Going to Aruba in a little over a week for our honeymoon.

Any tips or advice or fun things to do?
We are staying at an all-inclusive resort that has pretty good reviews. My aunt and uncle have been a few times but they really don't like the same things that we like so they didn't do much but stay at the resort.
I was looking online at the "tours" you can go on and there were 2 that caught my eye...

one is called an "ATV mania half-day" where you ride through the countryside on an ATV and see some of the cool things there..
another was similar except you ride along in a landrover and look at stuff.

Other than that, any advice about aruba and important things to take (besides the obvious sunscreen, etc...).
I've been doing a lot of research about it, but it is nice to hear first-hand accounts from people who have already been.
Also, I already saw the thread someone posted about a year ago, but it has been idle for more than 90 days and cannot be replied to. Thanks!

6/20/2008 2:36:09 PM

it was my impression that the aruban "countryside" was kinda barren

6/20/2008 2:37:27 PM

yeah... the "sites" it lists as being seen on the ATV ride are "highest points on aruba (which probably aren't that high anyway), ancient ruins and markings, wildlife, and something else.."

6/20/2008 2:38:58 PM

I went to aruba 8 years ago, so some stuff has probably changed.
I enjoyed snorkeling and the beaches. Drove pretty much the entire island w/ its small size.

6/20/2008 5:38:50 PM

don't end up like that natalie chick

6/20/2008 5:52:05 PM

i hope im not getting my islands mixed up, but we went ocean kayaking in aruba. that was some really fun stuff to do.

6/20/2008 6:42:34 PM

downtown is fun.. on a sunny day you can see Venezuela. there is a bar there, forgot the name off hand, but it has one of those stands where its the body of a fat lady and you put your head on her body... the paddock or something.

its got a cool little spinning wheel, you pay $3 and you could win shots, or you have to buy shots.

try some bushwackers (apparently thats an "aruba" drink)

we took a wrong bus by accident and literally drove through the city and stuff, its kind of amazing to see how dumpy that place is and how easily someone like natalie could be lost/kidnapped and held there.

the people there are nice (the workers), its obvious they are nice because they want your money, but thats really all they live by is tourism.

6/20/2008 6:47:38 PM

just remember, if you decide to buy anything that a majority of the prices are not final at all. do just like you would at a garage sale and wave how much cash you want to pay for it.

6/20/2008 9:28:43 PM

yeah....i've been to cancun a couple times and that's the way it was there. everything was up for bargain and you could get the price lower than they were asking.

6/21/2008 12:31:14 AM

6/21/2008 2:56:59 AM

We honeymooned down there as well and had a blast.

The best thing to do is not to take a tour, but rent a jeep for a day and just drive around the island. We rented one, it was delivered to the hotel and we saw everything we wanted to, visited all the beaches and saw all the things there were to see. Never felt uncomfortable in the least.

As for things to do at night:

KUKOO KUNUKU DINNER AND BAR-HOPPING PARRANDA http://www.kukookunuku.com/ was a very fun time. They pick you up at your hotel, dinner, bar hopping, dancing, drinking, very fun... then they drop you back off at the end of the night. One of the best times on our trip.

Tattoo Party Cruises http://www.arubaadventures.com/tattoo/ very similar except for you are out on a boat and they cruise up and down the coast. They have music, food and drinks. Since you are going in the summer they also have a water slide from the 4th floor of the boat, really good time. We were able to walk to the dock from our hotel.

for dinner:

El Gaucho http://www.elgaucho-aruba.com/ is WONDERFUL... if you like meat. We actually went there twice for dinner.

As for the island itself, it's not a tropical paradise in the sense that St. Lucia or Jamaica is. It's more rocky and barren, but still very beautiful. Oranjestad is fun during the day, we actually ate at Carlos and Charlie's for lunch one day, versus going there at night. I have heard good and bad things about the place and it is a popular local hangout as well.

There are also catamaran trips to the coast of South America and other sailing trips. Some of the people we talked to had fun on those as well. Definitely take loads of sun screen this time of year. Also use the buses to get to Oranjestad versus a cab, way cheaper and just as easy.

6/21/2008 9:59:38 AM

stay away from people named van der sloot.

6/21/2008 10:01:27 AM

yeah i've been looking at the island on google earth. it is very small and except for the touristy resort nook of the island, it looks very barren and deserted.
How much did it cost to rent the jeep for the day? that sounds like something i need to look into since the island is so small

6/21/2008 12:24:40 PM

An NCSU alum actually runs the Tattoo. Nice set up.

6/21/2008 4:09:27 PM

Quote :

"How much did it cost to rent the jeep for the day?"

I don't remember... but there are places all over to call once you get there.. it wasn't bad I want to say like 60-80 for the day... but don't quote me on that... we had a rough map that we went by, but you really can't get lost. we were in 4wd most of the trip and not on any roads at all. It was the most fun during the day that we had.

6/21/2008 4:44:12 PM