Aruba: The Best and Surprising Worst of One Happy Island
I'd been stuck for months — five months to be exact. An emergency surgery had me laid on my back from October to March, and in March, I was finally able to walk without pain.
So if you know me, you know I booked a ticket on the first thing smoking. Actually, what I did was book the cheapest ticket I could find on Spirit to any international destination they flew to. Because I'd never had the Spirit experience before, and it was about time.
Lemme tell ya, it was an experience. But that's not today’s main event.
Today I'm gonna tell you about where I ended up.
And what had happened was… I booked the cheapest ticket I could, but it took me to the most expensive place I could have gone, Aruba!
I'd visited Aruba before about five years ago, but I went on a yoga retreat, so I spent most of my time on a mat or in the ocean. This time was different; I was gonna explore all Aruba had to offer. And well, I found out Aruba doesn't have much to offer. Don’t get me wrong, what it does offer is great, but it’s a small island without a ton of options.
So how do you salvage a boring vacation?
F-L-A-M-I-N-G-O-S
But let's rewind a bit. I’d heard about "Flamingo Island," the Renaissance Aruba's private island full of flamingos when I originally went there years ago. And I wanted to go. But I heard you couldn't go there unless you were staying at the Renaissance. So once I booked my super cheap Spirit ticket, I went home and looked up how many Marriott points I would need for a seven day stay there.
ALLADEM! ALLLLL OOFFFF THEMMMM!
I'd stayed at Marriott brand hotels almost exclusively for over 10 years, and hardly ever used points, and still, this stay was gonna take everything I had ever earned. YIKES!!!
So...nope! I guess I'm not staying there. This was supposed to be a cheap vacation, so I wanted to stay somewhere I could use my points, or somewhere I could sleep cheaply. And guess what y'all, cheap doesn't exist in Aruba. All the other Marriott properties on the island wanted a crazy number of points too. All the other hotels were expensive.
So I headed over to AirBnb, but disappointment followed me. All the AirBnBs (in the price range I wanted to pay) were lackluster. Lots of tiled floors and uncomfortable looking furniture. Sigh... I got frustrated with the search, so about a week after I firmly stated I would not be staying at the Renaissance, I pulled the trigger, gave up my points and booked a room there.
But it all worked out, and I'm glad I did. (Sidebar - The Renaissance has an adult-only side and a family friendly side - two completely different properties across the street from each other. We stayed on the adult-only side and it was big fun. A DJ at the pool. Drinking all day. NO KIDS AT THE POOL!
Staying at the Renaissance saved my vacation. Remember when I told you there wasn't much to do in Aruba. THERE IS NOT. Flamingo Beach was the perfect place to spend the day, so perfect we went there every other day. Are there other great beaches in Aruba? Yes! Is the experience on Flamingo Beach different? Yes.
Cuz, for number one, F-L-A-M-I-N-G-O-S.
To get there, you take a speed boat from the lobby of the hotel to the island which comes every 15 minutes. There are a couple of restaurants on the island and the island also has an adults-only side and a family friendly side.
The food on the beach was decent. Renaissance offers an all-inclusive package, and if you plan on spending most of your time at the resort, the all-inclusive package is the way to go. We didn't get the package (didn't know it existed until after we arrived), but people who did get the package kept buying us drinks and food. We heard "Don't worry, it's included in my package" A LOT!!!
I APPRECIATE Y'ALL!!!
But anywho, the beach is safe, everyone is friendly, there are flamingos, and I had no worries about walking away from my stuff. The staff was friendly, and they provide floaties, snorkeling gear, paddleboards, and kayaks if you want them. The one thing I didn't like about the beach was there wasn't a lot of shade.
We got there as early as 9 am one day, and all of the shady spots were already gone. If you don't want to sit out in the sun all day, get there extra early to claim a place in the shade or spring for a cabana (around $350 a day.)
So you don't want to spend seven days on the beach (or maybe you do - some people booked the all-inclusive package and spent every day on the private beach getting their money's worth). But say you're not a beach all day person, what else can you do in Aruba?
Well, we spent three days on the beach and three days exploring the island.
And on our 3 full days of exploring this is what we did:
Visited the California Lighthouse
Learned about the history of Aruba at the Aloe Factory
Took a drive around the island Visited the church - Issa tiny old church, not worth the drive for a casual visit, but if seeing it is part of your reason for going to Aruba, Vaya Con Dios.
Went to the natural bridge
Visited the old gold mill
Yoga class at Island Yoga
Places we ate and we loved:
Zeerovers tops the list. If you've been to Aruba before, you've heard of this place. If you haven't been to Aruba before, you might have heard of it anyway. Its a spot overlooking the water where you can get freshly fried fish, shrimp, and sides and eat them as you ward off seagulls. Is it the best fried fish you'll ever have? Nah. Is it a great meal in a beautiful place - yes, yes it is.
Yemanja Woodfired Grill! Y'all - this shit was good. I don't even know what to say. You need a reservation, food took a long time to get there, but it was worth the wait. Because our food took long, they gave us free desserts to go, and the dessert was the perfect thing to eat in bed at the end of the day. I got the surf and turf, and my mom got a power salad with salmon she described as the best salad she's ever had.
Would I go back to Aruba? Yes, but only in the low season, when it’s cheaper.
That island is too damn expensive when you have other options you could go to for the same attractions and amenities.
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