Travel blog: Conclusion and tips for Aruba

Aruba:

We always had Aruba in mind as “THE” dream destination in the Caribbean. No idea why. In retrospect, Aruba was “okay” (for us), but we didn’t think it was as beautiful as Curacao.

As soon as we landed we had the feeling of being in “America”. Everything is “Americanized.” You have to like the many castle beds on the beach. We're not a fan of the hundreds of loungers on the beach and the jet skis and other water sports activities by boat...

But that's just a matter of opinion - others love it :-)

We definitely thought it was nice.

Money/means of payment:

You can't do anything with euros here. The Aruban Florin, AFL applies. Converting the Aruba florin is quite easy, because 1 Aruba florin corresponds to around €0.50 - so simply "halve" it (as with the Antillean guilder on Curacao).

In contrast to Curacao, it is completely normal to pay in US dollars in Aruba. You are usually asked in shops and restaurants whether you want to pay in florins or US dollars.

The most common means of payment, even in the smallest shops, is the credit card.

Beaches:

The beaches in Aruba are sometimes kilometers long and almost all have fine sand. That wasn't the case on Curacao - there were also stones, corals and pebbles involved.

The sea is great for bathing and swimming, but with the exception of Baby Beach we didn't discover that many snorkeling opportunities.

Beaches like Eagle Beach and Palm Beach are paved with huge hotel and hotel complexes.

Our favorite beach was Baby Beach.

“No Beach” highlight:

Our highlight was definitely Arikok NP , which you should definitely visit! A car with a higher wheelbase (small car or SUV) is recommended; our mid-range sedan was definitely unsuitable because it was “set too low” for the drainage channels.

You should definitely check out the caves!

Climbing the Hooiberg and visiting the Ayo Rocks are also recommended. Nice change from everyday beach life.

The prices on Aruba are - probably thanks to the Americans - significantly higher than on Curacao. Especially when it comes to rental cars and accommodation.

Rental car:

You should also choose a local landlord in Aruba. We can highly recommend wheels2go Aruba. Cheap, top service and cars!

Flight:

As already mentioned, if you want to fly as “directly” as possible, you can’t avoid KLM. The flights during the summer holidays are very expensive and ended up accounting for over half of the total price of our holiday.

Island Hopper:

For the flight from Curacao to Aruba, depending on the day of the week, there are several small airlines that offer the 20-minute flight to the neighboring island. We chose the cheapest option and flew with Winair (booked through Opodo - it was cheaper than with the airline directly because the suitcases were included). You have to expect a price of 120-160 € per person (including luggage).

Possible airlines: Winair, Jetair Caribbean, Divi Divi Air.

Holiday homes and villas:

At the beginning I searched on the usual sites such as airbnb or fewo-direkt. But as it turns out, the Dutch and Belgians who rent out their homes in the Antilles are more likely to use the micazu site. We found both villas for our vacation here and renting them, including contacting the landlord directly, went smoothly for us. Here we found some of the same houses much cheaper than on Airbnb, for example

Therefore: https://www.micazu.de/

Shopping:

The Super Food chain was number 1 for us. Huge selection, prices were okay and if you're looking for a cheap lunch snack, there were lunch offers that changed every hour. From baguettes and wraps to meat and fish dishes, everything was included – for little money (average 12 florins = €6 per portion)

Nightlife:

For us as a family, the nightlife was very limited, but we really enjoyed the Bungaloe Bar on the Palm Pier on Palm Beach. Happy hour, live music and great views.

There are a lot of bars, restaurants and shops near the Barcelo and Hilton Aruba hotels on Palm Beach. Our tip: happy hour cocktails at Mambo Jambo!

Flamingo Island / Renaissance Island

In almost every Aruba advertisement / site / blog you will find the Flamingo Island as a highlight. This is a private hotel island - Renaissance Island - which is part of the Mariott Renaissance complex of the same name. If you're lucky, you can get a day ticket for a whopping €125 at the hotel - depending on availability and without a guarantee. Far too expensive for us. We recommend staying overnight in a hotel here. The prices are steep – “just” the overnight stay costs around €500. However, you have the island ticket for 2 days included (arrival and departure day), which is “relatively” cheap for 4 people (but you then have to book the family room for 4 people - 1 bedroom and 1 sofa bed), with 2 rooms it no longer works.

We were clear that this was a tourist attraction and, like “swimming with dolphins,” was a marginal thing. The flamingos are not on the island of their own free will - their wings have been clipped, which prevents them from flying away. Nevertheless, we wanted to go there sometime.

The island is recommended because of the flamingos, but otherwise it didn't convince us. The two beaches are only partially suitable for swimming (seagrass, algae, flamingo and pelican “poop”). Morning is the best time to feed the flamingos (feeders everywhere, 25 cent pieces required). A nice place to relax and unwind and get up close and personal with Flamings, because they run around everywhere and also like to sleep right next to the lounger. We are happy to have visited the island, but we don't need to go there again.

Now comes the big BUT:

It was incredibly hot !!!

We knew that it is “warm & humid” in the Caribbean, but we have rarely had such extreme heat as in Curacao and Aruba. Most of the time we were already at +30 degrees by 8 a.m. and by midday the temperatures were close to 40 degrees. That was too much for me. You should therefore be aware of whether you can tolerate and enjoy the heat. The rest of the family coped quite well, but it was unbearable without air conditioning.

In Aruba we had 3 days of storms, rain and thunderstorms, so it was cloudy and not quite as hot.

If you're looking for peace and quiet and want to get to know the underwater world, Curacao is the right place for you.

American flair a la Miami Beach and long white sandy beaches can be found in Aruba.