Aruba & Curacao ~OR~ Tortola & Antigua?

[kcparrothead]

Which would you choose?? Can't decide if I want to explore two new ports (Aruba & Curacao) or return to Tortola so I can go over to Jost Van Dyke this time. Last time we visited The Baths. Antigua was an o.k. day at the beach, but would probably head to the east side to see the blowing rocks this time & check out a beach on that side....

[AWCHIEF]

I spent some time living down around the ABC's and would not mind going back on a cruise ship. If you have never been, go and have a great cruise.

[broberts]

Snorkeling can be very good in Aruba.

[golfadj]

Probably cannot go wrong either way.

[sonicbuffalo]

We just got back from Aruba and Curacao and next year we're going to Antigua and Tortola on the Breeze...so we've got it covered....but we loved Aruba and Curacao...and Grand Turk's snorkeling was awesome...

[Heirloom]

Aruba......perfect port.

 

Nice residents, great food, great beaches, exciting casinos, decent shopping........our favorite !

[kcparrothead]

So has anyone done all 4 of these ports? If so, which islands would you want to go back to first?

[Jenna1983]

I did Antigua and Tortola before. I'm doing Aruba & Curacao hopefully in September. Antigua was meh. Tortola is gorgeous. I recently met several people on my cruise two weeks ago who said "Aruba & Curacao are a must."

[floatingaway2525]

Well here's another half answer, I won't get to Aruba and Curacao until next year on the breeze but LOVED Antigua and Tortola....in ANtigua grab a taxi and head to Jolly Beach, great restaurant and bar, beautiful beach with a view of Monserrat across the sea, had a fabulous day there! In Tortola we got a group together and chartered The Kuralu, google it, catamaran sail over to the Soggy Dollar at Jost Van Dyke and some unihabited islands on the way for snorkeling, plus lunch on board. One of my best days ever!

[riclop]

Which would you choose?? Can't decide if I want to explore two new ports (Aruba & Curacao) or return to Tortola so I can go over to Jost Van Dyke this time. Last time we visited The Baths. Antigua was an o.k. day at the beach, but would probably head to the east side to see the blowing rocks this time & check out a beach on that side....

Easy decision ARUBA & CURACAO!!!!!!!!

[lappy22]

Going to Aruba and Curacao next month. Loved Tortola and Virgin Gorda but didnt like Antigua at all. I hope to give them another shot at some point but I didn't find any friendly people on that island.

[Wags67]

So has anyone done all 4 of these ports? If so, which islands would you want to go back to first?

 

 

We are headed to Aruba and Curacao this Saturday.

I enjoyed Tortola and Antigua...

In Tortola, we actually took a ferry to Virgin Gorda~the Baths...breathtaking...next visit to Tortola, we will actually tour it!

In Antigua, we took a countryside tour with stops at Shirley Heights, Nelson's Dockyard, a place where Dr. Doolittle was filmed at, and ended up at a beach.

I think EVERY island is unique in it's own way! I have found something positive in each of the 15 islands we've visited...

[teenabear]

I have been to all four islands and really loved Curacoa. We go back to all four again but my first choice would be Curacoa and Aruba.

[blue_water]

We're on the Nassau/La Romana/Curacao/Aruba Freedom cruise in April, have done Nassau and Aruba and the only reason we're returning to either is because friends are taking their first cruise and wanted us to accompany them. Aruba is OK for snorkeling the wreck and the reef, but after horseback riding and sunset sailing we didn't see anything to return for. This visit we'll spend time in Palm Beach to see if we have any interest in staying there someday for just beach time. But we're looking forward to our first visit to La Romana (Saona) and Curacao.

 

For Tortola I would recommend Smuggler's Cove (and have recommended it here and on TA and TTOL). Gorgeous beach for relaxing or snorkeling, natural and undeveloped but Patricia had a great grill there. We stay on Tortola and love going to Smuggler's and stopping by Long Bay to watch the pelicans dive.

The Kuralu, Patouche, and other operators going to Jost and Sandy Spit and Green Cay is a good day if you want to see the beach bars in White Bay. But I would save that for a longer day sail while staying on Tortola. An island tour is also nice because of the spectacular views over the bays. One in particular is from the Bananakeet overlooking Carrot, Apple, & Long Bays with Smuggler's just beyond.

 

For Antigua we've done the land tour with Lawrence of Antigua and admired Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbor, Shirley Heights and other amazing spots. But our very favorite excursion of all of our Carib trips was taking the Excellence day sail here. Excellent crew on a beautiful 2-tier cat and the most amazingly blue water we've seen - period! And motoring into English Harbor was a great experience.

 

So you can guess that my favorite islands are Tortola and Antigua because of their beauty and so much to see and do on both.

[G.C]

Each of the islands is very different depending on what you enjoy doing it`s difficult to make recommendations for you. Having been to all four in the last two years. It would be an easy choice for me Curacao has by far the best diving/snorkeling of the four actually some of the best anywhere in the world. Wonderful downtown area for sightseeing also. Aruba is also very nice just not good for diving. In Aruba we joined two other couples for sunset dinner on the beach. If memory serves me correctly Passions on the Beach was the name of the place. Tortola also offers lots of wonderful choices I love going to the BVI`s. Antigua was my least favorite island lots of dead bleached out coral. The area by the port had the last we were there an open drain running down the street. Just not my kinda of island stop. Enjoy your cruise! :D

[kcparrothead]

Thanks for your input, everyone! It's sounding we need to go to Curacao & Aruba before returning to Tortola so we can visit Jost. (for Foxy's & One Love & Soggy Dollar!) Like I said in the beginning, on our first visit to Tortola, we went to The Baths (on the Patouche cat) which was AWESOME! I feel like we didn't really get a taste of Antigua, though, since we just went to Darkwood Beach...