Anyone been to Aruba?

[gpphat]

Decided on Aruba for my honeymoon and was wondering if any of the bros have been there? We have it narrowed down to the Renaissance and Tamarajin All-Inclusive Resorts and am wanting to make a final decision soon to have everything booked. So if any of you have been to Aruba what were your thoughts, and if you stayed at either of the named resorts what were your thoughts on them?

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I heard kidnap is cheap!

 

[Urblock]

Didn't that blonde chick go missing there? Anyway congrats and have fun. What the hell was her name?

 

[vincentvega]

Decided on Aruba for my honeymoon and was wondering if any of the bros have been there? We have it narrowed down to the Renaissance and Tamarajin All-Inclusive Resorts and am wanting to make a final decision soon to have everything booked. So if any of you have been to Aruba what were your thoughts, and if you stayed at either of the named resorts what were your thoughts on them?

I have been to Aruba 6 times. Got engaged there and got married there. It is a great island. They have a high employment rate so there are not areas of extreme poverty that you will find on other islands. The restaurants are really good and there are veneration ones you should definitely check out. In my opinion that list includes Madame Jeneattes, el goucho, Papiamento, and flying fishbone. They have one of the most high tech desalination plants on the planet so their drinking water is really safe and actually very good. They are outside of the hurricane belt and a desert island so there is not a lot of tropical flowers and such growing naturally but you are almost guaranteed to have nice weather plus it is hit but they have a beautiful trade wind that blows across the island at all times.


It is an expensive island. The water clarity is not tops in the Caribbean but they have nice water. Near the high rise hotels the water is extremely still so if you are looking to surf u will be disappointed.


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[vincentvega]

Decided on Aruba for my honeymoon and was wondering if any of the bros have been there? We have it narrowed down to the Renaissance and Tamarajin All-Inclusive Resorts and am wanting to make a final decision soon to have everything booked. So if any of you have been to Aruba what were your thoughts, and if you stayed at either of the named resorts what were your thoughts on them?

I have not stayed at either of those hotels but I would caution against the all inclusive. It is not like you are in Jamaica where you need to be cautious exploring the island or some place where the food is questionable. You will miss out on a lot of really nice restaurants. I really like the Raddison because the rooms are big each room has a big balcony their grounds are meticulous and very tropical but most important they have one of the nicest stretches of beach with the most palapas of all the high rise hotels. If it is a honeymoon I might suggest the Hyatt just because it is the most high end hotel on the island. There is a dock in off the beach to the left of the Raddison and at the end of the dock there is a restaurant not sure of the name but the food is really good for lunch (grilled fish sandwiches, ceviche etc..) and the drinks are good as well.


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[NCChiFan]

I've been a few times as well, vincentvega put it well, go with that. There is one golf course on the NW side of the island, nice restaurant up there too.

 

[vincentvega]

I've been a few times as well, vincentvega put it well, go with that. There is one golf course on the NW side of the island, nice restaurant up there too.

Yes there are three courses on Aruba but the one NC is referring to is Tierra del Sol I believe. It is a really beautiful course near baby beach. The course is extremely challenging because of the trade winds. I typically shoot around 95-100 (so I stink) but on that course I think I shot like 130 another tip would be to make sure you do the quad island tour excursion it is so much fun and you get to see most of the scenic points of the island. As I said in first post it is a desert island so there is not too many things to see aside from the 4-5 scenic points that you will explore on the quay tour. I know this is more then you asked for but thought u might find the info useful!!


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[NCChiFan]

Yes there are three courses on Aruba but the one NC is referring to is Tierra del Sol I believe. It is a really beautiful course near baby beach. The course is extremely challenging because of the trade winds. I typically shoot around 95-100 (so I stink) but on that course I think I shot like 130 another tip would be to make sure you do the quad island tour excursion it is so much fun and you get to see most of the scenic points of the island. As I said in first post it is a desert island so there is not too many things to see aside from the 4-5 scenic points that you will explore on the quay tour. I know this is more then you asked for but thought u might find the info useful!!


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Yup, exactly. Odd experience in Aruba, did a submarine tour of a wrecked WWII tanker (German Sub sunk it I believe the story went), but while we were out there we kept noticing a swimmer approaching the submarine (not truly a sub, more of a glorified windowed bottomed boat. Turns out it was a Scuba Diver who had been "left" out there by the dive shop boat. Not exactly sure, as a diver, how this was possible but was fascinated as was the boat captain who picked him up and took him back into shore.

 

[Warrior Spirit]

Went there on our honeymoon as well. Stayed at the Marriott. Weren't really looking to explore the island as there was much to do (casino, bars, pools, pool w/bar, beach) and good food right there. Did decide to rent a jeep and venture out on a suggested scenic tour one day. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere as we ended up on these skinny dirt roads with huge cliffs and no other cars in sight. My wife got real scared and thought we were about to die. Haha. Finally saw another car in the distance and worked my way to that area to get out of the predicament. Wifey was more than happy to just hang out at the resort and casino after that. Did rain a couple times but it would only rain for 10 minutes or so and then the weather would go right back to being beautiful.

 

[ruprecht]

Went there on our honeymoon as well. Stayed at the Marriott. Weren't really looking to explore the island as there was much to do (casino, bars, pools, pool w/bar, beach) and good food right there. Did decide to rent a jeep and venture out on a suggested scenic tour one day. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere as we ended up on these skinny dirt roads with huge cliffs and no other cars in sight. My wife got real scared and thought we were about to die. Haha. Finally saw another car in the distance and worked my way to that area to get out of the predicament. Wifey was more than happy to just hang out at the resort and casino after that. Did rain a couple times but it would only rain for 10 minutes or so and then the weather would go right back to being beautiful.

Get your shots before you went?

 

[Warrior Spirit]

Get your shots before you went?

No. Are they required now? This was in '98. No shots, no TSA.

 

[RacerX]

Not a big fan, in part because I live in Cali and it's a ***** to get there, but more to the point: Hawaii crushes Aruba. As do other spots in the Carib, including my favorite Nevis. I found it to be hugely overrated.

 

[SERE Bear]

We enjoyed it, but I dont have anything to add that hasn't been said already.

Yes Hawaii is better but Aruba is nice in its own way.