|
We Love Aruba! Trip Report June 6th - 13th
Aruba Rocks!
I don't know where to begin!
We returned this morning from an absolutely wonderful trip. I fell in love with Aruba. I can't say enough good things about the people, the weather, the beaches....It truly is "one happy island".
We definitely plan to return in the very near future.
I'll do my best to summarize......
~ The Holiday Inn ~
Like many, I read several negative comments about the Holiday Inn here and on other Aruba sites after booking our vacation.
I was very pleasantly surprised.
Prior to our arrival I emailed the resort requesting a non-smoking room with a King-Sized bed. Their reply was "we'll do our best to accomidate you". Sure enough, when we arrived we were given the keys to a garden-view room in the Aruba tower. The view was very nice - overlooking the grassy area between the two center towers and a nice view of the beach. OUr room was kept impeccibly clean throughout the week.
I found the staff to be very friendly on the whole. There were a few times where I received service "without a smile" but on the whole the staff seemed happy with their jobs - many of them sing while they work. The bar staff were all very quick. By the end of the week many of the full-time staff knew me by name - even saying hi while passing in the halls.
The Holiday Inn has a fantastic beach area. It's very spacious compaired to those other resorts from what we observed.
If you want one of the huts on the beach you do need to reserve early - we really didn't care whether we got one or not....we only reserved one on our last day there.
I woke each morning at 6:30 and went straight outside to sit and stare and the gorgeous water. The beach is cleaned every morning, beach chairs are set up at 7am.
The pool is quite small....we never used it - Really we went to Aruba for the beach, not the pool.
The food was quite good. We enjoyed our daily buffet breakfasts at the Boardwalk cafe, usually sitting on the outdoor patio. Get there early to avoid any wait. The SeaBreeze bar was decent for ala carte dining - good for lunch, we never ate dinner there. The Iguanna Terrace serves pizza for lunch on the beach.
For dinner there are theme nights nightly....Buffet on the beach. Our two meals were good, however the wind was somewhat of a distraction while eating.
Dining at Miramar is a MUST! The food was excellent and definitely worth the trouble of pre-reserving. We ate there three of our seven nights. On our first night the service was quite slow, however the other two were perfect.
When walking around the different resorts during the evenings, we noticed that the Holiday Inn seemed to have the most people out and about. They had nightly shows during the dinner buffet which were nice. The resort just seemed more alive than the others.
We stopped in the casino twice for a few hours - just to pass time. It was fun but the casinos are not really our scene.
~ What we did ~
1. Atlantis Adventures, The Screamer
We chose the Screamer over the "Thriller" based on a comment on this board - we think we made the right choice. The crew was fun - Carlos, the "first mate" was an absolute riot...especially when teaching us how to dance =) They take you up and down the coast from the lighthouse down to the end of Eagle Beach then play around in the waves. I definitely reccommend them - Be prepared to get wet!
Total cost was $80
2. Depalm full-day Jeep Safari
This was another great adventure. They have both four and six-person Jeeps. My boyfriend and I paired up with another couple beforehand and grabbed a four-person one. The boys took turns driving and had an absolute blast bumping us gals around along the ride. Our tourguide Eric was great - funny and very informative. We made stops at the California lighthouse, the AltaVista Chapel, the goldmine ruins and the natural bridge. Then it was off to Depalm Island.
Depalm Island was actually somewhat of a dissappointment for us - Perhaps we were expecting a little more...The view from the island was of an industrial area and the food was so-so (open bar and food during our time on the island). Most participants go snorkelling while there - we chose the Snuba upgrade ($50 more each). We were disappointed with the Snuba staff there - the instruction was somewhat rushed and the tour guide who took us out for the snorkel seemed to get irritated when us first-timers ran into a bit of technical difficulty. The fish there (especially the Parrot fish) were beautiful however we only had about 20 minutes of actual snuba time - just didn't seem to be worth the extra $$. Next time we'll just take the regular snorkel option and look elsewhere for snuba.
Total was $240 (including Snuba upgrade) for two of us
3. Jolly Pirates - a.m. sail
After reading so many raving reviews of the Jolly Pirates, I found the trip to be a let-down. Again, I think it's a case of high-expectations beforehand. The snorkelling stops were great- especially our stop at the German shipwreck - So many fish!!!! The crew just weren't as fun as we had expected - especially after the fun we had with Carlos and Eric (our tour guides from the previous days). Next time we plan on trying the Midushi so we can compare.
We booked online and got 15% off - ($85 for two of us)
4. Atlantis Adventures, Rhino Rider
This trip was quite fun, however there were some irritating moments (no fault of Atlantis....more like....we had a few people in our group that delayed us and a few who acted immaturely) The Rhino Riders are two-person inflatable boats, powered by motor. We received good instruction before-hand and our guides were good. The ride is very rough - the trip out is extremely choppy. I let my boyfriend drive because I wasn't feeling all that brave against the waves that we encountered. The next day I was in quite a bit of pain from bumping against the seat - (bruised bum =( lol) We made a snorkelling stop at the turn-around point which was great. The location is close to Depalm Island - great variety of fish - the best we saw out of all of our snorkelling trips. I recommend them - just cross your fingers for a day that's not too too windy.
$59 each - minus a $5 coupon - total $113 for two of us
5. Parsailing and tubing.
We went out with Frank's watersports which was right on the Holiday Inn's beachfront. We found the staff (especailly Andre) to be quite good. Andre gave my boyfriend and I a crazy-fun tube ride. Parasailing was fun but we went up on a very very windy day - I got tossed around quite a bit which put a damper on my experience - boyfriend had a blast.
Parasailing was $40 each
Tubing was $15 each
~ Adventure Mini Golf
We headed up there one evening for something different. They have a decent course - pretty basic but we had fun. The wind did deter from things (kept moving the ball on us lol)
$14 for the two of us
~ Good Eats
Since we had all-inclusive we didn't venture out for dinner much. We did try two restaurants
- Texas de Brazil blew me away.
I had no desire to go there....My boyfriend was intrigued so I gave in =)
All I can say is "wow!"
For $34 you get the salad bar...absolutely great variety including roasted bell peppers, sushi, portebello mushrooms etc., etc, etc......
Then the main course.
They bring you garlic mashed potatoes and fried bannanas (which were amazing).
On you table is a cylinder with green, yello, and red paint on it. When you would like them to bring you samples of their meats you turn the cylinder to green position....
The carvers bring around the variety of meats for you to sample...they don't stop comming until you turn the cylinder over to red.
This is definitely a place to go hungry to!
The ambience was actually surprisingly romantic and I don't think the service could possibly have been better.
I was absolutely blown away =)
two meals, two drinks, desert and tea came to just over $100. The tip is included in the final bill however we tipped extra due to the great service we received.
- The Driftwood - great seafood.
The owner owns his own boat and goes out daily to catch the "catch of the day" Great service and food
~ Other notes
- we didn't go out clubbing, although we did stop by Mambo Jumbos one evening. We're in our mid-twenties, but we just didn't feeling like wasting our stay by getting hang-overs (plus we had mostly early activities throughout the week).
- We didn't have time to go into town during the day....too much to do...too little time =( Downtown is cute and I plan on spending some shopping-time down there next trip. =)
- the taxi drivers were all very friendly - and the flat-rate fares are very reasonable
- next trip we will definitely rent a car for at least one day so we can see the island on "our time"
- Everyone we met on the island was extremely friendly and we felt safe. I met a few locals during my early-morning walks - a few of them tried to convince me to consider moving down there....(oh to escape the Ontario winters.....dreaming....)
- I was moved by the island's diverse beauty - the untouched areas are stunning!
- We were slightly disappointed by how Americanized the island is....Just doesn't seem right to see a Taco Bell or a Subway when you're in the Carribiean....
So.,..think that's it for now...I'm missing Aruba already =(
|
