Suggestions for a mom, a 7yo and a 10yo in Aruba?

[stiej]

Dad is going scuba diving leaving me to occupy the kids in Aruba. We are on HAL and I have looked at the Aruba Town & Countryside or Colors of Aruba through the cruiseline. Or are there any other private tours that would be better. Any recs?? Thanks!

[GradUT]

I've been to Aruba twice--once for a week on vacation and once as a port-of-call on a cruise. I've read the descriptions of the Aruba Town and Countryside tour and the Colors of Aruba tour and they both sound like a snooze-fest, especially for the kids. Each of the trips sound like most of your time is spent riding around on a tour bus looking out the window at various sites on the island. While it would be fun for the kids to explore the Casibari Rock Formation, but I'll bet dollars-to-doughnuts that if you make a stop here, it will be very short. The climbs around the rocks would be too much for elderly or mobility-impaired passengers.

Just looking at some of the other excursions, I would opt for the Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Getaway. We did a similar excursion when we visited Aruba as part of a recent cruise. The ride on the catamaran was enjoyable and, although the description doesn't say it, I'm sure you will stop at Boca Catalina for the snorkeling. Your kids are both old enough to snorkel here--the water is not particularly deep or rough. (And what kid doesn't want to find Nemo?) Also, they require everyone, including adults, to wear life preservers, so the kids will have that extra buoyancy to help with snorkeling. After giving snorkeling a try, you'll go to Palm Beach where the kids can play on the beach or swim in the ocean and there's another nice boat ride at the end of the day where you, mom, can sip rum punch (pretty light on the rum, I must say) and the kids can have sodas or juice.

To me, that sounds a lot more fun that sitting on a tour bus.

[Hatteras51]

Your kids would probably enjoy a day at DePalm Island. They have a nice small waterpark area for kids, a beach, and nice snorkeling. Actually, a full day is pretty long. They would probably like the 1/2 day better. Lunch and beverages are included. You can check it out on DePalm's website.

[serene56]

http://www.abc-aruba.com/

 

we used this tour and it was fabulous. They offer the donkey sanctuary now but we went to the Ostrich farm.

The kids may like swimming in the natural pool.

[golfer1966]

Depalm Island is great for people of all ages. The waterpark is very nice and there are lots of things to do there for kids of all ages and grown ups too. Its all inclusive so you can get food and drinks there too and the food was very good. Its a 5 minute ferry ride from Aruba to the small island and there you can spend all day having fun, eating, drinking, chillin in the sun...etc If you like to snorkel, there are huge blue parrot fish there and they are just beautiful. There are lots of other fish too, but the parrots are my fav's.

[marylizcat]

I would also recommend De Palm Island. We thought it was excellent. The children will love the waterpark and the free banana boat rides. Your ship will probably offer it as an excursion. I am sure they would enjoy it much more than any tour of the island.