SNUBA trip?

[kaspegren]

We're going to be in Aruba from Aug 21-28. My husband and I are interested in SNUBA and checked the site for DePalm Tours. Does anyone know the difference between the Happy Hour Snuba Combo and the Palm Pleasure Snuba trip besides the length of time? The site lists the cost for the Happy Hour Snuba as $111/84. Since it is a "combo" tour, does that mean that the SNUBA price is $111 per person and if you don't want to do that, it is $84? Sorry, just trying to budget out all of our activities and the site is a little vague.

Also, if anyone has any thoughts on which of these tours is better, would love to hear feedback. The site doesn't specify how may different places you will snorkel/SNUBA, etc.

Thanks!
~Kristin

[Andrea J.]

check out both links

http://www.aruba.com/ThingstoDo/Acti...alm_Tours.aspx
http://www.depalm.com/

snuba is quite limited on the distance that you will cover.
snorkeling is IMO a better plan as you can move about freely.
the 2nd link gives a list of every depalm tour and description.

[kaspegren]

Thanks!

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

snuba is quite limited on the distance that you will cover.

For the amount of money you will be spending, another option would be to consider a "Discover" scuba excursion. Our then 10 yo dd tried it and was immediately hooked on diving.

[kaspegren]

That's good to know. We have been wanting to get certified for years, but have never found the time. Maybe it's time to consider this as an option instead. :-) Do you have any particular tour group that comes to mind as a good place to start for a "Discover" scuba excursion?

[Andrea J.]

http://www.jadsaruba.com/
jads gets rave reviews

as does PELICAN which i think is now called UNIQUE of vice versa.

the discovery course or resort course might be right up your alley as lisa suggested.

check this link too
http://www.aruba.com/ThingstoDo/Sear...x?bc=excursion

[Arubalisa]

http://www.aruba.com/ThingstoDo/Sear...g/default.aspx

JADS receives excellent reviews. We used Aruba Watersports http://www.aruba.com/ThingstoDo/Acti...rt_center.aspx and were extremely pleased. I wrote about our experience here Scuba and the 10 Year Old

[kaspegren]

Thanks! This will be fun checking these all out!

[Chadd]

Originally Posted by kaspegren

That's good to know. We have been wanting to get certified for years, but have never found the time. Maybe it's time to consider this as an option instead. :-) Do you have any particular tour group that comes to mind as a good place to start for a "Discover" scuba excursion?

If time is your biggest hurdle, you might want to consider doing what I did. Padi offers online coursework; videos, tests, etc... You then do your four open water dives at your leisure and you are certified. Most of the major players in Aruba offer that package, though it is pricier than just the discover course. I did my open water and advanced open water certifications with Red Sail after doing the coursework online and can't say enough good things about their instructors and divemasters. In fact, I paid for my fathers online coursework for fathers day just so I could have someone to dive with.

[Chadd]

On the original topic, my wife and I did the DePalm snuba tour and neither of us was all that happy. I hated the feeling of being leashed and prevented from going deeper and she was just never able to get comfortable with the process. It is a good intermediate step if you are considering certification. You only snuba on one of the stops, we chose the Antilla. The other stop you will just snorkel with everyone else. I really find diving much more comfortable and enjoyable.