Aruba, part of the Netherlands, lies off the coast of South America, just north of
Venezuela. Aruba enjoys sunny weather year round, yet is suprisenly comfortable. Unlike the other
islands in the Caribbean Aruba stays relatively dry and is situated outside of the
hurricane belt. This makes Aruba available to year round vacations with little fluctuation
in temperature and no need to fear of hurricanes. The strong trade winds
may play havocate with your golf game, but it helps keep the temperature
nice and comfortable in the mid 80's.
You would think that being an island in the Caribbean Aruba would have lush vegetation and palm trees. To the contrary, Aruba is very dry and receives very little rain. Can you guess by the picture above what kind of plant life Aruba has, or do you need a hint. Take a look at the picture below.
The picture is not the best, but yes that is cacti you see. Aruba is best explored by jeep (especially with a six pack of beer). You can rent a jeep at the airport at at most major resorts. The backside (north) of Aruba is mostly unpopulated and a jeep is required if you want to explore the many dirt roads. The rest of Aruba is highly populated (pop. 80,000). Aruba has one of the best standards of living in the entire Caribbean as evident of the many luxurious homes and good restaurants to eat at. The best places to eat are around the high rise hotels (north end), in Nord, or in Oranjstad (the capital). It is best to go into the capital the first night and explore the many restaurants before eating. You can find a wide variety of types of food and $$$. Being Dutch, expect a few differences like paying more per ounce for beer that comes in European sizes. The biggest bear you will find comes in a 330ml bottle/can (that's 11oz for you non metric types). The main area of Oranjstand is modern and even has a new multi screen movie theater. If you don't get the hint, you will feel quite at home with all the modern extremities. Dance clubs, casinos, and shops galore. Just like home. There is a Carlos N' Charlies & Senor Frogs for you lovers of fine Mexican establishments, however, they are smaller and less likely to get as wild as their mainland cousins.
We stayed at the Hyatt which is located near Nord and the other high rise hotels. The Hyatt is probably the most posh of all of the hotels in Aruba. Very nice, even better since we stayed there for FREE. Note, the Hyatt imported the palm trees. The Hyatt has one of the better casinos on Aruba if you are interesting in gambling, but watch out for the South American tourists since they can get quite viscious at the slot machinces.
Diving Aruba is made easy if you are staying at Aruba. The Hyatt has a pier right off of its beach and Red Sail Sports has a shot next door and kepts the dive boats at the Hyatt pier. After saying that, lets talk a little bit about the actual diving. Aruba is best known for its wreck diving. Their are numerous wrecks off the shore and are only accessible by boat. The only problem is getting the boat to go to all of them. Red Sail Sports seemed to my self and Mark as following set schedules with limited dive sites. We found ourselves going to the same sites sometimes as much as 3 times during our 5 day stay.
Diving Aruba - Click here to learn more about Aruba's diving.
Charlie's - Click here to learn more about a local Aruban landmark.
Note: pictures taken from video camcorder and digitalized using Snappy.