I will try to keep this brief...
First I will say that this was our first trip.. we had only 5 days.. next time we will
stay longer! We had a wonderful time.
Rented a jeep from Dollar (AKA "Family") The break line broke before we
even got to the hotel. We got a bit spooked that (the driving is a tad tricky if it's your
first time) we decided to 86 the car rental all together and do some tours instead.
We stayed at the Marriott in a deluxe ocean view room. It was a marvelous hotel.
Rooms / view / pool / beach and grounds were all magnificent, and the service and the
restaurants were outstanding. (the resident iguana's are a blast to feed) The hotel is
about 1 hotels distance from the others that are all in a row, which makes the beach a bit
less crowded, but it is a bit of a walk to get to the other hotels and the shops that are
in front of them. It is very easy (and cheap) to get around on the bus.
We did the full day Aruba Safari with De Palm. I reccomend it. I don't
think we would have found everything on our own that we got to see on the tour. We visited
the california lighthouse, North coast, chapel, gold mine ruins, natural bridge, and
fontain (bat) caves. The safari comes with snorkeling at De Palm included, which was
amazing. Thousands of beautiful fish that eat out of your hand. Also you can add on either
SNUBA or Sea Trek. So many people ravied about the Sea Trek that we went
back and did that the next day. I reccomend doing the Sea Trek add on if you do the
Safari.. It is a once in a lifetime expericnce and well worth it.
We also did the Atlantis Submarine. It was a good time, and the scenery was
beautiful, but it was not at the top of my list. If you have the time and money - go for
it, otherwise I would skip it. And if you do go, as you enter the submarine, sit on the
left.. you definetly have a much longer view of the reef on the left hand side.
All in all we had an amazing time. Oh yea - it did rain twice.. for about 90 seconds each
time. We felt safe everywhere.. even downtown. I know there is always alot of discussion
here about the locals and how friendly they are or aren't. We found them to be extremely
friendly and helpful.. If it weren't for some nice young men we would still be by the side
of the road with our broken jeep!
Tracy
