One Friendly Island For Sure
Written: Feb 01 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Relaxing, out-of-the way, exotic. Great beaches, casinos, food, good range of activities.
Cons: Not cheap, difficult travelling from some of the US, small.
The Bottom Line: Best bet weather-wise in the Caribbean. Sophisticated, friendly local culture. A relaxing, exotic, get-away. And those beaches...!
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| reality_check's Full Review: Aruba |
For an exotic but delightfully low-key Caribbean experience, try the tiny desert island of Aruba. Part of the “A-B-C” chain of Netherlands Antilles, (Aruba, Bon Aire and Curacao) Aruba is nestled against the coast of Venezula 19 miles from the mainland. It’s just 20 miles long and 6 miles wide, but located well South of the notorious Caribbean hurricane belt. Weather is eerily consistent: always in the 70’s or low 80’s, sunny with moderate tradewinds blowing to keep you from overheating. On average this parched, rocky island has fewer than 5 days of rain per year. Total population is about 100,000 with most living in Oranjestad, Aruba’s capital and largest town.
Aruba has a schizophrenic personality: the lee side of the island has flat, sugary white sand beaches with calm, clear, warm water. There’s incredibly good swimming, snorkeling and diving, world-class windsurfing, parasailing, water skiing, waverunning or just lazing around. But the windward side has dark seas, huge wind-whipped waves and dangerously sharp drop-offs. Arikok National Park at the East end takes up almost 20% of the island and is well worth a day trip. Arikok is bursting with dramatic cliffs and windswept rocky plains, cactus gardens, petroglyphs, caves and sand dunes plus miles and miles of incredibly dramatic wilderness vistas where the dark blue-green ocean assaults the rugged shoreline. Take water and food or else stop at Boca Prins, a tiny bar & restaurant in the middle of your Arikok dirt-road traverse.
Oranjestad’s main shopping appeal is jewelry, jewelry and lots more jewelry. Gold, silver, gemstones, watches, pearls, platinum– if it clinks, flashes, glitters or sparkles, this is the place to buy it, and tourist magazines are bursting with slick ads from local stores. There’s also a cutesy waterfront crafts area, but most of the merchandise is imported from Brazil and sold by Africans. Genuine Aruban handicrafts are harder to find every year. Local “jump-up” carneval music is lively and worth seeking out in the variety and music stores on Main Street, another shopping area of note. Genuine high-quality Cuban cigars are also sold locally, and if you cut the paper labels off, the big, bad US Customs man won’t be able to prove they’re Cuban, now will he?
St. Nicolas at the East end is rougher than Oranjestad, and the gritty industrial desalinization plant and oil refinery are downright ugly. Many Arubans are car-and-motorcycle crazy, and there’s an NHRA certified drag strip near Palo Marga with nighttime racing– cars and motorcycles– every other week. St. Nicholas is also home to Roger’s and Baby beaches. Both are highly touted in guide books but we found them crowded and not very good compared to Palm and Eagle beaches.
Aruba’s main source of income is you. Tourism is the island’s lifeblood, and you can enjoy activities from horseback riding to gourmet dining, golf, tennis, windsurfing, rock climbing, rock concerts, live music and clubbing, snorkel/SCUBA, boat trips, casino gambling, shows and reviews, the previously mentioned jewelry shopping and even a guided tour of Aruba’s red-light district. Load up on the glossy free tourist magazines when you arrive and divine the best deals available for whatever activity you prefer during your stay.
GETTING THERE/GETTING AROUND
East coast travellers enjoy convenient flights (including cheap charters) from New York & Boston. From the Midwest and West coast you’ll probably go through Miami first. We flew from Los Angeles and overnighted in Miami’s trendy South Beach, then made the 2-1/2 hour hop to Aruba the next morning. Everyone arrives at Queen Beatrix airport which is modern and well-organized. Taxis are abundant and reasonably priced. Many trips have flat rates: going to and from the airport is $17, to and from Palm Beach to Oranjestad is $9, etc. The economy is geared towards making your stay pleasant. Arubans are relaxed, friendly, educated (95% plus literacy rate) and quite sophisticated. They’ll go out of their way to be helpful most of the time. The “official” language is Papiamento, but you will also hear French, Dutch, Spanish and English spoken. The local currency is the Aruban florin (exchange rate was $1USD=1.79 florin on our trip) but most businesses accept dollars too. We thought prices for goods and services on Aruba were generally reasonable but certainly not cheap.
The main highrise hotel strip is Palm Beach, at the western end of the island. All resorts here are grouped together on one long, stunning white-sand beach, connected by a convenient sidewalk. The Wyndham beach was the least crowded, but we also stayed at the Hyatt and were happy. Eagle Beach has low-rise resorts, timeshares and all-inclusive clubs. Rental cars are plentiful and some agencies have offices in the larger hotels. Rentals run the gamut from cheap beater subcompacts through 4WD Jeeps to larger sedans. Locals can be aggressive on the road and you must drive very defensively. Street signs are European-style and sometimes baffling to Americans, but the island is small and easy to navigate except for downtown Oranjestad with it’s occasional traffic jams.
Health considerations are minimal. Aruba is close to the equator so you’ll want to bring lots of SPF 30-45 sunscreen or try the local brand (made with locally grown aloe gel) available in stores and the airport too. Aruba has the world’s second largest desalinization plant, so tap water is perfectly drinkable and safe. Some resorts use their own water softening facilities. Because the climate extremely arid there’s virtually no rainfall, insects aren’t a problem most of the year. Any decent restaurant will be clean, hygienic and perfectly safe.
WE ENJOYED / RECOMMENDED
Restaurant Madame Janette is internationally famous and, we thought, justly so. Reception area walls are papered with emails and faxes from happy patrons around the world raving about the fabulous food. Created from an old conuco (country) house, there’s also a romantic garden area cooled by the soft tradewinds. Our favorite appetizers were Madame’s Crab Cakes and Shrimps in Wan Tan wrappers. Main courses include Black Sea Bass filet a la Antiboise, incandescently sauced, tender and bursting with fresh concentrated flavor. The rich Tenderloin Mafia is a prime cut of US beef wrapped in prosciutto, then grilled with cheese and tomato. My fave dessert was the Antillean Coconut Creme Cake with pineapple. Impeccable service, soft live music. Romantic and highly recommended.
Amazonia is a classic Brazilian churrascaria, or grill house. Feast on unlimited charcoal grilled beef, poultry, pork and lamb for one set price. Carvers deliver skewers of juicy meat tableside and keep feeding you until you groan “stop!” The trick is not to load up on salad, bread and other Brazilian dishes which are delicious but filling. Good selection of after-dinner Cuban cigars and scrumptious deserts (priced a la carte) round off the experience. If the weather’s not too muggy, dine outside on the expansive, comfortable veranda. Obviously not recommended for vegans.
Cuba’s Cooking is owned by Douglass Markus, publisher of the Island Gourmet dining guide. This snug bar and lively restaurant is a celebration of energetic Cubano culture. It’s located in an old Oranjestad building crammed full of expressive Cubano art, paintings and photos. Live entertainment runs from solo guitar music to jazz combos. The scene becomes a high-energy dance party later at night. Excellent, well-presented food–try the Mixed Grill or the Lobster “Enchilada,” which is really a sweet lobster stew with thick, spicy red sauce. Plantain chips are a must, and the Ropa Viejo (shredded steak) is bursting with concentrated flavor. Sultry waitresses slink about in low-cut Carmen Miranda outfits. Try a mojito, a powerful rum drink that packs a major punch.
For a real Wild West evening, try the Black Hog Saloon’s Tuesday and Thursday night all-you-can-eat bar-b-que and H-D motorcycle mania show. The Black Hog is a rambling tin-roofed building open on all sides to the ever-soothing trade winds. Decor is funked-up and terminally eclectic– every square inch of the interior is festooned with odd and unusual objects: hundreds of old signs, mannequins riding rusty motorcycles, skulls, bike parts, stickers, beer kegs and more. Stools around the long, rectangular bar are topped with real motorcycle seats. The Hog’s staff slow-cooks mounds of juicy chicken & ribs in a secret sauce, so bring a hearty appetite. One price includes all the food you can eat plus all the beer (or soft drinks) you can drink. A friendly and outgoing“Hog Host” m/c’s the show, organizing participation games. Some are family-oriented but a few get pretty raunchy especially after 10 p.m. The crowd is mostly biker-friendly tourists from the hotels, and when the beer kicks in you’re guaranteed to see funny and often outrageous shenanigans. Some of the mildest-looking people get up and do the wildest things after they’ve chugged a few.
The real show revs up later when local Harley owners ride their big bikes up into the bar itself. They circle the crowd and rev their engines loudly. Women get free rides down the ramp and around the block if they’re game. There’s even a specially-built “burnout trough” were riders nose their machines against a sturdy wall then gun the engines, sending clouds of white smoke billowing out over the crowd. One by one the riders shut down their Harleys, parking them in a long row right in the bar, then circulate among the crowd grinning broadly. It’s all huge fun and remarkable non-threatening, as long as having a big-inch big twin roll by two feet from your bar stool doesn’t rattle your sensibilities.
For can’t-be-beat snorkeling, see Roberto’s Snorkel Tours. Roberto has a small, agile boat and can whisk you from Palm Beach (he has a well-marked tent just down from the Hyatt ) out to the top snorkeling spots like Malmok and Arashi where big commercial snorkel boats can’t go. A must-see destination is the wreck of the Antille, a 500-foot long German freighter scuttled at the beginning of WWII. This mammoth sunken ship rests in very shallow water just a few hundred yards off the beach. Swimming around the Antille is like being on the set of the movie Alien– the massive hull and looming masts disappear into the blue water.
Experienced motorcyclists can rent Harley Davidson bikes at Aruba’s own H-D dealership, Big Twin. Owner Humphrey Hardeveld will set you up with a Sportster, Softail, Dyna or Road King motorcycle with maps and advice on how best to see the island. Rumbling a hog lazily past swaying palm trees, dazzling beaches and exotic scenery is the perfect way to really see Aruba up close and personal. Big Twin’s staff are all friendly and low-key and they’ll make sure you enjoy an unusual island riding experience
DISAPPOINTING / NOT RECOMMENDED
The Buccaneer served up tired, overcooked, bland food drenched in generic cheese sauces. The phony land-locked pirate ship setting is claustrophobic and depressingly dark. Buccaneer’s German owner plays bland easy-listening country-western music and it drove us bonkers. Spend an hour here and you’ll gladly walk the plank just to get away from it all. Even the poor tropical fish trapped inside tiny tableside aquariums were desperate to leave.
People rave over the Driftwood but we were puzzled. This popular downtown restaurant supposedly has it’s own boat to supply fresh fish daily, but several savvy locals told us this isn’t true. The ambiance is crowded and service perfunctory. Our food was eminently forgettable and not up to the gushy descriptions in the dining guides. Heavy, cheesy sauces blanket many dishes.
Caffe Baci in the Wyndham Beach Resort offers basic middle-of-the-road Italian cooking. Expensive and often flavorless dishes served in a windowless room at the Wyndham Resort.
McDonald’s, Blimpies, Carlos ‘n Charlies, Hooters, etc. (Any US chain restaurant and fast food joint) C’mon, you flew all the way down here to eat the same greasy assembly-line junk you get back home? Shame...
DePalm Island looks inviting and exotic on the color brochures, but it’s a rocky, barren coral island just a few hundred yards from the massive industrial desalinization plant. The reef here is badly damaged and snorkeling is mediocre. They encourge you to spend even more money in the bar, restaurant, gift shop, etc.
We hated the Tattoo without even setting foot on her rum-soaked decks. This popular booze cruise ship returns from her alcohol-fuelled voyage to nowhere around 11 p.m. She anchors right on the high-rise hotel strip at Palm Beach then the rowdy crew and neanderthal guests keep everyone with a beachside hotel room awake until the wee hours by blasting bad music at mega-decibel volume. A popular topic of conversation at the breakfast buffet was how best to sink her without actually hurting any human beings...
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
reality_check
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Member: B D
Location: Orange County, CA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Southern California based graphic designer, photographer and writer
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