How to secure valuables?

[Teacherjen]

Good morning everyone!
Well, after reading this forum for years, I finally decided to register as I have a question for you all. This isn't my first trip, but it will be my husband's. Previously, my traveling companions were either not interested or not capable (health issues) of going to Baby Beach. Now that my husband will be going, we want to go down there and swim, and then perhaps hit Charlie's before heading home.

My question is what to do with my valuables? I have owned a Vacation Vault for a couple of years (2 actually; 1 I leave in my locker year-round at Walt Disney World). I never have an issue at the beach or pool because I can secure the VV to a beach chair. As far as I know, there are no chairs at BB.

We MAY rent a scooter for a couple of days so we might have that at BB, but if we don't, then we will need to get to BB by bus or taxi. So my questions:

1. If we have a scooter, is there someplace ON the scooter to attach the VV (I may also purchase the PacSafe 100)?
2. If we don't have our own vehicle, what to do with our stuff? I also have a water proof wallet which I can use to keep cards, ID, and cash in while we swim, but I will also have a camera and a cell phone and they won't fit in the wallet.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Jennifer

[MarcioCampos]

Hi, Jennifer! I have the same doubt of yours, since we plan to go to Baby and Arashi beaches and may not have a car to leave our stuff (money, cards, passport copy, camera) inside. But I had never heard of the Vacation Vault -- already Googled it and looks great for such situations! Now I need to discover if they mail it to Brazil.

All the best from Brazil

Marcio

[Andrea J.]

we used the vacation vault at baby beach!
we found a spot at baby beach that had a large palapa kinda hut.
it was not in the best of shape and had areas on it where we could weave the vacation vault cable thru and then connect to itself.

please please lock up your passports in your resort in room safe.
there is no need to be carrying them around.

welcome to the aruba.com community forum

[Andrea J.]

a pac safe may give you better protection and more space than a vacation vault.

i take it you are not planning on a car rental.

riding a motor scooter from the hi rise to baby beach is not an easy feat.
the cars that you will be sharing the road with drive in excess of 50mph on that stretch of road. it could be unsafe.

and another thought is...........there are a couple of taxi drivers that many of us know personally. these fine people bring tourists to baby beach, hang out and wait or come back. it is approx $45 per hr. if you did enlist one of them all of your belongings could stay in the vehicle !!
just a thought.

[jeffnev]

It's probably worth a 1 day car rental to explore Baby Beach, Charlie's and other places on that side of the island. We try to limit the valuables we bring when snorkeling, but if you lock it in the trunk and don't leave things visible in the car you'll be fine. And as Andrea says, never carry your passports around with you-keep them locked in your hotel safe.

[Arubalisa]

I do not recommend scooters at all. Between the condition of the roads (think bad pot holes) and your safety amongst the drivers (of the cars), and various animals, your life is more important.

More info

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/scooter.html

Rent a car instead. It will be much safer.

Originally Posted by MarcioCampos

But I had never heard of the Vacation Vault -- already Googled it and looks great for such situations! Now I need to discover if they mail it to Brazil.

VACATION VAULT (what do i do w/ my stuff?)

pacsafe?

Beverages on beach and Keeping belongings safe

In June Baby beach had someone renting chaises & cabanas and there are a few palapas as well.

[Karen Lutzker]

Hiring a Taxi for a couple of hours or renting a car for the day is a great suggestion. Lisa is right! Scooters can be very dangerous on Aruba roads. As far as your valuables, they should be locked in the hotel safe.

[Teacherjen]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've been so busy with school that I'm just now getting back here. A couple of things:

1. Passports-No need to worry! Both my husband and I have been out of the country many times. We're well-traveled enough to know better than to carry our passports around. When I say valuables, I'm talking about a cell phone (to keep in contact with friends back at condo, and for teenage daughters back home), camera (of course I want pictures at BB), credit card, debit card, some cash, and an ID. And yes, those things are all needed for our excursion. I have an Aquapac that I wear in the water and it holds most of the stuff, but the camera and cell phone will not fit in it. If our friends go with us, more than likely we won't all swim at the same time and someone can watch the stuff. If we go alone and we want to swim together, we need to know what to do with these things, hence my questions.

2. Taxi-Yes, I know about Bully, etc., and will probably ask him to pick us up from and take us back to the airport and maybe at other times during the week. This will probably not be one of them.

3. I'm not really worried much about the scooters. My husband has driven on the autobahn, so he's not concerned, especially given the fact that my elderly mother has driven a scooter from the Divi to BB and back many times. He thinks if she can do it, so can he and he's right. And if we do, mom says there is a locking "trunk" on the scooter. Since he's driving, the decision will be his, but since I'm not really thrilled about riding a scooter down there, we probably won't.

4. We will rent a car if our friends decide to join us, in which case my problem is solved as there will be somewhere to leave this stuff.

So back to my original question: Is there somewhere at BB to secure my valuables, either in a VV (I have one already) or a PacSafe (planning on buying), assuming we have no car/scooter/taxi in which to leave them? Andrea, did you only find 1 palapa while at BB? How plentiful are they?

[Andrea J.]

there are a few palapas that seem to be permanent structures at baby beach.
the one we found and shared with 3 other people was in much disrepair , but we were able to find a place on it where we could loop the cable thru. there was another one like ours pretty close to the water but it had a bunch of people and stuff already.

go early in the day.........by 9 am and on a weekday and you will probably be able to secure one of the 2 ram shackled palapas.

they are not plentiful there are at least 2. maybe only 2.

there is no bus at BB it does not even come close.

if you make your way to BB by taxi or car rental can you not leave your valuables in the vehicle? if bully is your driver, could you leave the VV with him in his vehicle?

Originally Posted by Teacherjen

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've been so busy with school that I'm just now getting back here. A couple of things:

1. Passports-No need to worry! Both my husband and I have been out of the country many times. We're well-traveled enough to know better than to carry our passports around. When I say valuables, I'm talking about a cell phone (to keep in contact with friends back at condo, and for teenage daughters back home), camera (of course I want pictures at BB), credit card, debit card, some cash, and an ID. And yes, those things are all needed for our excursion. I have an Aquapac that I wear in the water and it holds most of the stuff, but the camera and cell phone will not fit in it. If our friends go with us, more than likely we won't all swim at the same time and someone can watch the stuff. If we go alone and we want to swim together, we need to know what to do with these things, hence my questions.

2. Taxi-Yes, I know about Bully, etc., and will probably ask him to pick us up from and take us back to the airport and maybe at other times during the week. This will probably not be one of them.

3. I'm not really worried much about the scooters. My husband has driven on the autobahn, so he's not concerned, especially given the fact that my elderly mother has driven a scooter from the Divi to BB and back many times. He thinks if she can do it, so can he and he's right. And if we do, mom says there is a locking "trunk" on the scooter. Since he's driving, the decision will be his, but since I'm not really thrilled about riding a scooter down there, we probably won't.

4. We will rent a car if our friends decide to join us, in which case my problem is solved as there will be somewhere to leave this stuff.

So back to my original question: Is there somewhere at BB to secure my valuables, either in a VV (I have one already) or a PacSafe (planning on buying), assuming we have no car/scooter/taxi in which to leave them? Andrea, did you only find 1 palapa while at BB? How plentiful are they?