Mid Oct. I am headed out to Aruba for a wedding, going to hit up some casinos ect. Just seeing if any CF brethren have been to the island and can give any good tips!
I've been. Was there for school and went afterwards for my honeymoon. It's a desert island but via manipulation they made it look very tropical. I would for one suggest renting a car because you need to be able to hit up diff beaches and what not and the driving is just like the us. It has all the American luxuries just with the added beaches and casinos. I'd recommend a place called "la granja" it's a famous chicken place there. If your into golf they have 2 huge courses divi and Tierra del sol. The latter is the nicer one. Where are you staying? If you have any questions just pm me.
I went there on my honeymoon back in 1996. Nice place. Had a good time. It was very windy at the time. Definitely rent a 4WD vehicle and bounce around the island. Wear sunblock. The Aloe Vera plant tour is boring.
I went in early July with my family. I thought it was relaxing with nice beaches, but I do not have any interest in returning. However, I did not go to the casinos. As mentioned above, it is good to rent a car to get around the island. If you are willing to rent a condo or house that is not on the beach, you can find a place that is cheap. However, I would not recommend that.
Im staying at Ritz carlton aruba. I think its on Palm beach near all the other hotels. Friday night and all Saturday I will be pretty occupied with stuff, but Wed-Fri morning I can do whatever. Any places worth seeing/eating at in Oranjestad? I would much rather eat cool local places than resort restaurants. Is la granja in town?
Ya palm beach is great, lots of restaurants and stuff there. I'd recommend doing the submarine tour near the cruise ships ad renaissance mall. There is also a mountain that you can go up on stairs, I never tried it but I heard it was fun. There's also something called the natural bridge which is pretty cool. There are 2 light houses but I'd say skip those as there's nothing really much there besides goats and a restaurant. Water sports are great there and there's this boat pirate ship cruise which is apparently fun but it's because I don't drink but apparently you swing off the side of the ship and what not.