De Palm Island

[TEGL]

This place seems like it gets hit and miss reviews.  For those of you that have been there can you give me a little more insight?  Is it worth it or should I keep looking for something else to do there?  
The entire plan in Aruba was to do the Flamingo Beach on Renaissance Private Island but I wasn't aware that it was just for guest of the hotel nor that it was an adult only thing, needless to say I'm beyond sad that we can go.  We will be traveling with our 5 year old and Ive been seeing De Palm Island and thinking maybe that would be up our alley but its pricy and reviews are hit and miss.  He loooooves water slides so Im sure we would spent our entire time there.  Do they allow puddle jumpers on the slides?  Does the island have enough to do for the 10 hours we will be in port?  

[EviesCruisin]

I am wondering the same thing about De Palm Island - kept seeing hit or miss reviews as well. I thought the 7 y/o could do water park and 10 y/o old could do Snuba with Dad. But saw a lot of mixed reviews and would love feedback, too! 

[TEGL]

3 hours ago, EviesCruisin said:

I am wondering the same thing about De Palm Island - kept seeing hit or miss reviews as well. I thought the 7 y/o could do water park and 10 y/o old could do Snuba with Dad. But saw a lot of mixed reviews and would love feedback, too! 

Not sure when you are going but I saw on RCCL excursion that the waterpark is closed for maintenance from August - December 2019 (go figure because we are going in September).  I did email the park directly to double check though and will let you know when I get a response back.  

[laurabegorrah]

I'm not sure I would want to stay at De Palm for 10 hours - but I wouldn't like any beach for that length of time lol.  The food there was pretty good, there are a good number of places to sit, both in the shade and sun.  Last time I was there, the water around the snorkeling area was a bit rough, but we still saw a lot of fish.  I totally think it's worth it, even if you are only there for 4 or 5 hours.  

[mitsugirly]

I replied to your other thread. I have tons of pictures.

[jlocole]

On 7/22/2019 at 2:12 PM, mitsugirly said:

I replied to your other thread. I have tons of pictures.

How did you go to Arashi beach?   Pictures look nice.

I didn't read your extensive review: Can I get a short recap of the beach and transportation?

Thank you!

[mitsugirly]

On 8/6/2019 at 1:22 PM, jlocole said:

How did you go to Arashi beach?   Pictures look nice.

I didn't read your extensive review: Can I get a short recap of the beach and transportation?

Thank you!

 

When on the cruise ship, just catch a taxi out front. They are very organized. Or you could walk across the street to the bus station and catch it there (very cheap and easy to do). We've also rented cars (when staying on the island) to get there. It's super easy to get to.

 

Beach is very nice and long with beautiful sand and water. They rent chairs and they also have palapas (if you get there early enough) that are free and really big. There's a bathroom there (they charge $1 to use unless you buy food and drinks) and a concession stand with food and drinks. Get snorkeling off to the left and super easy with fairly shallow water and decent reef (most of the excursions take people there...you can do it on your own).  Cabs are easy to catch there and even the bus.

[sr4mjc]

We have De Palm Island booked in Nov through Celebrity and trying to decide if we want to keep it.   We are aware the water slides will be closed but that's ok.  We wanted to find some snorkeling where we didn't have to jump in deep water off the side of a boat and looked like you can walk down steps into the water there.  

 

Here's the question though. Celebrity just sent an email that they were extending our excursion from 4.5 hours to 6 hours.  Our ship is in port until midnight that day.   6 hours is more than we really want to spend there,  is there any chance that there be any ferries back during the day or are we captive there 6 hours? 

Edited August 15, 2019 by sr4mjc

[purplephenom]

Has anyone done Snuba here?  We're interested in adding it, but hope it isn't too time consuming with a lot of hurry up and wait.  

 

Has anyone tried the jumping thing here?  Is it mostly kids or are adults also welcome?

 

Once you've had a drink is that it for you in the water?  I read something about wristbands but I wasn't sure 

[SpokaneDave]

On 8/14/2019 at 6:28 PM, sr4mjc said:

Here's the question though. Celebrity just sent an email that they were extending our excursion from 4.5 hours to 6 hours.  Our ship is in port until midnight that day.   6 hours is more than we really want to spend there,  is there any chance that there be any ferries back during the day or are we captive there 6 hours? 

 

I called into Celebrity. They said that if you wanted to escape early, you would need to need to find you own way back to the ship. I am guessing...totally guessing...that the boat back to the mainland is free (included) and leave when you want. The added cost would be taxi back to port. I think we will skip it.

 

If anyone has any first-hand experience, I would love to hear.

 

Dave

[mcmarya]

You can snorkel from shore at Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove.  There are fish to see in the shallow area as well as farther out.  We always take the bus to Arashi and ask the driver to let us off at Boca Catalina. 

 

The last time we were there the visibility was not as good as it usually is.  We'll see if that is a permanent change when we are there next month.

[jj6961]

On 7/22/2019 at 4:12 PM, mitsugirly said:

I replied to your other thread. I have tons of pictures.

I love your website.  So much great info and photos.  Thank you 

[mitsugirly]

2 hours ago, jj6961 said:

I love your website.  So much great info and photos.  Thank you 

 

Why thank you and I appreciate it.

[kathynorth]

On 9/23/2019 at 7:09 PM, mcmarya said:

You can snorkel from shore at Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove.  There are fish to see in the shallow area as well as farther out.  We always take the bus to Arashi and ask the driver to let us off at Boca Catalina. 

 

The last time we were there the visibility was not as good as it usually is.  We'll see if that is a permanent change when we are there next month.

 

How did you get back? Was there a bus stop at Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove or did you need to walk to the Arashi stop? If you walked how far was it? Were there any cabs stopping near Boca Catalina?

[kathynorth]

Has anyone been to DePalm Island during the current renovation? I understand that the water slides and zipline are being refurbished and are currently not operational. We wouldn't have used these features anyway, but would enjoy a quiet day at the beach, snorkeling, etc. Do the construction areas and potential noise from work crews take away from the island experience or do recent visitors feel they still had an enjoyable day?

[mitsugirly]

On 10/14/2019 at 4:18 PM, kathynorth said:

 

How did you get back? Was there a bus stop at Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove or did you need to walk to the Arashi stop? If you walked how far was it? Were there any cabs stopping near Boca Catalina?

 

 

There isn't a bus stop at Boca but Arashi is the next beach down and it's probably less than a 10 minute walk and super easy on a sidewalk.

[kathynorth]

26 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

There isn't a bus stop at Boca but Arashi is the next beach down and it's probably less than a 10 minute walk and super easy on a sidewalk.

Thanks for your response!