Best to swim in front of the Casa Del Mar or the Vista 2 bldg. at the divi. They just buried a pipeline this week under the street and beach sand and are draining sewerage of some sort from the divi golf course in to the sea beside the Lanai bldg. They pump early in the morning and the water turns green, white fizz at outer ring and smells like the most potent rotten eggs you ever smelled.

will be at that hotel the same time..picked it for the same reason

Folks who like to drink from the bar (as opposed to bringing a beer from their room fridge) do best on the AI plans. That's true.

(So I won't be jumping down anybody's throat)

We loved the all inclusive at the Tam. We didn't have to carry alot of cash with us and had drinks and food whenever we wanted. We did not feel limited to the restaurants at the hotel, but it was always there when we wanted it.

Nothing beats the Tamarijn and their staff !!!
Have gone there five times and it just keeps getting better !!!
Everytime we get there we are acknowledged by more people working at the hotel !!!
Go and enjoy!!!

It is only $3.50 a beer at the Tam.. so say if your a beer drinker.. and you drank 10 beers at that price $35 add a tip.. times that by 7 days...your looking at $245 plus a tip..

If you do mix drinks at $6 but on those you tend to drink less.. so say that may work out to be roughly the same cost also as what you would have spent on beers..

Now..most of us start off drinking like crazy the first day or two and then realize we can't handle drinking all the time... So you tend to start drinking the water and less of the alcohol.. (unless you do the Black Hog or Kukoo Kunokoo) which those are not part of AI anyway..

The price of AI is pretty high from what I heard at the TAM was approx $1700 per person not including tours.. So to give you a breakdown of what I just spent using a time share.

I had to pay just the maintence fee cost $560 (this is not my timeshare just paid for the week)My plane tickets for USAIR dropped in price to $350 per ticket.

I did the kukoo, horseback riding, the Black Hog and the all day safari tour with DePalm.

Kukoo for 1=$54.95 (I had $5 off) includes dinner
Horseback $40x2= $80
Black Hog $39x2=78 includes dinner
Depalm $74x2=$148

Dinners Amazonia $100 for 2
El Gouchos $61 for 2 no alcoholic drinks
Turtles Nest $35
Champions $35 we ate there twice $70

I brought a small suitcase with Cereal/bagels/poptarts/and the "just add water pancake mix" ohhh..and most importantly I checked in a 30pack of budlight.

All my tours and dinners came out to $$626.95
Flight $700
Timeshare$560


Total for myself and my 15yrold daughter cost $1886.95 plus general spending money for gifts/tips etc. ohhh,..and if I did spend approx $245 on alcohol..that would still only bring me up to approx $2,100.

So remember all inclusive does not include tips, tours or the drinking/barhoping/black hog tours either. Also, you may not be able to get a deal on a timeshare like I did.. but don't be surprised..some people on this board, or other boards would rather someone use it for their maintance fee cost then for them to pay the cost and not be able to go. Flights range in price.. usually towards $600, but again if you watch the flights, or look into chartes you can get it cheaper like I did.

Hope this info helps!! I know its longwinded.

Dear Me,

I hate to fly also, and we just got back from Aruba July 2nd. It is not a long flight from Boston, 4 1/2 hours and so worth the trip. You will have a GREAT time. We stayed at the Tam. right next to the Divi. Try to relax and you will absolutely enjoy yourself.

Mark,
I totally agree. I love the all inclusive and especially at the Occidental Allegro. I am fascinated at the variety of foods they have at breakfast buffet. It is so worth it. Lunch is the same exquisite style. Lots of foods to choose from. My main reason for going AI is for the convenience. Just sitting on the beach knowing I can go up to the bar on the beach or by the pool for a thirst-quenching tropical drink is wonderful. My daughter loves being able to get herself a drink (virgin, of course) and food at any time of day whenever she feels like a snack or anything. I am not a person who can be on the beach all day and "have to" get up, get showered, dressed and take a bus or cab into town to eat. Just not vacation to me! Everyone has a different methong for eating, but we have one thing in common.....we love Aruba!

heyyy...trust me..GOOOOOOOO...you will have the time of your life.i hate flying too but it will be well worth the panic attacks..lol...enjoy

Jim....Are you serious?? We'll be staying there in September and this doesn't sound like a good thing! Anyone else hear anything about these pipes draining into the water??