Bucuti information
 

We are thinking of staying at Bucuti in March. Are there restaurants truly within walking distance or are car rentals/taxis always necessary? Also, any thoughts on good scuba experiences would be great. Thanks in advance.

We stayed at the Bucuti last year. From the Bucuti you can walk to the French Steakhouse next door and the Alhambra Casino for gambling. There's a nearby Subway Restaurant for lunch and a bagel stand for breakfast. Some people walk to the highly rated Le Dome and Chalet Suisse Restaurants which are close by. But taxis I understand are not expensive to the high rise area or nearby areas (we always rent a car). The high rise area is only a few miles away.
Once in the high rise area you can walk between hotels so you could easily spend an evening in this area. There's also a bus you can catch to downtown.
In the high rise area in addition to the hotel restaurants there are several choices--Amazonia, Aqua Grill, Tango, Texas de Brazil, Tomato Charlie's, Fishes and More etc. Of these we have dined at Amazonia, Tango, Fishes and More and Tomato Charlie's which we thought were very good.
Short taxi ride from the Bucuti to Gasparito (local cuisine-very good) and Madame Janette (don't miss M.J.).
Downtown are El Gaucho and Marandi both excellent and worth the trip.

We were at Bucuti 9/3-9/10/04 & loved it, we want to go back next year! Pirates Nest is at Bucuti. It is pretty good for being on-site. You can watch the sunset while you dine. Salmon entree is good. Lunches are good & very reasonable ($5-$10).
I would recommend you eat at Madame Jeanette's (in the residential area) & El Gaucho (downtown Oranjestad). We took taxis to both & fare was $11 to Madamme Jeanette's (it was Sunday when they add $3) & $8 or $9 to El Gaucho. Too far to walk. Let me know if you want more specifics about Bucuti or dining experiences. You will love Aruba!

If you don't want to rent a car, the bus goes from town, past the Bucuti and continues to the high rise hotel area and reverse. So from you hotel you could go either way for a small amount. I think it is $1.50 round trip. But cars are cheap in Aruba. We usually pay $165 for a week from Econo Car-unlimited mileage.

The Bucuti was a lovely, smaller hotel. It has a European feel, with a small (sometimes topless) beach, very clean rooms, excellent service. It is situated with the smaller hotels, not on the main drag with all of the big chains. The Pirate's Nest is fine for dinner, not excellent. Taxis can be expensive if you use them frequently. Can't walk to much from Bucuti. We rented a jeep, which was great because we explored most of the island. It wasn't expensive. There are many good scuba locations, including Baby Beach (nice little scuba shop there), but you can find all that out when you get there. You will need a car to get to these. I'd recommend renting one.