To rent a car or not.

[sunworshipperII]

Can't decide we were going to rent but I have heard some horror stories about people that get sideswiped or whatever and have to pay...what does everyone think???? do you usually rent a car or just taxi it...

[Arubalisa]

Personal preference. Some like to have "wheels" to take off on a whim, some like the comfort of not having to worry about:
damage to the car
driving on unfamilar roads
driving after having some drinks with dinner...

http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/car%20rental%20vs.%20taxi.html

Insurance info
http://www.aruba.com/forum/tags/amex%20car%20insurance.html

[cindyo]

We rent for a few days and plan our adventures those days. We use it for the grocery store visit along with the restaurants we don't want to pay large fees for taxi's. We find a couples of days works for us.

[DANNYO]

It depends on what you plan on doing,just do the math....
to and from airport.....$50-$60 plus tip
grocery shopping to and from$20 plus tip
Dinner to and from$20 plus tip each time
To rent a small car (Tropic)$165 per week
We rent a car for two weeks just so we have it.I'm not sure of the exact prices for taxi s's put this is pretty close.

[Arubalisa]

A comparison I did for someone awhile back

Airport roundtrip $50
Flying Fishbone rt $64
El Gaucho rt $22
Madame Janette $18
$154

Amazonia is walking distance.

Compact Rental Car Amigo http://www.amigocar.com/models_rates.html $188
Compact Rental Car Royal http://www.arubaroyal.com/our_fleet.html $170

[nhtimesharers]

If you don't rent a car and stay on Eagle Beach..what's the best way to get to Baby Beach? Do buses run that far out? Also, are there toilet & dressing room areas at Baby Beach? Food vendors? thanks...heading down in two weeks from snowy NH

[Andrea J.]

there are buses to san nicholas.
but doubt if there is a bus stop that goes as far as the beach roadway.
i cannot remember if there are facilities there...bathrooms/changing/showers etc...

[bkoneils]

We always rely on the busing system for the majority of our trip since it is so accessible and inexpensive. Majority of the shopping, groceries and beaches are on the main bus stop area. Although we do rent a car for one day, but found out last year that in the last couple years Aruba has been experiencing a larger amount of car vandalism with smash and grab. The robbers change the areas they hit every week, but one area to watch out for is the large stair climb in the park. This area has been hit on a regular basis because they know you will be back for a little while. They grab the hubcaps, smash windows and take radios. This happened to someone right before we arrived to the hill; luckily we had someone willing to sit with the car while we made the hike up the stairs. Otherwise we have not personally experienced any problems, and are not aware of any problems around the main hotel areas.

[ArubaBound001]

Originally Posted by sunworshipperII

Can't decide we were going to rent but I have heard some horror stories about people that get sideswiped or whatever and have to pay...what does everyone think???? do you usually rent a car or just taxi it...

We rented a jeep for one day last year and will probably rent for 3-4 days our next trip. We really enjoy snorkeling on our own and avoiding the large tour groups.

[sunnysmiles]

We really want to rent a jeep for a few days but I keep reading about all the issues you have to be concerned with. Do you buy all the extra insurance with it (cdw/ldw)? I've even read that doesn't cover everything. I get tired of reading the fine print