Aruba??

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

I know we have some frequent travelers on here. We just booked our trip. What should we see and do while we are there? We've never been before and wanted to do something different.
We will be taking ds, but we booked a hotel that has a kids club so we can probably drop him there if we need to for something.

hoffse · October 2014

vikingsfan711 said:

I know we have some frequent travelers on here. We just booked our trip. What should we see and do while we are there? We've never been before and wanted to do something different. We will be taking ds, but we booked a hotel that has a kids club so we can probably drop him there if we need to for something.

We haven't made it to Aruba (yet), but we looked at it briefly for our honeymoon until we decided it was probably out of budget at that time. But I seem to remember that it has a national park and caves. Personally, I find those kinds of things pretty interesting - nature is different all around the world.

So far, H and I have had two kinds of trips together: true vacations where you don't do much of anything and travel trips where you exhaust yourself trying to see everything. We are hoping our trip next year blends the best of both (spending a week in the French countryside and then a couple days in Paris before flying out). To be honest, we are still discovering our "travel style." In college/law school we had the luxury of spending several weeks in a single place (Rome, Washington, DC, etc.) and that has changed since starting our jobs. We're still figuring out what works best for trips of 7-10 days.

When I hear Aruba, I think relaxation. But I bet if you head inland you could mix that up with some more adventurous activities.

The one piece of travel wisdom that I'm finally starting to understand is that you need to do whatever interests YOU for that trip, not whatever interests the internet and travel writers like Rick Steves. It's perfectly possible to go to Aruba and not visit the beach. Just like you can go to Paris and not visit the Louvre. There's no such thing as a "must see" or "must do" because everybody's travel styles and interests are different.

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

I understand that completely. Our last vacation was 4 days in Cambodia (we were living in Singapore so we didn't fly half way around the world for 4 days) but it was absolutely a non stop must see everything type trip. It was a beautiful place and I wouldn't change what we did, but we absolutely want this to be more relaxing.
The natural caves and bridges were on my list of things I would like to see, but I would also like to spend a lot of time on the beach. I'm thinking a massage and swim with dolphins are going to be 2 of the highlights for me.

Xstatic3333 · October 2014

Ooooo how exciting! I love travel threads

I haven't been to Aruba but I just went to Bonaire, the next island over, and the nature side of things is supposed to be pretty similar. I'd second getting out there into any national parks or nature areas available. It was a beautiful, but unusual, ecosystem. It's more of a desert than a lush tropical paradise, but still absolutely gorgeous. Tons of parrots and beautiful birds everywhere, even loitering around the hotel pools.

I will put in a plug for diving like I always do on these threads. The reefs are gorgeous and you won't have to go too far or deep to see beautiful things. I won't run my mouth about the details yet again, but do know that it is very possible to safely try diving with an instructor without being certified. If you want more details, or want me to check out the website of a place you find and make sure everything seems legit, feel free to PM.

If diving isn't for you, I'd definitely snorkel so you can see the reefs. If it's anything like Bonaire was, you might be able to do this right from your hotel beach. If you go on a snorkel boat tour pick one that is a smallish group and run by a dive shop or hotel, not a random dude with a boat on the beach. Larger snorkel boats I've been on get annoying because it's easy to swim into people when everyone's face is in the water @-)

We're still struggling to find our travel style, too. H could easily relax and do nothing, but I get antsy if I've flown somewhere and don't feel like I'm taking full advantage of the location. @Hoffse's advice is definitely sound-do what works for you! And if that's not diving or snorkelling, I'm still super excited for you

hoffse · October 2014

If you want spa treatments, then definitely do them. H and I went to an AI resort for our honeymoon - probably the only time we will ever go to one, but it worked well at the time. I ended up booking all of these excursions and then a single spa treatment (couple's massage). Afterwards, H was like, "next time, fewer excursions, more time at the spa." I couldn't believe he liked it that much, but it was just so relaxing! And really, it's very nice to be able to walk from the beach to the spa and back to the beach again.

EDIT: I really shouldn't criticize Rick Steves in my previous post too much. He has given many Americans the courage to finally leave our bubble and visit other parts of the world. Still - it's kind of annoying to be standing in front of a painting I've waited years to see and hear people reading outloud from a Rick Steves guide because they are there simply because he told them to go there. It's especially annoying when they clearly don't like art and those guidebooks just serve to build crowds for the people who do. While we were in London I overheard an American couple arguing in front of Big Ben about which way to go ("Honey, Rick says to turn LEFT here, not right! We won't see everything if we don't follow his instructions!") Sigh. No sense of adventure!

scubalaura05 · October 2014

We've been to Aruba twice- but not with our kids yet. It's very laid back and relaxing. Do you know where you're staying on the island? We stayed on Eagle beach both times which is a little quieter than Palm beach- but you really can't go wrong. We rented a car for a couple of days on both trips so we could check things out on our own. There is a great snorkeling beach on the southern point called Baby Beach that we really liked- lots of locals frequent that beach as it's away from the busy AI beaches. The natural bridge and caves were interesting to see once if you are looking to get out and do something (we didn't need to go back on our second trip)- again we did this on our own. If you decide to rent a car it's worth the money to get a jeep. That being said there are plenty of Jeep tours that I've heard are fun but we haven't tried them.

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

I will double check where we are staying. All I can remember is it is one of the holiday inn resorts. Snorkeling could be a lot of fun! We will have to check into that.

love1229 · October 2014

I like Aruba in the way that (I thought) it is laid back. I liked exploring the island. It's been awhile but I remember one side of the island is beachy, and the other side is really rocky. We stayed in a hotel a little more secluded from the "fun" part of the island with all of the casinos/bars. Fun fact, i got bit by an ostrich when I was there.

Aruba is a nice place to go to. It is typical of an island with bars/restaurants/casinos/things to do, but a lot quieter.

Are you renting a jeep? We did (I know that's touristy) and it was a lot of fun. We drove all over the island and went to the natural pool which i thought was really cool- I don't think you can get there without a jeep though.

CuriousKiddosMama · October 2014

I saw the natural pool thing online- I'm glad to hear it's cool.

Aruba??

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