If there were 5 things not to miss out on doing when visiting for your first time, what would it be? Places to see, eat at, tours, etc... #1 for us to to just chill out, but we do want to get around and explore a bit.

We spend most of our time chilling out but I would definitely do the Helicopter Tour. The island tour is more expensive but you can see the lay out of the island, what island is about, the terrain, etc. Then you can decide if you want to do some other land type tour or ATV rental. Recommend a sunset sail cruse - we do ours with Red Sail. There are so many wonderful places to eat. We stay downtown and enjoy The Old Fisherman, Que Pasa, Casa Tua and L.G. Smith's Steak House.

1) Jeep /ATV tour of the island (make sure your tour goes to the Natural Pool e.g. Kini Kini full day ATV tour);
2) Take a Snork/Sail trip (check into what the Tranquilo has to offer);
3) Relax and enjoy Aruba's great beaches while sipping a Balashi (try not to pack too many activities into your intinerary);
4) Treat yourself to a good dining experience (e.g. Flying Fishbone, Sunday brunch at the Hyatt etc. - many recommendations/reviews are included in this website); and,
5) Take a trip into Oranjestad or San Nicolas (i.e. away from where the tours bring you) to get a feel for the local culture/to see the sites.

My suggestion is to take a sunset sail or snorkeling day tour on the Jolly Pirates, do a half day jeep tour of the other side of the Island. As far as restaurants, I recommend Bingo's for ultra casual with great food and service, Pincho's for good food, good service, and lovely setting right on the water, Simply Fish at the Marriott (beach front restaurant) and then just beach it and walk around in the evenings to see what else might interest you. Enjoy your relaxing vacation....Cheryl

The Sunday Champagne Brunch at at the Hyatt, from 9.00 to 14.00. On our trip last March we were there 3 times. It's al you can eat for 25 euro's/ 40 dollar's.

For photo's of our trips we took in 2007 & 2008 to Aruba, visit our site at: http://www.kingpin-angel.eu/

Kingpin, you guys were there for 3 plus weeks or ate you ate there multiple time per day! What at treat!
I have heard it is great but did not try compared ti to our Marriott La Vista breakfast for $19.99 which had all we required and more. Sometime this is convince as we did not have champagne and was basic but good.

Have Fun, Pete

To echo a couple of suggestions...
Kini Kini ATV Tour
Jolly Pirates for fun, Tranquilo for serious snorkeling and relaxation
If you budget allows the "Island" helicopter tour.

If all else fails, rent a 4 x 4, get in and start driving. We proved to ourselves yet again this trip, there is ALWAYS something new to see on the island which we had yet to discover before.

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