Day 15 - Lizards on Palm Beach

Day 15 (August 20, 2023)

I wake up at 5 a.m. Is that rain??? I look out the window - it's pouring rain. Yuck. A look at the weather report says “rain until 8 a.m.” Hm, ok.. let's wait and see.

After breakfast we want to go to Palm Beach. The rain had already cleared by 7 a.m., but the sky was still very cloudy, but as is the case in the Caribbean - it is still very warm outside.

Looking for a parking space, we drive into a side street between the Hyatt Regency Aruba and Barcelo Aruba hotel complexes. We even find a parking space on the side street and look at the beach. Unfortunately, there is no possibility to reserve loungers and a parasol between the bungalows - everything only for hotel guests. Disappointed, we move on. I don't like these hotel blocks anyway. Terrible…

A few streets further we find the entrance to Signature Park, which is next to a huge construction site. A new hotel is being built here, so the beach is not yet “allocated to hotel guests” and we find a shady spot where we can set up our camping chairs. It's not that crowded here - there aren't 100 loungers on the beach, so it's nice. Unfortunately the weather isn't cooperating (yet), it's cloudy and the sun is still fighting the clouds.

Since it's still warm and humid, we go swimming anyway. The highlight is of course the swimming platform with a buoy look. From here you can easily jump into the water 😊

The water is nowhere near as clear and turquoise as it was on Curacao. Maybe it's because of the rain tonight - who knows.

Aruba does have long sandy beaches, but what we've seen so far have been huge hotels and crowds of people. I'm excited to see what else we get to know on beaches.

At times it looks as if there is going to be a storm, but the dark clouds are passing by. The beach is populated by lizards of all sizes. And they're damn trusting. When we eat sandwiches and there is some guacamole dip left over, the lizards literally pounce on the dip. I can just about get my feet to safety 😉

In the afternoon the weather becomes nicer, the clouds clear and the sun comes through.

At 5pm we walk to De Palm Pier, which is only 3 hotels away, and get a seat at the Bugaloe Bar. There's something going on here! Live singing and we're just in time for happy hour! Perfect, so bring on cocktails for $5.75. I treat myself to an “Electric Lemonade” and a Goat Cheese Salad. Before happy hour is over, we treat ourselves to a second cocktail - at least husband and daughter, because I can still drive back to the villa...

We then watch the sunset on the beach before driving back to the villa.

A huge toad awaits us at the front door, which then flees into the driveway.