island.  It's a very large freighter that was scuttled by its
captain around WWII to prevent it being captured.

Note: If you do want to snorkle, it seems the thing to do is rent a car
and go to Baby Beach (on the very southern tip of the island).  It is
supposedly a very easy shore dive also.


Dive Sites:
-----------
1) The Jane Sea freighter - A wreck of a cement carrier, approximately
70 feet long.  It was sunk about 7 years ago (accidentally).  She lies
in 50 feet at the bow, down to 90 at the stern.  We had to seek refuge
from the current (2+ knots) in the cargo hull.  There was remarkably
little plant life growing on the ship.  It has been pretty stripped down
of its belongings.  The wreck is almost totally intacked.

2) Barcadera Reef - Drift dive in fairly shallow water (40').  This was
actually a very nice dive.  The formations of the coral are pretty
dtriking, even if the color is poor.  There are many large Gorgoneans
and some Shelf coral.  The soft corals are fairly abundant also.  The DM
did find us a really nice Green Moray, and there were a couple a big
Baracuda swimming around.  I was sort of surprised at the water
temperature though.  It could not have been more that 78F on the bottom.
I was expecting a bit warmer (maybe 85F).  This dive was worth it.


Dive Operation:
---------------
We dove with S.E.A. Scuba.  They seemed to be the most profesional of
the dive companies.  The boat is a cabin style 32', fully equiped.  The
crew took care of all gear and prep work for the divers (8 of us).  They
did a good job given the wind and current condition that day.  The
dive/site orientations were complete and background facts were given
also.


I can FAX pamphlets from a couple of dive operation, as well as phone
numbers if anyone wants them.  My oeverall impression, is that diving is
really not a priority on Aruba, but don't let that deter you.

Bernie Kosicki
CV Services (used to be Prime Computer)  :-)

kosicki@s35.Prime.com
Newsgroups: rec.scuba