What would you do in Aruba for the day?

[Daphna101]

What would you recommend doing in Aruba for the day? We have never been there. Would you go out to eat and brose the shops, an excursion or just chill out at the beach..Nov 26th 07.

 

Thanks for you input..

[Leela]

I am not a big fan of Aruba, however there is one thing I really loved doing there: going to the butterfly farm. The tour was really well done, and the place was beautiful and the butterflies were amazing. I've been to two other butterfly farms in other parts of the world since then, and the one on Aruba is definitely the best of the ones I've been to.

[jakedoc]

Take a bus at the bus station near the gate of the port and go to either Palm beach or Eagle beach. Both are public beaches. Just let the bus driver know where you want to get off. Easy to get back using the bus also. Buses about every 15 minutes. Fare for bus around $2.00.

[Baltic Express]

What would you recommend doing in Aruba for the day?

 

Renting a jeep and going off road around the island was alot of fun. The adventure starts near the lighthouse at the north end of the island and continues down the east side with all the "rock statues". You can end up where the the remnants of the old natural bridge are or continue up into the hills from there down to the south end of the island. There are many places all along the way to stop and swim.

 

Highly recommend this if you are the least bit adventurous.

 

Also visit the Aruba boards for tons of information.

[CaliforniaDreamin]

We did this tour with ABC Tours in Aruba and it was great fun. Arranged it through the website. The tour guide drives the lead jeep and you drive the others on the tour we did. Swam/snorkeled in natural tidepool and at Baby Beach, visited ostrich farm, cultural sites, church and natural bridge (the big one collapsed & there is a small one there now).

 

Circled the entire island + some inland sites.

 

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

[mtjlr]

Check out the website jollypirates.com, not to be confused with the Jolly Roger booze cruises. We did this last year with our family in Aruba, and it was a great day. We had a teenager with us, and she also had a great time. They make 3 stops for snorkeling, a great crew and serve lunch. They serve rum punch, but it wasn't very strong and didn't see anyone who had too much to drink. Found out about it throught the ports of call board and would highly recommend.

[british betty]

Baby Beach... really beautiful, absolutely nothing there, and I mean nothing...except sea and sand with a pink tint....saw some people wind surfing there, but you need to take everything you need with you.

[suntan]

I would do the De Palm Island snorkel excursion. When we went a few years ago it was a half day event so you had time to shop.

[caviargal]

I am also not a fan of Aruba. I head to Eagle Beach for day and kick back on the beach with a book.

[baylor06]

Aruba was one of my favorite stops even though I didn't expect it to be. We biked from near the rock arch outcropping to the church and then down to a beach. It made for a really nice day away from the crowds and saw everything that was great about the Aruba coast.

[baylor06]

sorry double post

[sweetair]

i just got back from aruba..

Take a look at the aruba port of call for more suggestions :D

We pre-booked the midushi. It is a snorkel excursion on a tall sailing ship. They make 3 snorkel stops..1 is the antilles wreck which was awesome to see. The other 2 were fairly calm and not much to see. Then you had a chance to swing off the side of the ship. Drinks served all day and lunch was also served. Fun time was had by all...nice day out and not crowded at all (29 people were onboard)

$54 if you book on midushi.com

 

Very easy to get there...took the bus to the midushi pier ($2.00)which stops right in front of the cruise pier and then took the public bus back. ($1.15)

have a great time!

*sweet*

[jrdjrnola]

Spent a week in Aruba (not cruise) and it is one of our favorite places. We also went snorkeling on the Midushi and had a great time. We also rented a jeep and toured the entire Island. That was great and we felt safe everywhere we went, even in the areas where the locals live. Have fun!

[DaveB]

We did the 4x4 jeep thing and had a blast. When we did it, we also had some time on the beach, so it's sorta a 2 for 1.

[cruisinmamma]

I agree with Jakedoc, Palm Beach is my favorite beach. Can't beat the price of the bus. I also like the ships excursion Aruba Sailaway Beach and Snorkel. It's fun snorkeling at the ship wreck and then eating on the pier at Palm Beach.

[woodofpine]

Aruba is an arid sand trap. Nice beaches, lots of cactus away from the sprinklers...

 

If you are sporty or equine oriented, Aruba has a number of very good riding facilities that go through their national park to the 'natural pool' which is a pretty neat place to take a swim. The best are Rancho Daimari and Rancho del Campo.

 

http://www.ranchodelcampo.com

http://www.visitaruba.com/ranchodaimari/

 

Both these outfits will do pier to pier pick-up and delivery for a 2-3 hour ride. Riding with Rancho Daimari in the morning then hitting Palm Beach in the afternoon for a couple of hours has been one of my better days in the caribbean (on an island I'm not a super huge fan of otherwise - I prefer the green lush islands).

[Daphna101]

Thank you everyone for your comments...Any experience with the food there? Dutch ? Am very familier with Carribean food, but not dutch.

 

Daphna

[hermang]

Thank you everyone for your comments...Any experience with the food there? Dutch ? Am very familier with Carribean food, but not dutch.

 

Daphna

If you want to try an Argintinian style Churasco - go to ElGaucho - di if for lunch because you will never finish the dinner portions and you can split.

 

There is also Rijstafel (sp) never tried it there - but I am told if you like Indonesian style cuisine it is very authentic

[bplazo]

We also did the Jeep tour with ABC tours and booked online. We had a seven hour tour including lunch and drinks. We had the best time.