Aruba Travel Forum

My wife will be unavailable for a planned vacation from 7/4 - 7/11 due to an unplanned business trip. We (late thirties) were scheduled to stay in the low rise section of the island. Thoughts/feedback on things to do for a first time traveler (by himself) to Aruba, or should we attempt to reschedule and eat the additional deposits and re-booking fees? I really need some time away...

Another Aruba question. I guess I could wait until I get there, but I only have a few days so I don't want to spend time trying to figure things out when I get there. :) Has another gone sailing/snorkeling with Red Sail Sports? Any comments? Should I make reservations before I go (next week)? Also, should is it worth spending a half day at DePalm Island? I'm traveling on my own and would like to avoid crowds/kids. :) Thanks a bunch!

I'm looking for some advice on transport while I'm there and would appreciate any help. I was planning to rent either a car, jeep or motorcycle while I'm there. Just wondering if I rent a car or jeep will it be a pain to find parking at the beaches or restaurants or any problems getting around. If I have a couple drinks (not 10 or 12 but 2 or 3) do I have to worry about breath checks? I really don't like crowds, I like to explore and I plan to be in/on the water a lot. Any other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

I am father of 2 boys age 16 and 17 and I want to introduce them to scuba diving for the 1st time. We can all swim quite well and have snorkeled many times before. We are vacationing in Aruba over Easter Break from high school. From what organization should we learn to SCUBA? Are there discounts offered in any coupon books or....
We plan to do this early in the week and then possibly later if/because we enjoyed it so much.

Signed, on a budget...

don't know if anyone has an idea of how low prices could go, current prices (CAD) to travel from toronto to aruba in Aug are:

1) 1200-1500 with flight, some meals
2) 2200-2500 with flight, all inclusive (Occidental Grand Aruba)

any thoughts? does all-inclusive make sense?

thanks for any help.

I´d like to know if it´s possible to get a ferry or other boat to Aruba from Venezuela?

We go to Aruba every year and the car rental prices (like everything else) keeps going up. There is a good price from u-save rental but I'd love to hear if anyone has ever used them and what kind of result they had. Thanks

Hi!!
I'm heading to Aruba in a couple of weeks for 10 days. I LOVE live music and dancing. Where should I go to find some island music-- salsa, reggae, soca etc.? Drinking itself is not a big focus... the music is. Any recommendations?

Can anyone give advice on which AI is better?

Which hotel has better:
food, entertainment / nightlife, beach, rooms?

josie

Just booked a last minute trip to go to Aruba this weekend. Kinda a spur of the moment. Two of us in our late 30s. Looking for some good local bars with music where we can hang out with some locals and enjoy the flavor. Also looking for the same type of places to eat. It is always too easy to go to the big hotels, I would like to know where I would go if I lived there and wanted to have a little fun. (Dancing, drinking, hanging out, etc.) Thanks for your help!

I would like to travel from Venezuela to Aruba. ¿Is there a ferry or other type of cheap transportation? We are a family group of 5.
I`ve heard others making this trip, have anyone some experince in this crossing. ¿?
Any Help would be fine.........
Thanks

Anyone have info on guesthouses / budget hotels in Aruba? I hear you cant find anything under $80/night. I hear apt rentals are cheaper. Ill be there for 4 nights....so if anyone has any info, please help!

Thanks

Hi all,
Me and my husband are planning a trip to aruba for a week in mid may'08. This will be our first and probably last trip to caribbean island, so I wish to make it memorable and any of your help to do this will be highly appreciated. I have a few questions if anyone can help me..

1. Is aruba alone worth 7 days or should i consider adding more islands to my itinary.
2. We will be staying in all inclusive resort for three or four days, but I wanted a more local touch to my trip, and so was wondering If there are any other options like, huts, lodge or may be sea side camping
3. Can anyone suggest some other reasonable lodging options.
4. besides jeep tour and water activites is there something else that one should not miss.
5. any other suggestions ? (we are of late 20's).
Thanks for your help

Hi dear friends from Aruba. Like all travellers, I wish to travel the whole world one day, but I don't know if that dream ever comes true. As for now I would like to receive some postage stamps from Aruba. If anybody has some and sends them to me, I would be happy. May be i can give something in exchange.

Love to all

hi,
i realize from past forums that it was unsafe to go to venezuela for a day or so because of political unrest.can someone please reccomend if its okay to go nowadays and what are the options in getting there (fly, boat, how much is the cost?) and for us citizens is passport enough or visa is required too for venezuela? we are coming in may and staying at the hyatt regency. thanks so much..please respond!

I am going to Aruba at the end of September ,can you help me please?
The tour op has offered me a choice of the Rui Palace Palm Beach or the Tamarjin Aruba at Druif Beach. What choice should I make..Also weatherwise ,is it likely to be very humid there .And last ,but not least ,we are two mature single females and enjoy lively nightlife so any ideas ?thanks Sal.

Hello,

I was wondering about something. My husband, my son and I are going to Aruba in June for the first time. We booked everything with www.destinationcompare.com and was able to compare and get the best rates for a family. My question is, a lot of friends are telling us that this is not a good time to travel to Aruba because of all of the press with the Natalie Holloway case and that we would not get any peace and quiet. Is this true? Is there anyone out there on this forum that can verify this?

Please advise,

Tricia

Hello,
I'm planning a trip to Aruba for either September or October. Can anyone recommend me a place in the 3 star category. I would like something that is near good restaurants and a fantastic beach area. Nightlife is not really important just a nice beach, nice swimming pool and good food! :) Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out what's the best place to stay in Aruba for a group of 30 somethings. We like the beach and want all the amenities, but also want to be close to nightlife. I'm confused as to the best location - Palm Beach, Eagle Beach, Oranjestad. Please help! Thanks.

Our cruise ship will be in port from 7 am to 1 pm. Is it possible to get a taxi to a beach for a few hours and return on time. Are there any other things we can do (besides shopping) for this short duration?

Hi, I am celebrating New Year in Aruba. We have a group of 10 traveling. We are staying in Riu Grand Aruba resort. If someone know's about the resort please let me know what's its like. Even though its all inclusive, we are planning to go out for some dinners (so please recommend some nice resaurants. In fact we will be celebrating my husband's bday and would want to go somewhere nice. And most importantly - night life - where do we go? For New Year? and in general at night. I know that Aruba is not huge on night life, but any advice would be helpful. We are a group of late 20's early 30's. Any other advice would be highly appreciated - i.e jewlery shopping - is it still worth it? Any fun activities/trips. Thanks as always!!!!!!!

For any of you VT members that live in Aruba. One of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises tall ships is stranded at the dock in Aruba. No water on board, limited food, no fuel and no money forthcoming from the company for back crew pay and tickets to get back to their homes. They are living in appalling conditions. If anyone knows a contact in Aruba who could do something to help it would be appreciated by the crew and all the faithful "old salts" past passengers who have enjoyed this ship for years. Possibly a church group, yacht association, or someone with clout. The name of the ship is "Polynesia" and the Captain's name is Duane.
Thanks to you all for listening. You can all find out all the rest of the bad news about this company by looking at www.jammerbabe.com/flotilla and clicking on Breaking News and the individual ship threads on the forum index.

We love The Promenade in San Nicolas. I read (in an online restaurant review), where they opened another location in the lowrise hotel district. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, where is it located? I can only find the original location on their website.

If I fly to Aruba on US Air and am then flying to Curacao on Insel Airlines, will I have to clear customs in Aruba or just grab out luggage and go through the transit lounge?

Hi All - I need some help. I can't decide between the Renaissance Aruba (high rise) and the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort (low rise). I've researched both hotels on various sites...I can see both have pros and cons. I appreciate any feedback...

Side notes: We are a couple in our late 20s. We value a beach with calm water with snorkeling off the shore. And we want to have plenty of dining choices in a fairly close proximity to the hotel.

thank you!

I have been looking at the weather for Aruba, and it doesn't look too good! We're leaving for Aruba on June 29th and staying for a full week, but weather.com says it's gonna be partly cloudy and possible rain!!! Oh no!!! Is this weather common for this time of year? Will the clouds and rain pass thru quickly each day? I really hope we don't spend a week with crummy weather.....

My fiance and I are looking for a destination to get married and love everything we have read about Aruba. Except for one requirement that we are unclear about. We read on a couple different websites that beach ceremonys would not be a legal marriage and the marriage would only be legal if perfomed in the civil house. Can anyone clarify for me what this exactly means? What has to take place at the civil house to make it legal? Has anyone been married in Aruba or know anyone who has been married there who can give me some information. Anything would be helpful.

My family is planning a vacation to Aruba. We are looking for a professional photographer. I have been on a couple of forums and have gathered a couple of names of locals. Can anyone help me with information on how to contact the following.

I have heard that Paul van Driel is supposed to be the best on the island.

Also I have the name Steve Keith. Don't have much info on him at all, just that he does photos for one of the local magazines.

Tinia Cunha. No info just the name.

Anyone with information on any of these would be greatly appreciated. Websites, phone numbers or e-mail addresses.

Any contact info would be great!

Thanks so much in advance.

We are planning to book Sunset Beach Studios - Ocean View House. Does anybody know how does the house look like? is it clean? it seems to be an older accomodation at the pictures, is it true? and we´ve read that the beach across the street is not so good, but is it possible to swim there or it is suitable only for windsurfing? How far are the beter beaches ?