Aruba is a great tropical vacation destination in the Southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela, with warm sands, beautiful turquoise waters, and good restaurants and shopping. The US dollar is accepted everywhere, and it's a short flight from east coast cities, or a more painful nine hours from the west coast.

Aruba is a desert island, which is a good thing, because there is no rain to speak of that could ruin your vacation. Of course, as our luck would have it, it rained like crazy for about an hour the morning we were leaving Aruba. We had to wait 45 minutes for a cab ride to the airport, presumably because the taxi drivers have no clue how to drive in the rain. We were the last to check in for our almost empty return flight as a result.

We did not rent a car in Aruba, and this worked out just fine. The island has two major hotel areas - downtown Oranjestad, and the so-called high-rise hotel area, which is a brief $12 cab ride away. Our hotel was in the downtown area, and we chose dining and activities in downtown, so we just walked everywhere. I think a rental car maybe useful if you stay in one of the high-rise hotels, *if* you want to avoid the hotel restaurants and get to the shopping, dining and casinos downtown on a daily basis.

Hotel

We stayed at the Renaissance Aruba beach resort in downtown Oranjestad, which was so nice that we are considering buying a timeshare there. Our one bedroom suite was nicely appointed, and the resort has a very nice pool with a swim up bar and a sheltered beach. The private island belonging to this resort is just wonderful - not crowded, lots of hammocks and beach chairs, and attentive staff. Convenient boat shuttles run back and forth every 30 minutes all day (till 7pm).

Activities

We spent most of our time around the pool and on the beach building sand castles and lying in hammocks nursing frozen drinks - very relaxing!

We visited the butterfly farm in Aruba - http://www.thebutterflyfarm.com - and our toddler loved it. Try to go early in your stay, because the $12 entry fee allows you unlimited visits till your departure date. We would have probably enjoyed another visit at a different time of day, when different butterflies are active.

My husband had a swedish massage at the Okeanos Spa (in the Renaissance Marina tower) - about $100 for 75minutes - he enjoyed it.

We took a helicopter tour of the beaches on the island - about $60 per person for a 15 minute ride, our toddler rode free. We got a good idea of the layout of the island from this tour. Also got to see the Antilla shipwreck from the air - a popular snorkel/dive spot off the island. The Antilla is a 250 foot German freighter which was sunk on purpose by the captain to avoid being captured by the Allies - this information courtesy of the helicopter pilot. Our toddler LOVED the ride and talked about it for weeks afterwards.

We saw the Vegas style show, Let's Go Latin, at the Crystal theater in the Renaissance Marina tower - about $40 per person including one drink for a one hour show. Compared to Vegas shows, it's a small cast in a small theatre, but the advantage is the ease with which you can grab a prime second or third row middle seat. The singing and dancing was high quality, and again, our toddler loved it - she was jiving away in her seat all through the show, and wanted to know if the performers were dolls she could take home!

We saw the Aruba Panorama show, also in the Crystal theater, only because we had free tickets from our resort. The show was about 15 minutes long, screened every half hour all day till 5pm. The show made it glaringly obvious how tiny Aruba is and how little culture and recorded history it has (compared to say, Europe). The desert landscapes and water features in the show were fun to see, though - especially because we did not bother with any of the pricey four-wheel drive tours of the island, and we didn't get to snorkel or scuba dive. (My husband and I were not keen to go without each other as buddies, and we can't trust our kid with babysitters in a new place.)

With a toddler in tow, we could not even enter the casinos, so I have no idea how to rate the gambling in Aruba.

We noticed that the movie theaters downtown seemed to be playing the latest stuff from the US, but we didn't care to watch anything.

Dining

My husband and I are vegetarians, and this makes meals a challenge on vacations. Aruba was better than most destinations. We enjoyed our meals at:

Rumba Bar and Grill - http://www.rumba-aruba.com (great tomato soup, appetizers and chef's specials - we ate there twice in one week).

Pinchos Grill and Bar at Aruba Surfside Marina (fabulous romantic location, literally ON the water, comfortable seating, inspired prix fixe meal, and charming, friendly hostess).

The Dutch Pancake House (great breakfasts, including savory pancakes, served all day).

Que Pasa (cozy location, unusual menu and divine desserts).

We had an awful, expensive meal at La Dolce Vita, a supposed Italian restaurant, where the chef didn't seem to have ever tasted Italian food - avoid at all costs!

The major US fastfood chains - Pizza Hut, McDonald's, SBarro and Wendy's - all have locations in downtown. Great for an inexpensive meal on the run.

The gelato place across the main street from the Crystal theater and casino had great flavors (lots of nut and tropical fruit flavors) in perfect small portions. We stopped there several times during our stay.

Hope this was helpful, and hope you enjoy Aruba!

Recommended:
Yes

Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime