I can’t say enough wonderful things about Aruba. From the beautiful scenery to the perfect weather and the nicest people, it truly is a wonderful vacation spot. We first went to Aruba on our honeymoon in 2018. We loved it so much we went back in 2019. Both years we went in the end of September and it was perfect – not too crowded and the weather was amazing.
On our honeymoon we stayed at the Marriott Stellaris Resort and Casino in the TradeWinds (top floor of the resort, adults only). This is when we bought into the Marriot Vacation Club – so the following year we stayed at the Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club.
This is more of a relaxing vacation than adventure, so I’ll mention some of our favorite restaurants and some cool things we did.
When it came to restaurants – we had a reservation for every night. I knew there were a few restaurants where I wanted to be at for sunset so I looked up the sunset time (in late September it was around 6:30pm)
Something we found so interesting: The official languages of the Caribbean island-state of ArubaΒ areΒ PapiamentoΒ andΒ Dutch, but most Arubans speak a minimum of four languages, including English and Spanish – so cool!
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ATTIRE: Β Everything is pretty casual, even the nicer restaurants. Pete will wear shorts, boat shoes and a button down short sleeve shirt. Iβll usually wear a sun dress but I saw a lot of people in dress shorts/crop pants and a top. Β Weβve never packed formal clothes. Donβt go crazy with heels eitherβ¦.youβll be doing a lot of walking and when youβre at the beach dining, youβll want to take your shoes off in the sand anyway!
TIPPING:Β Bring a lot of singles for tipping. Β Itβs customary to tip just about everyone!!Β Β We usually give porters (at the airport and hotel) $1-$2/bag. If your hotel has someone out at the beach to put out your chairs/umbrella, tip them a few bucks. We usually do $3 extra on top of the taxi fare for the driver just for reference.
PACKING:Β Pack reusable water bottles.Β The water in Aruba is the purest water youβll find in the world!Β They have their own filtration plant that services the entire island and is basically 100% pure! Β We fill up our bottles every morning to bring to the beach/pool.
βTRANSPORTATION: We never rented a car. We used De Plam Tours to get us from the airport to the resort. Its about $20 each for round trip! There are taxis everywhere and so easy to find. Around dinner time there are dozens parked are every resort waiting for people going to dinner. Once you get to the restaurant, tell them you’ll need a taxi ride home and they will call one for you when your’re getting ready to leave.
βMONEY: US currency is accepted everywhere. If you plan on using credit cards, call them before you go and put a βtravel alertβ on them Β so youβre not frozen out of your account when you try to use it.
Faro Blanco Restaurant: probably ranks as one of my all time favorite restaurants i’ve ever been.Β The italian food is so wonderful and the view is absolutely incredible! This would be my number 1 recommendation
βBarefoot Restaurant: On the beach dining. Its so pretty and the food is incredible. I’d say the only downfall is that its right near the airport so it can be a little loud.
βDutch Pancake House: SO different from anything i’ve ever had before – but SO delicious!
βLucy’s Retired Surfer Bar & Restaurant: Great for a casual lunch and a margarita!
βEduardo’s beach shack: Located on the beach near the Playa Linda Beach Resort. Perfect for refreshing acai and pitaya bowls!
βRental of a side by side that is completely street legal anywhere in Aruba as well as on any dirt road you could find. It costs a little over $230 for the day. A family member told me about this so we tried it the first year and had so much fun, we did it again the following year. If you are looking for a guided tour, this is NOT for you. We were looking to be out on our own and that’s exactly what this offered. Upon scheduling (I recommend FULL DAY), they set up a time to come pick you up at your hotel. Once you arrive at the location they go over everything about the rental and what to expect. They have you download their Arubiana app, which works off wifi so it tracks you the whole way and it has all the popular “points of interest” on the island. For $30 you can purchase the goggles and face mask (a MUST in my opinion), and they are yours to keep. We made sure we brought ours back the following year and it was perfect. Both years we did this it rained on us- not just rained- it POURED, so we were so glad we had these because the mud splatter was crazy. Also, I heard that if its not muddy, its dusty-which could be worse then the mud.. so these items are essential.
The app is pretty spot on. It shows a route to follow to get to each location and it also shows the route you’re on. You are able to pull up each point of interest and read the summary- at that point you can decide if you choose to stop. Β The full day is from 8am-6pm and it really does take that long if you want to take your time. I recommend eating a big breakfast and packing a little snack (AND WATER) because once you get going, you won’t really find food until you make your way around to downtown Oranjestad. Both years we stop at Lucy’s for a margarita and some fish tacos! Its a nice, relaxed location right on the water.
Some of our favorite stops were the Lighthouse, Bushiribana Goldmines Ruins, The Natural Bridge, Baby Beach and the caves!
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The Natural Pool is a huge attraction. The first year we didn’t stop, the second year we did. It’s inside Arikok National Park (you do have to pay $5 each to get in). Its a VERY treacherous drive to get down to the pool and then you have a decent walk to get there (a lot of stairs). All of the guided tours stop here so it was packed! One of our friends jumped in the pool and he said it was really nice- the water did look awesome. If you do decide to go in, be careful because it is very slippery and the water could be rough. The park rangers keep an eye on the weather and don’t let people in if the weather is causing it to be too rough.
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The caves are really cool! I think they all close at 3pm so if you do want to stop, make sure you plan to get there before 2:30. You don’t need much time inside and the few stops are pretty close to each other.
We happened to be at the second cave location (Quadirikiri Cave) with a guided tour. While going back to our UTV to leave a tour guide came up to us and quietly told us about the little pond behind the parking lot. (They stop on the tour but they were running out of time so he had to bypass.. but he filled us in). He said in the little pond are the fish that eat the dead skin off your feet– so gross. After the tour people pulled away, we skeptically followed this little path to this small walking bridge and sure enough, there’s the pond. There were so many goats back there too! The walk was only about 2 minutes from the parking area. My husband was the first to try- the second your put your feet in HUNDREDS on little fish swim right up. It was SO COOL. I eventually tried it even though it totally freaked me out.
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Once you leave the caves, you’ll have a little bit of a drive to get to baby beach and then from baby beach you’ll probably have almost an hour drive to get to Oranjestad. After we ate, we did some shopping and then made our way back. Once you get back they check to make sure there was no serious damage done and then they drive you back to your resort.
This makes for a really awesome day and gives you the freedom to explore the entire island ay your pace!