Day 1

Aruba – a tiny Dutch Caribbean island just 32 km long off the coast of Venezuela; an idyllic, sun-kissed piece of paradise, a highly educated, extremely friendly multi-lingual (they can all speak Dutch, English, Spanish and the local dialect Papiamento – at least!) population, fantastic hotels, great shopping, buzzing nightlife, rum on the piers, and catamaran sunset tours…..Aruba – ‘One Happy Island’ is the motto, and one happy island it seems to be, and one happy couple were we who had the good fortune to spend our honeymoon there.

We flew from Caracas, a short flight of less than an hour. The savvy Venezuelans, and the Americans arriving on other flights all headed straight to the car hire places opposite the airport, while we waited in line at the ATM to get out a fistful of American dollars, most of which we would spend on exorbitant taxi fees around the island. If you go to Aruba, make sure you hire a car!

We took a taxi to the Holiday Inn, which seemed to take forever as it crawled through the gleaming, well-paved streets of the capital, Orajenstad. “Welcome to Aruba rush hour!” smiled the friendly lady driving the taxi, her accent carrying that exotic tinge of the Caribbean. It was nearing the time of the huge cruise ship departures, and so traffic was building up with tourists heading back to their floating cities. We arrived at the Holiday Inn, that Pitbull (“everybody go Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn”) rap song doing loops in our heads. It certainly sounded like a fun-place, and this one had a range of bars, a big pool, and an onsite casino. It is one of a number of mega-hotels that dominate the landscape in the touristy Palm Beach area, the high-rise area of town.

Checking in, we informed the receptionist it was our honeymoon (it really was our honeymoon), and so we were upgraded to an ocean view room. The rooms at Holiday Inn are nothing fancy, but they do the job, and the view onto Palm Beach and the Caribbean Sea certainly did the job. It was a beautiful, sunny day, the palms were blowing softly in a sweet breeze, and Great Big Mable, a kind of inflatable donut water ride in which people sit and are pulled by a speedboat, was hurtling up and down, twisting round and round, and throwing people off into the sea spectacularly. We never did try it – though I really wanted to.

We headed straight out onto the beach for a long walk. Ah, the first walk on a new beach. There’s nothing quite like it. New sights, sounds, smells….previously untrodden, unexplored sand underfoot, camera in hand, everything fresh, everything worth a photograph. Palm Beach is an incredible powdery white, two-mile strip full of excellent restaurants and lively pier bars. Activities abound, numerous watersports are available, and it wasn’t voted one of the Top 10 Beaches (together with neighbouring Eagle Beach which has even finer, deeper sand) in the world for nothing.

After a long walk up and down, getting our bearings, we stopped for a delicious seafood dinner on the beach at the Hadicurari restaurant and watched our first sunset of our honeymoon whilst also serving as supper for the sand flies around, so much so that we had to move indoors. It was still perfect, and as the energy of the day faded away, the new energy of night slowly started buzzing into life. We headed across the main street and walked down to Palm Beach Plaza mall – a fascinating place with lots of colourful little shops and kiosks, and plenty of excellent dining venues and watering holes. We took our time here, wandering around slowly, just getting a feel for the place where we were to spend the next week. Horses and carriages were trundling up and down the main street dropping tourists off, ice-cream sellers were doing a roaring trade, open-air street side restaurants and other little restaurant zones were filling up, and it was an altogether pleasant experience. Until we went to Senor Frogs!

Veronica seems to have an obsession with recapturing days of her youth. With friends in Margarita island, she regularly went to the wild club Senor Frogs – a place of jam jars, tequila slammers, oversized American portions of food and people, and pounding, trashy ‘put your fucking hands up’ music. She’d spotted a Senor Frogs next to this mall, and was determined to go in. And so we bought our tickets, I bought us both a cylinder of some colourful alcoholic concoction I’ve forgotten the name of, and bought syringes full of flavoured vodka off the ‘nurse’ doing the rounds. The place was full of loud young Americans, absolutely trolleyed, and having the time of their lives. People were dancing on the tables, they were ‘throwing their fucking hands up in the air’ they were partying hard, and so did we, it was our first night, and suddenly Veronica was in Margarita again. Neil also had a great time despite himself, and may have even thrown my hands up in the air at one point. The last part of the evening involved an unsuccessful trip to the casino at the Holiday Inn (one should never go there inebriated, never mind sober). Oh well, here in Aruba, it felt like we’d won the jackpot anyhow.

Day 2

The next day we checked out of Holiday Inn – one night was enough, but the night had been worth it. We took a taxi with a Venezuelan who had been living in Aruba for 20 years. We know why. He makes a fortune over here. He took us to a few of his out-of-the-way suggestions, the kind of places that would be fine if you had hired a bloody car, then finally we found a hotel quite a bit further down the road in Eagle Beach called La Cabana, which had decent rooms for a decent price. For the short journey, the taxi driver charged us $60! We were angry with ourselves for being so naïve and not asking the price before we jumped in the taxi outside Holiday Inn. Lesson learned. For now.

La Cabana cheered us somewhat, and not just because of the sunny, tropical colour scheme. The hotel was a lot cheaper than the Holiday Inn, you could tell just from the slowness of the service, but the room was nice. It was more like an apartment, with a living room with a sofa, and a small kitchenette, with a pool (and waterfall!) view (Eagle beach being a 5 minute walk away). It was absolutely fine.

There was a big shopping mall nearby, so we went there for a sandwich, then headed to Eagle Beach for a very fine sunset. Eagle beach doesn’t have hotels right on the beach, they are all across the road, and low-rise. Instead, the main road runs by the beach for a stretch of it, giving way to smaller, more boutique style hotels as you get closer to Orajenstad. The sand is deep and fine, white and beautiful. The sunset here one of the finest we have seen, and we spent around an hour splashing around in the sea, doing cartwheels on the beach, and generally thanking our lucky stars to be here.

Later, we went down to the harbor in Orajenstad, lovely in the evening, and we had dinner at a nice Belgium place in the mall there next to the boats. We stopped at Iguana Joe’s bar on the way back for a very good mojito and a dance, and the place was simple and fun, dripping with energy, and the wooden beams whispered tales of rum-soaked nights of passion and of people getting a little ‘carried away.’ Brilliant.

Day 3

The next day we spent on Palm Beach. We walked there from Eagle Beach – a long way, but a lovely walk past all the glimmering beacons of wealth that are the opulent 5-star hotels, places like Rui Hotel, the Marriot, Movenpick etc, and the connecting timeshare apartment blocks full of vacationing Americans. Palm Beach looked incredible under the brilliant blue sky, the sun loungers were all the way down to the waters edge – indeed, some of them were half in the water, and other people were relaxing on the water in floating beds with places to put your beer. The sea is so calm and shallow here, the current so soft, that it is possible to just idly float around all day topping up your tan – you won’t drift too far.

This evening we took a catamaran sunset cruise with Pelican Adventures, a trip with free-flow rum, vodka, and gin, as well as some very scrumptious canapés. The young South African and the Australian working as crew were very friendly, and made sure our glasses were never empty. We went all the way up to the lighthouse, and back again on the beautiful calm ocean. A beautiful, 2-hour sunset cruise, highly recommended.

Day 4 to the end!

Indeed, we liked the cruise so much we took their snorkeling cruise the next day, again departing from the lively Pelican Pier. There was excellent snorkeling over a German WWII ship – the Antilla, and another spot, Arashi Reef. The catamaran tour included drinks and snacks, and was a great way to spend a day. We drank in the wild pier bars afterwards….all in all a blast of a day.

The days that followed involved much walking up and down both Eagle Beach and Palm Beach, a short windsurf, a shopping trip to the colourful capital, and some very fine lunches and dinners, with some fun nights out to boot. We left Aruba feeling very refreshed – it really is One Happy Island – a great honeymoon spot, and we will definitely come back. This time we’ll rent a car so we can explore more of the island.

Take me away!

How to get there

Direct flights from many places in North and South America. There’s also a seasonal direct flight from Amsterdam. Also a popular cruise ship stop.

Getting to the resorts in Palm and Eagle Beach is easy by taxi – but slow if you go when a cruise ship is departing. Hire a car if you plan on driving to Baby Beach and exploring.

If you want to do it cheaper then take a bus into Oranjestad from across the main road in front of the airport, then the L10 bus to Eagle and Palm Beach.

When to Go

Year round – but if you want to avoid the US school kids, go later in the summer, say September. April is also lovely. It can get more expensive in December and January.

Where to Stay

For something slightly quirky, try the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort – it’s right in front of Eagle Beach. All the big 5 star resorts have casinos, pools, restaurants etc. We avoid all-inclusive, but some great deals to be had if you go at the right time! We particularly liked the Holiday Inn as the pools are amazing, and it’s right across the road from the Palm Beach Plaza Mall!

What to Remember

Hire a car – you’ll save sooooo much money! Taxi fees are exorbitant!

Use US dollars – but also have some florin with you if you’re going off the beaten path!

Tips are appreciated (even though service charge is often included in the bill).

Go on a catamaran sunset cruise – our favourites were with Pelican Adventures, departing from Pelican Pier

More information

Check this blog out!

This guide is handy too!

Nomadic Matt has also been here for more budget-minded travellers!

Aruba – a perfect escape

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 to the end!

Take me away!

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