Aruba?

just booked a trip for july! never been before and neither has anyone in the group. any tips/advice on stuff to do while there?

Who the **** are you, Sex in the city?

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Click to expand...

Who the **** are you, Sex in the city?

yes. looking for some holloways.

My wife and I stayed in Aruba at the end of January and it was awesome. We stayed at the Tamarjin, which is an all-inclusive resort. We're more the relaxing types on vacations, so we only ventured off the resort one day. Spent some time walking around Oranjestad which was pretty cool. Lots of shops (including Zegna), bars, and restaurants. I've been told a great thing to do is to rent a car and drive around the island, but we didn't get motivated enough to do that. It is humid and very windy there, but the people are really friendly and the beaches are incredible. You'll have a a blast.

To be honest, I found it to be a bit touristy. It may have been the hotel we were staying at (Westin I think), but the beach was pretty full of people and it was rather crowded. I'm sure if you book a more out-of-the-way resort you may have more privacy. The night life was pretty "Cancun"-y as well but that may have been a result of the crowd I was with. Downtown is quaint, and some of the food is incredible.

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

Click to expand...

To be honest, I found it to be a bit touristy. It may have been the hotel we were staying at (Westin I think), but the beach was pretty full of people and it was rather crowded. I'm sure if you book a more out-of-the-way resort you may have more privacy. The night life was pretty "Cancun"-y as well but that may have been a result of the crowd I was with. Downtown is quaint, and some of the food is incredible.

The low-rise district, which is where the Tamarijn and Divi are located, are much less crowded than the high-rise area (Westin, Renaissance, etc.). I agree, the restaurants are very good downtown.

Nice place but too touristy for me. Weather is perfect there.

If this is you first Tropical vacation you might be pretty content with Aruba.
It is generally devoid of any nature or landscape. The coastline is empty and flat , few palm trees here and there. No rocks, no forests near the water, no waterfalls. It is a flat spec of land with one hotel after another. Orange town looks as authentic as suburban outlet mall.
There are some positives: 1.Fresher Heineken than in US. 2. Breezy weather prevents your brain from melting. 3. Island is not in hurricanes path.

There are very few islands in Caribbean that are worth visiting, Aruba is certainly not one of them.

^^^^ By far the best, most idyllic Caribbean experience I've had (and the only one that was not a disappointment in some way) was the San Blas Islands of Panama. Completely secluded, tropical, straight out of a magazine cover. There is a local government restriction there on what kind of buildings are allowed and a ban on foreign ownership. Everything else I've seen has been overdeveloped.

Originally Posted by runner-guy

Click to expand...

I agree, the restaurants are very good downtown.

that's what i need to hear. do you remember any specific places?

all i really want out of it is good food and the beach. the rooms are free and really were the deciding factor in going. i don't mind a goofy caribbean island, especially since it gets me out of texas in the middle of the summer. i've been to st. thomas, john, bart's, etc. already so i'm ok with not having a super authentic experience.

also heard that the ATV rental tours on the north side of the island are worth doing. rum and dune buggies? yes, please.

Originally Posted by grundletaint

Click to expand...

that's what i need to hear. do you remember any specific places?
I really, really liked the sea bass at the Flying Fishbone. Probably the best I've had.

I went to Aruba May of 2009. We spent about a week there at 2 different locations:

First was a small Studio type place south of Oranjestad called Coral Reef Beach. Very cute and quiet. It was actually next door to two of the better restaurants on the island. The Flying Fishbone, which was solid but not terribly special, and The Old Man and The Sea which had a LOVELY and romantic setting and the food was quite good. The place was very home like, the owners had a young boy and a really fun little dog that played in the courtyard, we would go to the local market and buy fresh caught fish and cook it back at the studio. After swimming across the small channel we would come back to relax in hammocks and read, it was so quiet and peaceful, all you could hear is the wind in the palm trees and the water 25 feet away. Very inexpensive too!

The second place we stayed at was a small hotel in an odd spot in Oranjestad: The Aruba Surfside Marina. The rooms were VERY large and modern. The place was very quiet as well. With unobtrusive service including a breakfast each morning. It's also a 30 second walk down the pier from a fun little Bar and Restaurant Pincho's.

We rented a car the whole time which was pretty awesome. It's very easy to get around down there, with very few lights, mostly roundabouts. We used the car to check out a new beach every day and snorkeled using our own gear at all of them, my favorite beach to hang out at is Arashi at the northern tip; it actually has some surf there and is never crowded. We also used the car to see some of the more off the beaten trail restaurants and sights (not a ton but there are some). We did a casino night at the Marriott, a snorkel boat tour which was pretty fun when we checked out the Antilla wreck and swam with a couple of sea turtles, and did a little shopping at the mall on the southern end of Oranjestad.

All in all it was a decent time but to be honest, we will not be going back any time soon. The Palm Beach area was pretty much like America with all the high rise hotels, Burger King, movie theaters (I did watch Star Trek while down there as we had a night to kill and the theatre has the nice DLP projectors and the tickets were only like $7 iirc), coffee shops etc. It's not really an exotic getaway by any stretch.

Also, be sure to bring lots of high powered sunblock. I put on SPF 40 or 60 3 times a day and still came back looking almost black. You'll also be thankful for the strong breezes because when it stops for a minute, the sun REALLY starts to roast you. Bring hats, quality polarized sunglasses, several swimming trunks, a laptop (to check out tripadvisor and other sites for things to do), a small collapsible cooler to put drinks and sandwiches etc in for mini trips or just for the beaches.

Beer is VERY expensive down there, about $10-12 USD for a 6 pack of 8oz (something small like that) bottles.

I'll reply with more as I remember what we did there.

A big fan of Aruba if you are looking to just get tanned and some relaxation.

We stayed in the low-rise area in Mancheebo. Not the creme de la creme of resorts, but the service was top notch. We didn't have a car, but walked around the area to pizza bobs and stayed on the resort for their food. don't go for the food and tourism...just go for the beach.

nice breeze, fast airport service (jetblue), nice people, cheap beer, gorgeous beaches.

major downside (for some)...old women sunbathing..in the nude.

Don't pick any fights with Sidney Ponson.

Originally Posted by Douglas

Click to expand...

Don't pick any fights with Sidney Ponson.

great advice