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

In the last 18 months I have been diving in Key Largo, St. Martin, US
Virgin Islands, Fort Lauderdale, Bonaire, and Curacao.

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

See below  

Overall Rating

     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.
 

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