help with driving in Aruba
 

Hello,

I will be Aruba and hope you can help with a question about car rental. I plan on renting an automatic for the week as I will be staying in the low rise area and figure it's more economical than buses, cabs and the trip back and forth from the airport. I do want to get to baby beach, the natural bridge, lighthouse, and some other sights (all suggestions welcome). Will I be able to get to the above sights I listed in an automatic economy car?

Thanks for all of your input.

-Loika

You need a jeep to get to natural bridge. I am sure they have jeeps that are automatic. They will cost more than a regular car. The car can get you most everywhere else.
Check out aruba-bb.com for more info. It is a bulletin board. We did not rent a car when we went. I think you would do well to rent a car and on the bulletin board, they can recommend who is good.

Thanks, girlonthego. Do you need a jeep for baby beach and the lighthouse as well? I ask because I don't want to incur the expense of renting the jeep for the week as I will probably do all the sights in one day, so having the jeep for the week will cost too much.

No you do not need a jeep for Baby beach or lighthouse. You can probably take an arranged tour to Natural bridge with your hotel.
Renting a car would most likely be the economical thing to do. We just took taxis. We did not go to the sights on the island believe it or not! We stayed at the resort during the day enjoying the beach and watersports. We took cabs at night to dinner. We traveled with kids. Next time we go, we will rent a car. Baby beach is supposedly the best beach to snorkel at. I hear natural bridge is very neat to see. You can take a horseback riding trip there. There are several stables. (I researched a lot of this last year. )Where are you staying in the low rise? Bucuti? I hear that is a very nice hotel. We stayed at the Marriott at the end of Palm beach. The website I gave you was so great. I had reservations before I went at three restaurants (we traveled with another family and had 9 for dinner). We booked a snorkel trip before and I arranged to have a cellphone for my husband before we even got there. I knew what we really wanted to do before and we had a great time. It is a fun relaxing island.

Hi Girlonthego,

First off, thanks for all of your help. Yes, I am at the Bucuti. I had actually gone to the Aruba-bb sight, which is where I got the car from, but to get more info I had to register, and all I really wanted to know was the topography for visiting those three sights. The Aruba-bb website is great for restaurant info. I am going to register on the site for other info as well. Where did you eat when you stayed?

Thanks again for all of your invaluable advice.

Loika

El Gaucho was our favorite. (Steaks)
If you make a reservation, ask to sit downstairs. I hear upstairs is very claustrophobic. They have strolling minstrels and the food was very good and I thought reasonable. We ate at 6:30 with kids and had great service.If you dine too late, you will have to wait.
Chalet Suisse-very nice restaurant and good food. They are famous for their fondue dessert. It was pretty good. The food here is continental, local fish, german food, steak, pretty much everything.
Texas D Brazil: This was okay. Lots of meats from all different sources. It was fun. You hold up a sign and say yes or no to more meat!(hope you are not vegetarians, we are meat people).There is another place called Amazonia which has the same type of deal. You may want to check restaurant reviews to see who is better at this time (or closer to your resort).
Simply Fish: at the Marriott. Dining on the beach. My husband likes fish, I thought it was so so. I am not big on fish. The sunset dining was beautiful. I recommend you dine on the beach. I hear Flying Fishbone is the best for this. I know Bucuti offers this and the Hyatt has a pampered on the beach dinner that has a great following. We ate casually the other nights at the Marriott.
Other restuarants that have had great reviews;Madam Jeanettes, French Steakhouse, Marandi and flying fishbone. You can probably see their menus on line and see if it is to your liking.
This is one of the best features of Aruba is great dining!

You actually don't even need a Jeep for the Natural Bridge. You will have to drive over a rough dirt road, but nothing at all that requires a Jeep. I've been to Aruba twice and the first time I rented a "Jeep". Second time, I rented a car. I much preferred the car because most of the "Jeeps" in Aruba to rent were Suzuki Sidekicks. A shopping cart would be more comfortable. Either way, rent something and enjoy the island.

Ditto NYGiant's comments about getting to the natural bridge. You don't need a jeep and any car they rent on the island will get you to the bridge.

I would recommend a jeep tour---my wife, our daughter and I took a tour about 5 or 6 years ago and we still talk about how much fun it was. Take plenty of sun screen and some bottled water. You'll be driving your own jeep, so skill at a standard transmission might also be needed. Have fun!

Also, try Texas de Brazil for a great Brazilian steakhouse experience--it's out near the high rise hotel section!

Thanks all for your help. Maybe we'll meet up at one of restaurants you all recommended.

-Abbylou