For our 14th wedding anniversary we decided to take a last minute trip to Aruba. We could not decide between the Dominican Republic, Coast Rica, and Aruba. We eventually selected Aruba because we found an extremely good deal, the island seems to offer a lot of amenities and diverse experience. Also, we wanted to use our passports, travel somewhere not many people that we know had traveled, and we wanted to go to an area of the Caribbean we hadn’t visited before.
When we travel, we like to get away from the tourist areas and activities. We try to experience life like the locals. Eat where the locals eat. Relax like the locals relax. We were able to do a little of this in Aruba but not as much as we would liked too. So to capture our travels to Aruba, we decided to make a list of 14 things to remember about our visit to Aruba.
1. Favorite Beaches: Eagle Beach & Baby Beach
2. Favorite Non-Beach Water: Mangel Halto
3. Favorite Experience: Sunset Dinner at Passions on the Beach (a little expensive, but very nice setting) & Cuba’s Cookin (live music)
4. Favorite Restaurants: Hopi Bon Grill & The West Deck
5. Favorite Dessert: Gelatissimo
6. Favorite Animal: Flamingos on Renaissance Island
7. Best Food Deal: Food Truck on Eagle Beach
8. Activities we didn’t get to do: Submarine Tour.
9. Recommended Tour: UTV Tour that includes Natural Pool.
10. Most surprising: The island is extremely windy. There are a ton of loose dogs running around.
11. Pleasant surprises: Very good drinking water. There are only about 18 inches of rain fall in Aruba per year, and we were there when it rained. We won a free vacation from Divi Resorts.
12. Unpleasant surprises: Food is very expensive. There are more flies on the island than expected.
13. Recommendations: Stay at least 4 days. If you are adventurous, rent a car.
14. Be adventurous and explore the type of travel you like. Aruba offered a lot of amenities on a tiny island- beaches, water sports, all-inclusive resorts, high-end shopping, flea market shopping, hiking, bird watching, lots of food options, local & westernized experiences, history, and culture.
We enjoyed our visit to Aruba and would go back in the future.
