Aruba
This is about that time I spontaneously booked a trip to Aruba with some friends. As someone who loves traveling and wants to see the world, when my friend invited me to Aruba for her birthday how could I say no? Thank God for delta sky miles because I only paid eleven dollars plus a few thousand miles for this trip. Five days in Aruba and I was so excited! I had never been to the Caribbean before and I was not about to pass it up. I got my flight booked and suitcase packed and made my way to Orlando airport. The flight wasn’t too long and it was a smooth ride as we passed over south Florida and the Caribbean Islands as we made our way almost to South America. Aruba is one of those island that avoids hurricanes and is warm year round. so escaping Florida when it was unusually cold in November was a welcomed surprise. The one thing they don’t tell you about flying into Aruba is the landing. It’s like that other famous beach where planes fly over head, but safer.
There was a little beach cafe to the right and Renaissance Island to the left as we landed. I thought it was going to take forever once I got off the plane to get through customs. The line was insanely long, but to my surprise, it only took about five minutes. I meet up with my friends and we got the rental I booked and we checked into our hotel before we went to explore the beautiful island. We stayed about 15 minutes from the airport and we were right across the street from the beach cafe/resturant I saw when I landed. So naturally that’s where we navigate for food. When I tell you sitting at a picnic table on the beach literally a few feet away from the ocean, watching the sunset and planes fly in to the best food, drinks and music there is was the perfect start to the trip. There was even a beach bar on the walk back to the hotel we were staying at across the street. The happiest place on earth, is also really safe. I never felt in danger walking around alone at night here.
The next day we drove up into the heart of Oranjestad to go snorkeling and explore downtown a little more. We started our day checking in at the boat for our three stop snorkeling excursion. When I tell you I have never seen water this clear and blue in my life, it was like a movie. I thought when I went snorkeling in the Keys a few years back that water was clear. Aruba literally just said hold my beer and watch this. We started out just looking for fish on our first stop and we stayed about 15 - 20 minutes. You could jump in the water and explore or stay on the boat and have drinks and tan. Of course we had to take photos and then we jumped in to explore a bit. Antilla Shipwreck was so amazing to see in person the sea life and the bow of the boat just sitting on the ocean floor below us. I felt like I was searching for buried treasure on a pirate ship that went down. They do tell you not to touch the boat and it’s about twenty to thirty feet down before you actually get to it. I found a new respect for free divers this day. That sport is NO joke! After a couple minutes that never felt like enough time, the alert went out from the boat that is was time to board so we could go to our next location. We made our way back to the boat, got an amazing mimosa and set sail yet again. We went up to Noord closer to the coast for our last stop. There were so many fish here and we were in about twelve feet of water. We were closer to the rocky shore here and they told us not to get caught in the current and to watch our surroundings so we didn’t get too close to the rocks on shore. It felt like we spent the most amount of time here with all the fish that where around and how long we were in the water for. Eventually they didn't call us back to the boat for the final time before we went back to land again. We got another mimosa and headed back to short. The trip in total took up about half the day. When we got back and docked by the Hyatt Hotel. We stayed on the back for a bit and got back in the water for a little longer and laid out for a while before we went for lunch. We walked north up the beach for a bit until we found this outdoor beach bar and grill. I believe it was called Moomba Beach. We just walked around and explore the island a bit more before heading back to the car and hotel to get cleaned up and changed. We went back north again for dinner at Gianni’s Ristorante Italiano. The cooked our pasta in a bowl of cheese right in front of us and I have never had better food in my entire life. Ending it with their fabulous tiramisu and live music just wrapped up one of the best days and experiences I have ever had.
The third day we went to Flamingo Island. You can get a day pass from the Renaissance Hotel, but they sell out quickly each week. The other option is to stay at the Renaissance Hotel and it’s included in your package. We weren’t staying far so we just walked about twenty minutes up to the dock at the Renaissance Hotel and boarded our boat to take us to the island. They leave every 15-20 minutes from the island back to the mainland. There are two separate island the connect once you get there. We went to Iguanna Island first. This is your kid friendly island and Bay Area where you can enjoy time in the ocean, the beach or the cafe they have. We had breakfast at this cafe and just relaxed a bit here for the morning. Be careful towards the end of your meal, there are birds here that love to come and take what you leave behind on your plate. There are also a lot of other activities you can do like paddle boarding and other excursion on the island. Theres a small hut when you get off the boat you can book these items at or buy anything you may have forgotten. We made our way to Flamingo Island next. This is an adult only island with a smaller bar/restaurant once you get off the short bridge. We set up here for the rest of the day. There are hiking trails that lead you to the north of the island. Bring bug spray, because I felt likeI got eaten alive through this hike and it is super rough in some areas and no shoes was definitely not the way to go. We made it work though and there was no-one at the north end of the island and it had a smaller pool of water and then you were able to walk out into the water closest to the airport and get an epic shot of planes landing as they fly over you. This was the coolest experience I had. I didn't think it was possible here, but I was most definitely wrong. The planes coming into land was like clock work and only a few minutes in between each one. Getting the perfect shot though… That was another story. We spent at least half an hour here getting the shot and just watching boats pass by wondering where we came from. When we did head back through the jungle the bugs got even worse. made it through though and got some lunch at the bar. Side note here, make sure your stool is level and don’t lean or you might have a mishap like I did. I’m not saying I fell over two chairs and did a twist flip that was not so gracious, but the bruises said otherwise. No literally, my legs and arms had black spots on them from the tumble. I stuck the landing though…. Falls and bug bites aside, there are flamingo everywhere here. They have a feeder you can buy food from to feed them as well. Of course we had to do this. I never in my life thought I would feed a flamingo, but I was proved wrong this day. When you do go out in the water here, watch for shells. The beaches I grew up going to always had broken up big shells, but here. You find fully intact ones. I did have to go out in the water to find in and it was by accident, but across the whole island its like this. We spent all day here and we caught one of the last boats back. They stop running around five or six in the afternoon. We made if back to the main land after a short five to ten minute boat ride and walked back to our hotel to clean up and ended up back at the beach bar we found our first night, Surfside Beach Bar. I highly recommend this place for anyone going to visit Aruba. It’s basically at the beginning of the airport outside the gates and there are a few other places to eat here as well. Another day watching the sunset as planes land with some of the best food I’ve ever had. It’s no wonder why they call this place one happy island. They say money can’t buy happiness, but it can sure buy you a plane ticket to Aruba where you can find it.
Our fourth day and last full day, we road tripped the entire island. We went down south first and stopped at a local market to get snack before head to the famous Baby Beach. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was more than I could ever ask for. The beach itself was huge. two restaurants on both ends of the cresent shaped beach. Little tiki huts set up with shade along the beach and people laying under mangroves and palm trees for shade. We walked half the beach since parking was in the center. Walked to the eastern side where the restaurant had the Flinstones car set up for some random reason. I was not complaining though, I grew up on that show and this was the last place I thought I’d see a life size replica. We headed back to the car after our photo op with the iconic car and stayed on the eastern and more rocky side of the island and found what used to be natural bridge before it collapsed. The waves hitting the rocks is no joke and don’t go out to far because I almost got swept away. How this island went from perfect beaches to the perfect place for dun buggies riding and outdoor adventures was wild. We went to the heart of the island next. Casibari Boulders has some amazing rock formations to climb and give you a great view of Jamanota mountain the sits at 617ft. There are also cacti and other things to explore in the beautiful park. We headed back to the western side of the island once we finished exploring here and went up to the northern most point and found California Lighthouse. The views from the top, you could basically see the whole island. The stairs to the top and down are probably the most dangerous thing I did here. The steps are so small and it’s a one way. so you’re either moving ou of someones way or back tracking to find a small dip so people can cross. That aside the northern part of the islan d is pretty rocky as well. The western and south side have the beach everyone is looking for. We left the lighthouse and headed back south to the heart of Oranjestad to find lunch and look around a bit more and get a few souvenirs before we left the following day. Once we got back to the hotel we had one final dinner at Surfside and watched planes land into the night before going back to the room to pack up and leave. I was on a separate flight that left a little earlier and leaving was the hardest part. The other good thing about Aruba is you go through return customs in this airport and when you land back int he states, it’s like getting off any other flight. All in all, spontaneous trips are possibly the best trips you can go on and just going with the flow was so much fun. I would completely and totally recommend destination to anyone looking for something new and not too expensive. It’s an amazing island, with delicious food and all kinds of adventures. The don’t call Aruba one happy island for no reason. People say you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a plane ticket to Aruba to find it.