My daughter, aged 18, and I are going to Aruba for a week in January. This will be out first trip to the island. What tours and activities are recommended, including any specific companies? We would like to go on a boat trip for snorkeling and to the National Park but are also looking for other ideas. Favorite beaches? What about rental car company recommendations?
Posted by
Irving
3322 posts
Here are several websites that might help: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Aruba, https://www.fodors.com/world/caribbean/aruba and https://www.frommers.com/destinations/aruba.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you MaryPat, I will check these websites out.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7281 posts
Years ago we rented a vehicle and drove around, went on a jet ski, and went parasailing.
Posted by
USA
46 posts
https://www.eltoursaruba.com/services/tours/aruba-fauna-tour/
I went on this tour years ago, and it was fantastic! You get to visit the Ostrich Farm, Philip’s Animal Sanctuary, and the Donkey Sanctuary. At each stop, we got to feed and interact with the animals. My favorite stop was the animal sanctuary because there were so many different types of animals.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you Laurie C, that does sound like a fun tour!
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8043 posts
We went in 2020, because it was a direct flight from our area airports. It's a rather Americanized experience, I mean like recognizable luxury dining names, and straightforward menu options. We reserved and ate at a different place each night. And the beach-strip had a lot of really large, crowded hotels, and dense chair and umbrella stations in front of them.
High end dining at Senses ($110 p/p plus one $85 wine pairing.) Also ate at Elements, Papiamento, Aqua Grill - which could have been on a Callifornia "strip" with Mustangs and Dodge Chargers in the lot.
We rented a car from Hertz, which was useful. Parking can be a problem, for example for a snorkel outing, because there are not enough spaces for all the passengers filling the boats at that dock. We stayed at a more remote, small hotel, OceanZ, so parking there was never an issue. I guess it was a "boutique" hotel, with a pool. The main "beachfront" looks pretty crowded, with many highrises. We noticed that there were even a few highrises that were Adults Only, which would have been our preference. (Double check on your daughter, but I think 18 is usually OK in the Caribbean.)
We used a smaller beach that the hotel provided shuttle service and umbrellas for. Don't remember the name. Only a few parking spaces.
I don't see my notes on the snorkel outing, but we chose a big provider, on the theory that it would have better lunch food and less likelihood of cancellation. We also figured a big boat would have the best ladder/platforms for water entry. We had no interest in a private boutique trip for $700 (?) or so. I THINK we used De Palm, which could carry almost 100 guests, but was maybe only 80% full. We anchored right beside a famous wreck, which made snorkeling for a weak swimmer like me very simple. Total anchorages at least three, but I forget.
We enjoyed the National Park, by car, and the lighthouse area to the (?) north. It was not the most interesting island we've been to, but it was clean, level, and safe.