Tobago vs Aruba ?
 

Looking to vacation in October... Can someone help me compare Tobago with Aruba? I'm thinking these more southern islands to avoid hurricane risk. Wanting to know about how you'd compare these islands based on activities available, weather, beaches (for swimming,snorkeling) and general cost is quite important too. thanks in advance!

Tobago is much less commercial than Aruba so it depends on what you like to do. Tobago is tropical and green while Aruba is arid in the interior. Both have beautiful beaches. I haven't been to Aruba for several years but I believe the cost is about the same. Aruba has many more activities available if you are looking to be entertained. Tobago is more serene. For example, there is one small casino in Tobago compared to many huge Vegas-like ones in Aruba. Hope you make it to both eventually as they are certainly worth visiting.

As Nankar said, Tobago is a lush island. It's very undeveloped compared to Aruba, and there are accommodations for all budgets. You won't find a lot of nightlife, but you will find lots of places to explore, many beaches, and friendly people. Not many North Americans go to Aruba; most visitors are from England and Germany. We've been going back for five years.
In October, you will have a chance of rain, as fall is the "rainy" season. However, the locals tell me that it usually just rains for an hour at a time in the early morning or late evening (like Camelot?). The upside of that is that everything will be green, green, green.

Oonarose

Did you mean that not many North American go to Tobago?

Also, do you have accomodations you would recommend in Tobago? What are the beaches like?

Thanks.

Kath,
Ooops! Remind me to proofread my posts before hitting the send button. Yes, I mean not many North Americans go to Tobago (not Aruba). There are charter flights from England (and Germany, I believe but I'm not sure), but it can take some work to get to Tobago from the Boston area, where I live. It's off the beaten path.
As far as hotels, it's hard to recommend one without knowing what you like. I'll tell you what we did last trip: We spent four nights at the Blue Waters Inn at the isolated north end of the island, then 8 nights at the Hilton, at the south end. (The Hilton sometimes runs very good specials, so it pays to check the website.) The BWI is a very basic hotel (no pool, phones, TVs, etc.) but it's smackdab on its own small crescent of beach. It's popular with birders, divers, and others who just want to enjoy the jungle-y setting.
We also like the Kariwak Village hotel (not on a beach but close), one of the friendliest places on the island , and it offers a good price. If you want to spend more, there's the Blue Haven near Scarborough.
If you narrow down your choices a bit, I can give you more details.
The south end of the island is flatter and gets less rain (even though it's only 20 miles long).
The beaches are varied -- you'd want to visit several. There are a few beaches with white sand and that turqoise water (Pigeon Point), then there are other long ones with crashing surf. Some others toward the north are usually deserted -- you can feel like Robinson Crusoe (DeFoe reportedly based Crusoe's island on Tobago. There's even a cave where the fictional Crusoe was supposed to have hung out!)
Let me know if you need more info.
Diana

Diana