Bringing Food from States to Aruba?

[dslomba]

what are some dry grocery items to best bring with for a week vacation?
I am looking for things like say cereal, maybe bottled water since maybe these are expensive?

[CK1]

What to bring?
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli!
(Guess I watched too much "The Godfather" LOL)

There are some large groceries stores on Aruba with excellent food! Many items are Dutch and sooo delicious! IMO, worth trying them out. I always bring a few items from Aruba when returning home to the USA as they can not be found here. Like those excellent Dutch cookies.

And water: Aruba has one of the best water in the world. No need at all to buy bottled water. You can just take it from the tap and put it in the fridge to have cool water throughout your vacation.

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by dslomba

what are some dry grocery items to best bring with for a week vacation?
I am looking for things like say cereal, maybe bottled water since maybe these are expensive?

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/packing%20food.html

[AndyM]

We usually bring a couple of pounds of coffee and some coffee mate and sugar for the first morning's coffee before we go grocery shopping. You can eat very well with what's available at the major markets.

I like to cook and the hardest part is dried herbs and spices. I usually confine my cooking to simply seasoned dishes so I don't have to bring teaspoonfuls and tablespoons of a dozen different spices or buy bottles of the same spices in Aruba.

What I do bring is a couple of sharp kitchen knives, an instant read thermometer, tongs and a corkscrew as the kitchen in our timeshare is not well equipped.

[Ariel]

1 box of Nature Valley "oats n honey" bars
1 12ct box of Gatorade mix
1 bag of craisins
1 bag of mixed nuts
Quaker Oats
LARA bars
Gatorade gel (for long hikes)

I plan on picking up fruits and veggies along the way to eat for lunch and dinner. I'm also going to bring my small airtight tupperware to soak my oatmeal over night for breakfast. I don't eat alot when I wake up in the morning but most of the foods im bringing are for the morning or midmorning snacks.

[rogerwaldrup]

I would usually carry some long lasting snacks, dried vegetables and some frozen meat..

[Arubalisa]

See updated policies for Customs

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

Aruba customs.

Import Regulations by Aruba customs

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

Free import

• 200 cigarettes or
• 50 cigars;
• 1 litre of distilled beverages or
• 2.25 litres of wine or
• 3 litres beer;
• Gift articles up to a value of AWG 100
• Unlimited amount of perfume

Prohibited

• Illegal drugs
• Guns, explosives and ammunition
• Knives and deadly weapons
• Furs
• Precious stones
• Perishable foodstuffs requiring refrigeration
• Plant and plant products
• Foreign soil
• Pets and animals without prior permission
• Dogs, cats, monkeys and parrots from South America
• Meat and meat products
• Counterfeit money and goods
• Pornographic material

Restricted

• All animals being imported into the country will require a Veterinarian Health Certificate from the country of origin issued less than two weeks prior to your arrival. Dogs and cats will require an additional Rabies Inoculation Certificate proving the animal’s protection against the disease. Dogs and cats less than four months old are exempt from requiring any rabies vaccinations providing prove of the animals age is included on the original certificate.
• Leather imports of Haiti origin are unlikely to be accepted into the country.
• Log and limber products from Liberia including posts, poles, tables, crates and tables are all prohibited from entering the country.

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

here is the reply i got from one of the nice folks at the ATA office

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

Hi Andrea,

Sorry for the delay in reply but it took a while to gather this info.

According to someone we spoke with at the Customs office, it is ok to bring a small cooler with a frozen meats or dinners. Small quantities are ok as long as they do not try to sneak in the whole cow J

Hope this helps clear thins a bit. Anything else just let me know!

Have a great day!