Man that sounds cool! Hey guys & gals, I'm going to Aruba in March. Anybody do and diving there? Could use any help and suggestions because I'm gonna be a newbie there.
Thanks in advance!

big z, i dove in aruba in may 2003, and was OK. My wife and I dove a wreck dive 1/2 mile from the beach, a WW 2 German freight boat about 60'-70' deep. I forgot the name of it but I do remember the water was not clear, about 10-20' visibility. The second dive was 40-50' deep. Again it was OK, but little sea life. There are other dive sites, but we could not fit in any more dives while on the island. One thing that I can't forget about Aruba it's a nice island, but windy as hell. Do not expect the diving to be any were close to Belize, I’ve dove both and Belize is a lot better. Have a good time!

most everyone dives the antilla (sp?), which might be the wreck los is talking about - I remember it being a somewhat shallow dive. Alot of pressure here, it's the most popular dive, so get ready for some fins in the face. There are other notable wrecks to dive - that is primarily what Aruba is known for. The best boat dive is Bacadera reef, where you finally get to see something other than sand. My favorite tho, was baby beach reef. This is a shore dive, and if you have non divers with you, it's a cool little place for them to snorkle or just laze around. Take a picnic. Afterwards, find your way to Charlies Bar in San Nicholas. Those folks can really give you the low down on the island, and a guest there at one time was John Wayne Gacy. I happened to look over and saw what I thought was his picture as a clown, so I asked and oh yes it was. He had visited the bar and then sent that pic to them. Lotsa interesting memobilia on the walls and ceilings. If you are visiting for longer than a week, I would suggest hopping over to Curacao, where the diving is fantastic. It's been years since I have been to Aruba, but have heard that it is now extremely built up, and the downtown waterfront that I knew has changed dramatically. Still, it's sun, sand and sea. Have a great time.

Thank you guys. I am going for over a week, but I am not going for the diving. Thought I might as well get wet as long as I'm there though. If the vis is 10 to 20 though, I'm sure I will get wet with cocktails in the casino instead.

Fantastic beaches! I did a great horseback riding trip on the back side of the island too.

Can I go? I wanna go too!

I agree with doberman, baby beach is a nice "cozy" beach, we snorkled their had a nice afternoon hanging out on a beautiful beach. As I remember it's on the far westside of the island so we rented a car for the day and enjoyed the drive getting their and exploring other part of the island. Aruba does have some beautiful beaches.

nope, baby beach is east, headed toward San Nicholas. But hey, it is a cool little place isn't it?

Zeke, I think los meant the dive on the antilla had that low viz, and that could be attributed to being close to the western tip, being shallow, being sandy and having alot of divers and snokelers there. The antilla, and some of the other wrecks are worth a dive. The viz most of the time was 70-100 ft., with those dive sites cental and to the east having more formations. I only did 6 dives myself, so am definitely no expert, but enjoyed the ones that I did.
There was plenty of topside things to do when I was there, now there are even more. I really enjoyed driving around & stopping along the way. The waterfront was fun in the evening, and I liked the casino there more than the ones in the hotel zone. Make sure to walk back a street or two, that's where all the neat, dutch architecture is now hidden.

I did my first dive in Aruba about 5 years ago and I have a shirt that says "Scuba Aruba". The antilla wreck was murky but the spot we went to with Mermaid divers had good visibility. Got clear shots of an eel at 40' with a disposable Fugi camera. I don't think Aruba is really known for it's diving. Most divers take a quick plane ride to Bonnaire which reportedly has great diving. I found Aruba a fantastic vacation spot-clean, safe, and entertaining with really good prices on diamonds. We went back again two years ago. Hope you have a great time!

Geez, db, is it really OK to post comments or remember distances when you haven't been to that place in the past 6-18 months?