"Relax its Aruba" a Aruba Travel Page by giselle900

We had a direct flight from Boston to Aruba - well worth the few extra bucks. It cut down on travel time by quite a few hours. The airport was nearly empty so walking through customs was a breeze and taxi's were lined up to take us to the hotel. Took several taxis while on the island but also took advantage of the bus line. It runs continuously and is much cheaper.

US dollars are welcome and no need to exchange. They will even give you back US dollars not Florians.

As you have read elsewhere, it is a very dry and windy island! Although there are trees on the beach, it is a desert type climate, especially on the nonhotel side of the island - all sand, dirt and rocks. The wind is continuous so becareful of the hat you bring because it will blow away. Long hair women, learn how to braid to keep it out of your face while eating. The sun is HOT - and I found out the hard way the brown palm cabana type covering does NOT hold back any sun!!! I spent one whole day under one thinking I was in the shade and covered and got badly burned.

We stayed at the Aruba Beach Club and loved it! Our room faced the ocean and had a perfect view of the sunset every night from the balcony. It was very spacious and clean. The pool was nice and the onsite restaurant had great food. Checking in was a bit of a pain as the flight arrived a few hours before check in so we had to wait during that time for it to be available-this was the only downfall and a very minor one.

It is located next to a casino and directly on the beach. Plenty of chairs by the pool and on the beach, no need to reserve one at 6:00 am. The room had a great kitchen area and we took full advantage of it. The food market is one/two bus stops away so we stocked up on food so as not to have to eat out every day.

One other small complaint but does not directly pertain to the hotel; the KooKoo bus is so flippin loud as it drops off patrons, EVERY NIGHT at midnight I was woken up by the blaring music through the speakers outside the bus and drunken gang.....

We took this vacation for relaxation and got it. The few excursions we took were great! The ATV tour and pirate ship and snorkel tour combo were the only two excursions we did but it was a blast! I would recommend the ATV to actually see the island, the jeep and bus tour looked lame. The Jolly pirate ship made three stops (one over the sunken ship) and had a rope swing-lots of fun and the crew was great - highly recommend it.

The casino was lots of fun and the staff were more than happy to explain any table games. There are coupons galore for free tokens at the casinos, booklets for 10-15% off dinners or even 10-15% excursions! The airport will provide you with a bag full of them.

Heading back in March of 2008!!