Aruba is outside the hurricane belt and consistently receives the least rainfall in the Southern Caribbean, so you can expect excellent weather no matter what time of year you visit. Whether you’re looking to relax and unwind or seek adventure and excitement, Aruba is bursting with incredible things to do. ~ from aruba.com/us

Click on the first photo in each group and scroll to see the square photos at full size.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Dodging the Deep Freeze 2020.

Once Apprehensive, Now Convinced!

Aruba is a long way to travel, but if you enjoy relaxing (swimming) outdoors in February – there are very few guarantees in the continental United States. Although 2019’s brutal winter may be an extreme example, our trip southwest offered very few opportunities to bask in the sun. Our swimsuits remained packed for the duration of our trip, and most of the time we were looking for sweatshirts – even our stashed winter coats.

“Drink, Dine, Relax, Repeat” refers to several things that made us apprehensive about taking a trip to this tiny island three years ago, but it goes on to say that we forgot all of those objections once we got settled in. We loved it so much that we gave it another go this February with cheap, nonstop airfare from Fort Lauderdale.

Aruba is an island in the southern Caribbean just eighteen miles north of Venezuela. Just twenty miles long and six miles wide, Aruba is part of the Dutch Caribbean. La Cabana is located right across the road from Eagle Beach – way left and just above the white cruise ship in the photo. Both cruise ships on the map are headed to the island’s capital city of Oranjestad and/or the airport.

Many hours have been spent on Eagle Beach and we may be biased, but we think it’s the best beach on Aruba. It’s certainly the most convenient! Walk across the road (with a stop at the drink hut!) and there you’ll find the most beautiful turquoise water and white sugary sands imaginable! So while we’re in Aruba expect lots of photos of umbrella drinks and pink toenails in the sand.

Get Out and Explore!

Between the restaurants onsite and nearby, a person could probably just stay at the resort for the duration of their stay, but what would be the fun in that? After a couple of days we started to wonder what the rest of the island had in store for us.

We only rented a car for one day on each of our trips because the bus was easy to master and several cab rides were much cheaper than a car rental for two weeks. Plus, it’s much more relaxing to have someone else do the driving, especially if drinking is part of the plan. The local cab drivers are very friendly and prices are set, so you know how much it will cost before you leave.

The bus stop is just north of La Cabana, which is very convenient for outings along the coast to Arashi Beach, and south and east all the way to Baby Beach. The interior routes get a little dicey and no bus gets all the way to the northern coast, so we opted to rent a car when exploring those areas. We brought along a credit card with no conversion fees, but I think every place we visited took US dollars. It helped to have small bills since change comes back in Aruban florins.

Bubali Bird Sanctuary, Palm Beach

Today we headed just a tad north. Also called the high rise hotel area, the two-mile stretch of Palm Beach is chock-full of restaurants, shopping, tall birds, a pirate adventure and (of course) some huge hotels. After a short bus ride, we got out at the first Palm Beach bus stop. From there it was a short walk to the Bubali Bird Sanctuary.

Not Many Birds in this Sanctuary

Less-attractive birds must not be allowed inside, because there were quite a few outside and they were not pretty. I got a kick of out of the cute couple sitting close on the fallen tree in the first photo below. You know the saying – love is blind! I know that all of God’s creatures are beautiful – although some more than others!

Once inside I was a little surprised by the lack of birds at this “sanctuary”. Another huge hotel is going up to the west and I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, or whether I just had bad luck today. The pretty ducky in the next photo and its mate were the only birds inside the sanctuary.

Even with a lack of birds, it was still a nice walk to the tower that offered birds-eye views of Aruba and La Cabana in the distance.

The Old Dutch Windmill

The Old Dutch Windmill (De Oude Molen) was built in Friesland, the Netherlands in 1804. After years of storms and neglect, in 1960 it was purchased, disassembled, and shipped to Aruba – nearly 5,000 miles. Carefully reassembled, it now serves as one of Aruba’s most authentic landmarks and a historic reminder of Aruba’s Dutch influences.

It’s only fitting that a Dutch pancake house would be right next door to the windmill! “Diana’s Pancakes are the real deal – thinner than American pancakes, a little thicker than crêpes, but as big as your dinner plate and very tasty.” Unfortunately we did not go there. Either time. Dammit.

Back into Palm Beach

We walked back out of Bubali and continued into the Palm Beach area where massive hotels provided beautiful landscaping with gnarly trees and cacti. The pretty birds came on their own.

We continued our walk into the more populated area just in time for lunch. Although there are a lot of restaurants to choose from, Salt and Pepper is one of our favorite lunch spots. I wouldn’t want to be around on dusting day, because this place is full of salt and pepper shakers from around the world – but the food is delicious! There are also plenty of venues for souvenirs, as well as more serious shopping with higher price tags.

The Salinas

Several days after our trip to Bubali, I saw a post on Facebook by a man who had fabulous photos of birds there, as well as in the salinas (salt marshes) that are close-by in Noord. We decided to check out the salinas on the day we had the car, and were pleased that this area was more well-stocked! Jim quickly pulled over alongside the marsh for better photos of quite a variety of wading birds and followed me down the road on the wide shoulder.

In the last two photos construction of the huge hotel seen from Bubali could be seen here, but these birds didn’t seem to mind. They were so busy and so interesting that they took my mind off the concern for the urban sprawl and how yet another huge hotel will affect the quaintness of this beautiful island.

A Sail with the Jolly Pirates

On our first trip here we sailed with the Jolly Pirates on a sunset cruise. Since we arrived a little early, we got checked in and ventured over to the bar that was within shouting distance so we wouldn’t miss the boat. As you would expect on Aruba, it was a beautiful evening for a cruise and we were getting very excited!

The Caribbean was as smooth as glass and we could finally see our boat anchored a short distance from the dock. We loaded up in small boats and were transported to our pirate ship. As we set sail, folks were having a blast in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean.

Permission to Board

The Jolly Pirates’ teak schooner skimmed along the beautiful Aruban coast, with gentle trade winds filling our sails. With unlimited beverages from the ship’s open bar, we could toast this day, this vacation, and this fabulous island.

We reached a quiet cove, where many folks tried their hands at swinging off the pirate rope into the beautiful turquoise water. The music played and our boat-mates cheered as people perfected their cannonballs, jumped and twisted – some landing rather precariously. It was really a lot of fun!

A Little Help Here

Soon, the boat-hands were helping others to do flips and other acrobatics by having them hold on tight after instructions on timing and the landing. There was no lack of volunteers for the tasks at hand! We could tell by the smiles on their faces that these guys love their jobs!

Don’t Miss the Sunset

There are several different lengths of cruises with the Jolly Pirates and some include snorkeling. Click on the link for more information and some fabulous videos of their adventures!

That about does it for the Palm Beach area. We made some great memories here, and we hope to return again soon.

Up next: Up North

Happy trails,
Barb