Depalm island review

We decided that we would take a day, out of our 10 day stay in Aruba, and dedicate it to going to DePalm Island. I had looked up information about it prior to visiting and it looked absolutely amazing!

DePalm is an All Inclusive island, which includes a lot of things (with some activities being an additional cost).

Pricing is: $104.00/adults $79.00/children. These are "all day" pricing (which I can't imagine anyone wanting to stay only a half day).

This price includes a breakfast buffet from 9am-11am, lunch buffet from 11:30am-3pm and the grill is open from 12-4pm. There is also an open bar from 9-5pm and a soda fountain that you can get your own drinks any time of the day.

This price also includes the best snorkeling (equipment provided to everyone free of charge) with some of the biggest Parrot Fish I have seen. There is an abundance amount of fish in this area and they don't seem to be too afraid of people. I managed to get pretty close to a lot of them and got some awesome pictures. The water on this side is a little on the rough side and you will sway back and forth like a baby in a crib being rocked to sleep while snorkeling. Just go with the flow and when the water goes back out, kick the fins and you'll gain a little bit of ground, ride back a little and repeat. Not too bad IMO. Also this area is fairly shallow and at any given time you are struggling, most people can stand up (look before standing and make sure you are not on coral please). You can go any time during the day and snorkel vest ARE REQUIRED! They do have the area's (pretty big) roped off and there is someone on duty sitting way up high on the dock area watching people to make sure they do not go past the area and will blow their whistle if you do. No worries...there's plenty of snorkeling space to cover. There are steps that lead down into the water and sit on to make it easier to put your fins on prior to getting in the water.

Zip lining is included in the price as well and is located behind the water park area and along the water. We stood in (somewhat of a very short line) for over an hour to zip. They can take 2 people at a time.

Water park-This place is a lot of fun for kids and adults as well (just not me because I ended up falling down the steps on it and have managed to mess up my knee...ugh). There's steps that lead you to various water slides and water slides of different heights for any ages. They do have a fun enclosed slide that gives you a feeling of being lost and not knowing which way you'll turn next. Ladies...hold on to your tops. They also have a bucket that fills and dumps every so often...oh what fun. It's a great way to give the kids a shower for the day (just kidding).

Air jumpers are trampolines with a bungee attached to it for all your jumping needs.

You can play basketball, volleyball and soccer. We also seen them giving salsa lessons and it looked like a blast.

Banana boat rides are for those 10 and over...so we didn't get to try them out.

There are 2 cove beach areas to hang out in and the water was pretty calm there.

Extra's included (for a price), Sea Trek Helmut walk on the ocean floor $49 & $36

Snuba (we watched a lot of people doing this all day long but since we had scuba dived the week before, decided not to do it) $49 & $36

Power snorkel (we didn't try this because my grandson has one of these and I've already done this before. I have to say that the people I did see doing it seemed to be having a bit of difficulty controlling it). I'm not sure the cost because I didn't write it down.

They have private cabana's/cabins you could rent and we seen them right on the water beside the snorkeling area. There is also a gift shop on the premises.

So...checking in. We decided to drive here on our own instead of booking with DePalm and riding their tour bus. I believe when you book with them you get less time (because of transportation??) but I knew I wanted as much time as I could get there. The ferry dock is located past town and before you get to Mangel Halto. There's currently construction going on at the moment and I just remember counting the roundabouts and knew to turn right at the 4th one, then take a left at the dead end and it's on the right (you'll see the sign).

We drove here ourselves and parked in the free parking lot. They have 3 lines to get in: 1 for people who came in on the DePalm buses and already bought their tickets, 2 for the people who put a deposit down and need to pay the rest and 3 for the people who came on their own and need to buy tickets. Hoards of buses pulled in at 9am and there were so many people there, but most were in line 1 and 2...but they moved faster than those that didn't have tickets!! It was crazy slow and you have to fill out a form at the window. Save some time and fill it out while waiting in line.

There are 2 ferries that take people over and the wait can be a little while but at least you are waiting under the shade on the dock.

You are free to go anywhere you would like once you get there...beach (more than one), snorkeling, food, water park, zip lining...the options are limitless.

There's food to be found any time of the day and it was pretty good.

We stayed here as long as they would possibly aloud before having to pack up and head to the ferry.

We absolutely had the best time ever here and would highly recommend it to everyone young and old.

HERE YOU WILL FIND ALL OF MY PICTURES OF DEPALM...JUST CLICK.

Great pictures from De Palm Island! I haven't seen many pictures from there until now. We'd like it there! I haven't decided yet what we will be doing on our upcoming cruise stop in Aruba, but I think I want to save De Palm for when we do a land trip there. I am going to show DH some of your pictures, though, to see what he thinks.

You mentioned the blue and black parrotfish in your other thread, that you weren't quite sure who he was. Based on your pictures in this thread, I believe this may be your parrotfish.

http://reefguide.org/carib/midnightparrot.html

Is it a midnight parrotfish? The biggest parrotfish I've ever seen were while drift diving in Cozumel. I have pictures, but not where I can post them from the tablet I'm using right now, Sorry.

I'm going to have to come back tomorrow to read the other threads I see that you've posted here. This night owl needs to go get some sleep! :eek:

Wow! Those are beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Great pictures from De Palm Island! I haven't seen many pictures from there until now. We'd like it there! I haven't decided yet what we will be doing on our upcoming cruise stop in Aruba, but I think I want to save De Palm for when we do a land trip there. I am going to show DH some of your pictures, though, to see what he thinks.

 

You mentioned the blue and black parrotfish in your other thread, that you weren't quite sure who he was. Based on your pictures in this thread, I believe this may be your parrotfish.

 

http://reefguide.org/carib/midnightparrot.html

 

Is it a midnight parrotfish? The biggest parrotfish I've ever seen were while drift diving in Cozumel. I have pictures, but not where I can post them from the tablet I'm using right now, Sorry.

 

I'm going to have to come back tomorrow to read the other threads I see that you've posted here. This night owl needs to go get some sleep! :eek:

Yes, somewhere (maybe on the Aruba forum), I mentioned it possibly being a midnight parrot fish. That's the only thing that looked like it. I found a huge one at Baby Beach and a few more at DePalm. I really tried to get a good picture of them, but the pictures just don't show how big they actually were. It makes them look smaller. This one was probably the size of my belly. When I first seen him, I actually gasp under water and swallowed a bunch of salt water. I honestly had never seen one that big. It was amazing!

Wow! Those are beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing your experience.

You're welcome and thank you.