Traveling to Aruba in 2 Weeks Seeking Info on Things to Do, Places to See, Etc.

Palm Beach is a must!! It's gorgeous!

Hello R.-
I went to Aruba for the first time last August. The beaches are beautiful there! There's stuff to see on the other side of the island but we never made it over there. One thing we did was went on the Atlantis Submarine. You can get on it from their place in downtown Oranjestad. I did my shopping for gifts downtown and the prices weren't too bad. I can't remember the name of the "mall" but it was pink. There's good snorkeling just above where you'll be staying. It's the area across from Aruba Beach Villas. The other thing we did was parasailing. My brother-in-law set that up through his hotel I think. Him & his wife stayed at the Hyatt but I am sure you can find someone on the beach to coordinate that for you. I hope this helps! Have a wonderful time. I can't wait to go there again myself.

L.

I was in Aruba about 6 years ago and it was great! If you like adventure the best thing that we did was take a Jeep tour of the island. I can't remember the name of the tour group, but they have about 4 or 5 jeeps that all go out together and tour all over the island. For entertainment there was a Las Vegas type show at one of the Hotels downtown that was very good, and then if you want to learn about the culture of the area there is a show done in an outside venue where local kids and audults perform. Sorry I can't remember the specifc names of these things, but I'm sure if you ask at your hotel they will be able to point you in the right direction.

I go to Aruba every summer. I would take one of the sunset sails down the coast. I would go to Baby Beach and take a picnic lunch. Go downtown at sunset and walk around. Go to Eagle Beach. Dinner at Elliotes (it is a brand new restaurant). I would also go to the Pirates Nest at Bucuti for sunset one night. The Banana Bus is realllyyyy fun too. Mr. Jazz is a fun night time place to go. You will love Aruba. I am going in July again for the 7th time and back again in December!

Go to Baby beach for great snorkeling!! Also the palm beach cruise and snorkel is fun!

We were just there in March.. We stayed with our friends who have a timeshare at the Marriott. If you would like a relaxing day, go to MooMba Beach Bar & Restaurant. www.moombabeach.com. Ask to have Bryan Hart as your waiter, you can tell him that Joe/Michele/D./Bill sent you! They have great lunches there. Great open air bar and have free internet access. I brought along my laptop and did all my work there. I'm a realtor so need to keep up with some clients. Probably not a great place for dinner but for a lunch out on the beach it's great. They are right next door to the Marriott and I think the Holiday Inn is on the other side. They charge for the lounge chairs at the beach (as most places do) however we offered Bryan a big tip at the beginning of the week and he comped the chairs for us.

We also took a package of a sunset cruise and dinner at Senior Frogs. If you like to get crazy at Senior Frogs it's fun... lots of skits and audience participation, if you want.

Nice to go shopping one day downtown and have lunch at Iguana Joes and Smokey Joes for dinner! It's better to go shopping when the cruise ships aren't in, you should be able to see them out in the distance from the Holiday Inn. It's ok if there are in, but obviously less crowed when they are out. I believe all the shops downtown are closed on Sunday.

We had a nice day at Eagle Beach, we stopped off at Subway and got sandwiches and then spent the day there. You can rent a jet ski and also chairs and we rented an umbrella just to get out of the sun every once in a while.

Went down to Baby Beach, very nice to snorkle or just relax there.

There are not a lot of 'touristy' things to do there, I just like to go there and relax on the beach. I was there back in 1989 when nothing was there, only the Holiday Inn! Then have been back a few times the last few years, it's grown but still relaxing.

Have fun!

We were in Aruba three years ago and had dinner at Gasparito's and loved it! It's a little house that's been turned into a restaurant. Very quaint and the food was excellent. If you like shrimp, try the shrimp coco. We spent most of our time on the beach or at the pool. We did rent a car one day to check out the island and were a little surprised to find that once you are out of the hotel area there isn't that much to explore. We also did a half-day scuba trip which was a lot of fun. You don't have to be scuba certified to do the half day trip (my husband is, but I'm not). They teach you how to use the equipment in the hotel pool and then you go out and dive. You only go to a depth of 25 feet, so you can easily swim back up to the surface if there is a problem. I really enjoyed it. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. Hope you have a wonderful vacation!