Driving in Aruba and Bonaire

[Cruisenthusiast]

Hi all!  On our next cruise we’ll have 15 hours to explore Aruba and 14 hours in Bonaire.  With so much time on each island and multiple things we want to see and do, I was contemplating renting cars on both islands.  For those of you that have done this, are the islands easy to navigate?  Are the roads clearly marked and in good condition?  Is there anything unusual I need to be aware of? Thank you for any advice or information you can offer!

Edited February 4, 2019 by Cruisenthusiast

[Lola2016]

1 hour ago, Cruisenthusiast said:

Hi all!  On our next cruise we’ll have 15 hours to explore Aruba and 14 hours in Bonaire.  With so much time on each island and multiple things we want to see and do, I was contemplating renting cars on both islands.  For those of you that have done this, are the islands easy to navigate?  Are the roads clearly marked and in good condition?  Is there anything unusual I need to be aware of? Thank you for any advice or information you can offer!

Rent a golf cart from @bonairecruisers  the best way to see the island. And tons of fun!

[Hatteras51]

Aruba has good roads, but tons of construction and detours. The roads aren't well marked, and traffic is often at a stand still. If that doesn't frustrate you, go for it. Some cruisers choose to rent cars. We stay in Aruba every year.  We are in Aruba right now. We only rent a car for a day or two, and use taxis or the bus the rest of the time.

[potsie57]

We rented a car in Bonaire and it was easy driving around, not much traffic either.  We rode trikes in aruba, wasn't too bad just more traffic than Bonaire

 

[blokartsailing]

Bonaire is very easy to get around and you'll have lots of time to explore. Make sure you book ahead with either the golf cart or car as they're often booked. Definitely stop and have a sail at the landsailing track on the road between Rincon and Kralendijk. And know that you must to the north loop in a clockwise direction as there is one short one-way segment. Enjoy!

[Cruisenthusiast]

Thank you everyone for the great advice and information, looks like we’re definitely going to rent cars on both islands.  The landsailing looks like fun, I’m adding that to our list!

[laurabegorrah]

We have gotten 'lost' driving around Aruba a lot even with maps and specific directions (even though we are there 3 weeks every year for the last 20+ years lol)  The good news is that it's a very small island, there are finite amount of roads,  and the natives are all friendly and speak English, so finding you way back to where you want to go is not difficult.  Traffic can be problematic around Oranjestad, but once outside of the city, it's not too bad

[Wymond]

Hi Cruisenthusiast,

Have you been completed your cruise? How is the driving on Aruba and where did you go? 

 

I will be on Aruba in December and to book a jeep to explore this island. 

We are a little bit nervous with off-road driving on Aruba.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We've stayed in Aruba for a few weeks for the last few summers and always rent a car. I find Aruba very easy to navigate...on the main roads. You can get to all the beaches just by staying on main roads (there's 2 I believe...one along the coast that goes downtown and another in the "middle" kinda and takes you back and forth).

 

Roads are not marked in most places but even when we got lost, we ended up going in a circle and coming back to where we started. LOL

 

My suggestion to you...a life saver....is to download maps.me and after that, put Aruba (and Bonaire) on it and you can mark all the places you want to go prior and use it while you are there. You can't go wrong that way. You DON'T need any internet service to use it either. We used it last year and never got lost. It works just like google maps and you'll see yourself going down the road in rear time and know when it's time to turn a direction. I don't leave home without it now. LOL