"The East Coast version of Oahu" Aruba by flynboxes

Aruba Travel Guide: 859 reviews and 2,177 photos

The land of time shares

Aruba is to folks from NY/NJ and other east coast cities what Oahu and Baja Mexico are to us left coasters in the US or Costa Del Sol to your Brits. First I chose the place due to the 15 min flights to Coro in Venezeula which I thought would make for a neat side trip..couple of days prior to the flight I changed my mind and decided to go island hoping and use Aruba as my arrival/departure point to the islands due to the cheap inter island flights
(Cheap exclusive of the $32 USD airport tax). The island for the most part is flat, safe, mosquito free, and full of friendly folks on vacation from the East Coast of the US....oddly enough meeting some of these folks is probably the most memorable part of my short stay on the island.

Convenience and ease of travel

Like those two words??? The Aruba is the place for you. It's a doable nonstop flight from JFK or EWR for most and you don't have to worry much about DVT...Also it is a safe place for the kids...your biggest risk here is getting hit by a car when crossing the few roads on the island.
The thing I don't like about those words is that they usually = high travel costs. There are no $30 beach front rooms here or $3 dinners unless you have a coupon for free tacos at Taco Bell. I did find a few relative deals her and will post them as tips but they tend to be few and far between since just about everything except for great weather (Aruba is below the hurricane belt) and warm water...everything is either flown or boated in so be prepared to spend some dough.....

Pros and Cons

Pros:Great people, warm water and great people
Cons:Bit on the expensive side
In a nutshell:Gotta pay to play here.

Last visit to Aruba: Aug 2010
Intro Written Aug 29, 2010
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Reviews (17)

Food is not cheap here like in VZ or... Favorites (1)

The one thing I did not like about Aruba is the US chain restaruants are well represented here along with the inflated... more travel advice

Insel Air ticket office in Aruba - Aruba

Inter Island flights Transportation (2)

Unless you have your own boat forget about any regular ferry service to Curacao or Bonaire. The non-US destination... more travel advice

Flying in...the only way Transportation (2)

Want to visit Aruba and don't have a yacht to get you there from S. Florida? Then you get to fly from the East Coast of... more travel advice

*** and burgers Restaurants (6)

Been to the states...there are a few of them. I have been to one in the Mall of America a few times. Not my favorite... more travel advice

Sports & Outdoors (2)
See All Watersports
Warnings and Dangers (2)
See All Deep fried Oreos.....
Shopping (1)
Cuban cigars

Comments (2)

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cachaseiro Sep 8, 2010 at 4:39 AM

Nice tips mate. I would love to visit that part of the world myself.
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DAO Aug 31, 2010 at 1:23 PM

Illegal cigars and exploding oreos. Excellent tips !!!