I read about JADS online ahead of my trip and contacted the shop once I arrived in Aruba.
Although I was traveling with a group of girlfriends to the island for the first time (and diving with someone I had never met), Jean-Pierre (J.P.) scheduled for us to come in and dive so he could determine our skill level. I called back to add two friends to our trip to snorkel and Christy was very accommodating to make sure we could include our non-diving friends. I hadn't dove in two years, so I was relieved that J.P. and Walter were willing to take time with my friend and I.
Upon arriving at the shop in the morning on May 8, it was very comfortable and I felt at ease preparing for our two dives with Walter and J.P. We rented some of our equipment from the shop and they were great about assisting us with whatever we needed. I found the equipment to be in good condition and didn't have any issues.
The first dive of the day was a shore dive at rocky beach. It was a great location and we were able to shore dive while our friends snorkeled. We had a great time and saw so many fish! Our second shore dive with Walter was at Baby Beach while our friends snorkeled. Baby beach was a very cool dive, with a ton of variety of sea life. After two dives with Walter, I can see why he is the most requested instructor. I am also considering a return trip to Aruba to complete advanced certification with the shop. Walter is great about communicating the logistics of the dives and making sure everyone is comfortable. He understands the importance of paying special attention to divers when necessary. Both J.P. and Walter treated us like we were family and we were excited to have another day of diving.
Our second day of dives (three tanks) beginning the morning of May 9 with Jair and Jairo were off the boat. We had a great time seeing a variety of sites and really enjoyed having support both in the water with Jair and in the boat with Jairo. This time our friends decided to stay at the hotel, but it worked out splendidly. Diving in Aruba was the highlight of my trip, not only because of Aruba's many reefs and abundance of sea life, but the welcoming and accommodating crew at JADS, including Chi Cha, Christy, Jair, Jairo, J.P., and Walter.
I would gladly recommend diving in Aruba with JADS.

My husband has been interested in taking scuba diving lessons for a long time but I never had the same passion. I was more terrified then welcoming to the idea. Once we arrived at JADS, the plan was to stay with my husband until it was time for him to go and I would occupy myself. The owner, JD, welcomed us and made us feel very comfortable. He was very aware of his shop and conscious of peoples safety. He encouraged me to try, if I felt the urge, and brought some equipment for me just in case I changed my mind...Which, I did. It was a lovely experience and my husband was very proud of me. Now we are looking into certification classes to go on our own in the future. I know I wouldn't have been able to talk myself into it if it wasn't for the safeness, encouragement and warmth from JD. It is a gorgeous place to scuba dive with some amazing people to make the experience even better.

JADS – THE RIGHT CHOICE! When my boyfriend and I planned a 12 day trip to Aruba last month, diving was our primary objective. Because we are both new divers (just one year) we wanted to be sure to find the right dive operator. We went to ScubaBoard.com to solicit some opinions on the many dive operators working in there. The choice was eventually narrowed down to three. After several email exchanges and some telephone conversations, our choice was made, JADS it was.

Let me start by saying JADS exceeded all of my expectations. On a scale of one to ten, they earned an eleven! We scheduled ten dives, and wish we scheduled more with them. I felt as though each dive experience was catered to me personally. Jean-Pierre, (or J.P.), the owner and every dive staff member was professional, skilled, and just a great group of people. Initially they interviewed us to get a sense of our experience, and then created a dive schedule based on our skill set. The first dive was planned so that they could determine our comfort level. I felt completely at ease from the start. As a new diver, most of my diving has been in New England, so I was really looking forward to getting into the warm water and see what everyone says diving in the Caribbean is like. I was not disappointed. Did I mention what a great group of people work for JADS, from the folks managing the shop, to the dive instructors and dive masters who led the dives? They literally tailored their dive schedule so that we would not repeat a dive to the same location during the entire trip. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been disappointed if that wasn’t possible, but I know they made a concerted effort to make sure that our dive experience in Aruba was amazing, and they succeeded! We dove from one end of the island to the other, ship wrecks, plane wrecks, reefs, shore dives…….ALL AWESOME! At the end, I felt like a completely different diver.

I don’t want to forget something really important. We stayed in the low rise hotel area. JADS is at the far end of the Island, next to Baby Beach. The first dive, they picked us up and began our trip down the island to the shop. Then we packed up, got back in the van and started back about half way back to the boat. At first I thought “what a far distance to travel to get to the dive boat”. But by day two, I came to enjoy and appreciate the rides back and forth nearly as much as I enjoyed the dives. We really got to know the staff, as well as many interesting facts about Aruba and the natives. Also, you really get a better sense of the natural desert beauty (palm trees are definitely not indigenous to the Aruba).

I recall when we started planning our trip my boyfriend asked if I wanted to take an all dive trip. I thought I wasn’t ready for that. So he planned to dive five of the ten full days we were going to be there. I wish I planned more. My confidence and comfort level has grown immensely, and I owe a lot of that to the JADS dive team.

Thank you J.P., Jair, Jairo, Walter, Kitty, Christy, Paul, Ghi Ghi and everyone from the shop! I can’t wait to get back there and dive with you again!

My son and had 5 dives with Jads over 3 days. The variety of the dives were great and the individual attention they give is commendable. JP is a personable individual who truly wants everyone to have a save and enjoyable dive. The last dive we took was at Baby Beach in fairly rough surf and I always felt safe. We went with 2 Dive instructors for 2 divers. The dive shop is at the opposite end of the Island as the Hotels, but if you rent a car it leaves you with time at the end of the day to explore the more undeveloped side of the Island.

I have been to Aruba approximately 8 times over the last 12 years and went diving previously on the Hotel side. It was enjoyable but did not compare with JADS. I give them 2 thumbs up and will certainly use them again.