Aruba activity
 

My husband and myself will be going to Aruba this December returning home on Christmas Day, This will our second trip there. We went 5 years ago. At that time we took a jeep tour that was insane! Although it was fun and rugged would not want to repeat the same itinerary. We will have a rental car. I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions of what to do. We are young "60's" and do like to snorkel, do water activities and enjoy history. Any suggestions? Thank-you.

We enjoyed taking a boat out to DePalm Island and snorkling there. Lots of coral and fish to see there.

Have you looked at the tours offered by DePalm? www.depalm.com

We did the full day De-Palm Island and loved the walk in snorkeling there. The buffet was a little iffy, but the grill hamburgers and hot dogs were pretty good.

DePalm offers a sunset sail in which they sail from Palm Beach to DePalm Island for dinner.

A good snorkeling trip is the Tranquillo or the MiDushi. Both go to different areas.

I love the jeep tour we did with ABC, but I agree it was a very long bumpy day. You may want to just take your rental car and a map and do a sight seeing drive around the Island. Just be careful about leaving your car unattended in remote area and do not keep any valuables in the car or trunk.

With a car, you could the restaurants Old Man and the Sea and The Flying Fishbone.

Thanks. Yes I have been to the Flying fishbone before. Old Man and the Sea I have not been to nor the depalm tours. I will try one of there all day tours it does seem like fun. Good reviews. Yes it was ABC Jeep tours we took. I will NEVER forget that tour!! I went with some girlfriends to Aruba and I told them they will never speak to me again if I take them on this tour. haha. My husband and I literally had sand embedded in our ears! It was so windy and rough. Not for the faint of heart. once was enough-----thanks again.

We (ages 49 & 56) went there for a week, a year ago. My trip report goes into detail on the activites we did and the restaurants. http://www.mightymac.org/aruba/

Keith

Aruba is great. I've been there twice now. It's a flat land but it's really laid back. If you've never been there, go to TravelExplosion.com to see a video of what the island has to offer. I think you'll love it.

We enjoyed Baby Beach on the south tip of the island. You will find clear, shallow water and good snorkelling by the jettys. It's an interesting drive as you will go through residential neighborhoods and past the prison. Once you get there you will see mostly locals which we enjoyed very much. We went 3 times to Baby Beach and would go again.

I agree with Baby Beach if have not already been there. De Palm used to have a beach hopping tour. We did that tour on our trip. We went to Baby Beach, Mangel Halto, Arashi Beach and Rodgers Beach (next to Baby Beach) Not something they advertise on-line, but offered at their tour desks.

Driftwood is a nice restaurant. Also you can try golfing at the Tierra Del Sol golf course if you're into golfing and the Numisimatic Museum.

There is also a nice beach near the Califronia Lighthouse

Hi there,

I just read all the replies and I agree about Baby Beach, if you like to do snorkeling and water activities.

For history I recommend the National Archaeological Museum of Aruba, is a green building in downtown area very close to the Hugo Boss store. The Fort Zoutman is great as well On Tuesday from 7 to 9pm, the museum hosts the Bon Bini Festival.

You can go to the Aruba Aloe Factory, although there is not much history around, is a great place to visit and the building was dedicated to the Posner from their children.

I hope you find this helpful, if you need anything else let me know, I can tell you everything you want to know about Aruba attractions. (Ostrtich Farm, Casibari, Rock, Bushiribana Rocks)

The Bon Bini Festival is an amature show which may not be for everone. When we were at it, most people had left after about 30 minutes.

diann

I agree about the ABC tour - what really freaked me out was when the owner asked the crowd of us who wanted to drive but didn't check that the people he chose (all guys) had drivers licenses.

We were in a car with a guy from LA and it wasn't too bad but we had to keep stopping to wait for the straggler - he was driving his family not a bunch of strangers so he was more careful than the other drivers. I have to say that I was shocked that every car didn't have a local driver who was used to the terrain. Never again!

If either of you have a motorbike license? I can recommend the Harley Davidson tour. So much fun and a lovely way to see the back roads.

I did a trip report somewhere here if you need to find more info.

Have a lovely time - I'm jealous :)

alya,

Yes we did did the Harley tour it was all day and will more than likely do that again. My husband is PB rider and rides every all the time. When we did the ABC tour they also had just drivers who were part of the group as well. They do not have enough staff apparantly. What a way to run a business. I cannot believe those never topple OVER. It really seemed dangerous to me but then again perhaps I have sense of adventure. I am primarily now seeking good restaurants I have not been to before. I love the Driftwood as someone mentioned, and we love seafood and the grouper. madame Jeaneants is another place I love. the lighthouse was a wonderful view but the food left me not enthused unless it was just what I ordered.(??) Any other restaurant suggestions? My trip is less then 2 weeks away. YEAH!! THanks everyone for your suggestions. Yes Baby beach is a must.

diann
On the Harley tour ('We're Brits living in MA) I felt like the Queen Mum doing the royal wave :) there were so many guys stopping what they we doing to look as we passed by and waving back :)

Have you tried Pizza Bobs - we loved their pizza.
http://www.restaurantsaruba.com/view...ml?REST_ID=178

We stayed at Bucuti on both of our visits

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...-and-aruba.cfm

I found the trip report - but the Aruba part is halfway down because we went to Nevis first.

thanks a great report. I have heard always positive things about the place you stayed. The location is not near where I will be. Now I need to ask people about night life there. I have been there now twice and have never found any real 'night life" anyplace. Like music etc. I guess I just don't know where to go. Thanks for your inputs.

Just curious...how was your trip? We're getting ready to go in a few days, so any advice you have is very much welcomed!!! :) Thanks!

IngridL, I was here and left again for Florida to spend time with our families. I just returned you are probably left all ready. sorry--I hope you had or are having a great time in Aruba. Let me know when you return.

diann, how was Aruba?
Where did ou stay?
How was the weather?

Where did you stay? ( sorry about my typo)

I have a friend who exchanged a time share @ La Cabana. They have refurbished all there rooms. That is where we stayed but we plan to stay at Divi Golf next time. Beautiful grounds, all very nice and new. A great looking place. The weather was rainy for the first few days. It actually rained off and on quite a bit. I would not return in December--they do have a rainy season october, novemeber but it lasted through decemeber this year which is highly abnormal. Even a rainy week in Aruba is tolerable.

diann24, we went to Aruba for a week in Nov 2010 and it rained all but the last day, sometimes very hard rain. It was still a great trip but we agree, never again during that season.

diann & P_M:
About the Aruba rain....that is so weird. The reason we started going to Aruba is because "it never rains"!! and it is "guaranteed warm in February/March". We got tired of freezing in South Florida in Feb/March so decided to head farther south, closer to the equator. As you know, Aruba is a scruffy, arid little island because "it never rains" (Has that changed? Is it now lush & green?). I do recall P_M' s rainy vacation last year. I felt bad b/c I was one of the posters who had recommended Aruba to P_M because "it never rains".
And, then I heard that it rained over Christmas last year (2010) in Aruba and now diann says it was rainy again in December, 2011. I will add to these rainy days our own experience in Aruba from Feb, 2011: We had torrential downpours that lasted for hours at least 3 times throughout our short week in Aruba. The rain wld typically start around mid afternoon. But, one evening we were having dinner outdoors & it started to pour.

So, I really do not know what is going on in Aruba. We have decided not to return to Aruba this winter(2012). We will be heading back to South florida where I hope it will be warm or at least not freezing in March.

Ocean

OceanBreeze, I don't want you to feel bad for recommending Aruba for the weather, I never blamed you or anyone else. We had already read in guide books that your chances of seeing rain in Aruba were almost nil so we were already convinced the one sure thing in Aruba would be sunny weather every day, which of course didn't happen for us. While we were there we heard horror stories about the non-stop hard rain on other islands such as Jamaica and Haiti where they had 27 inches of rain in just a few days. That said, Aruba was a much better place to be. At least we had some nice weather and we saw a few things in Aruba. Our only regret was that the excursions (such as the Pirate's snorkelling tour, jeep tours, etc) were all closed, but that prompted us to rent a car and explore the island on our own.

As far as what's going on in Aruba, only mother nature knows. The locals swore it's never been this bad and they hope this isn't the new normal. For many people the big selling point about Aruba is the dry weather and if that selling point no longer exists then Aruba tourism will suffer. I hope things will get back to normal because I hate to see this kind of change for Aruba.

Thanks, P_M.
Are you going south this winter? If so, where? I seem to recall that your DH had some medical problems ( or perhaps I am thinking of somebody else on this board who was supposed to go away but had to defer a trip due to illness). If so, how is he doing?

Hi OB, we were scheduled to take the Aruba trip in Sept 2010 but the day before were to leave we had to postpone because they thought DH had a kidney stone, that's why we went in Nov. It turned out not to be a kidney stone but he did have another issue and it's best we didn't go yet. It's a shame because I bet the weather was a lot nicer in Sept than Nov. DH is fine now, it was just bad timing of a health problem. Of course, it would have been far worse if we were already there, then this came up and he would have had to see a doctor in Aruba. So in that sense it all worked for the best.

We have no travel plans for this winter, however we live in Austin, TX so our winters are very pleasant. We will be going to Kauai in Sept 2012 and we are very excited about that.

P_M We wemt to Hawaii on a cruise and my favorite Island was Kauai--it is so very beautiful and like no other place I have ever seen. Enjoy!

Ocean Breeze, I agree the standard phrase it is "never rains in aruba." As we all know the weather is changing, due to Global warming (??) Or whatever, do not feel bad about at all saying it never rains but they do have a rainy season octber/Novemeber. I am returning end of February early march in 2013. I might go again this summer during low season. One thing for certain is we cannot control the weather and we need to make the best of it whatever the circumstances. One never knows about Mother nature.

Oh Ocean breeze, the island has "greened" up a bit. My first few visits it was dry and not at all what one call a scenic island but much of the country side is now greener then it was before. We drove down to Baby Beach and I did notice the greenery where there was none before.