If
You are a Windsurfing or Kiting
kind of Guy or Gal....
Traveling with
Children...?
Top Twenty Restaurants & Positive
Experiences to Visit in Aruba
My family and I have
gone to Aruba for our Annual Windsurfing Vacation, now for 18
years in a row... We have gone anywhere from three to eight
weeks a year for the last 12 years.... In our travels, we have
discovered a lot of good things that we are sharing with you below. Experiences that you may never find
in one, two, three or more years of vacationing in Aruba. A
lot of these places are near and dear to a lot of Folks like
You and Me.... Some of You may be like Me, going to Aruba for
Years and Years and probably Wondering, What do I know about places to go in Aruba....?? Let alone,
20
Positive Experiences & Restaurants and more...... And
believe Me, We believe We know what we are talking about...
Almost
everything We are Writing about is between the Airport and the
Lighthouse, the top 10 miles of the
Island
… This is where 98% of the Action is, in
our opinion........…
Get
Yourself a Rental Car. Personally,
for
Car Rentals in Aruba, we highly recommend
"Econo
Car Rentals"
(Not
"Economy Car Rentals"...)
We have found Econo Car Rentals to be the
most reasonable folks and your Best Bang for your Money in the
Car Rental Businesses of Aruba... And
You know what, the Folks at Econo are some of the Friendliest
People in the Whole Wide World... A Small Car with Air Conditioning and a Roof is a Plus. The
Open Air 4 x 4s are a waste in our opinion, since You might
only go Dune Bugging one short afternoon and they & You
will get wet, should it rain…. Air Conditioning is a Must,
so again, an Open Air Jeep is only good for a day or so, and
then, with the Wind and the Sand blowing all of the time,
“The Dirtiest” as well…
Get and Use Suntan
Lotion. Min. 15 – 30 – 45 SPF. The Sun is Intense and
shows No Mercy.
Go
over next to the Hyatt Hotel, is a Public Parking Area for
the Locals or Tourists to access the
Hi-Rise
Beach
area.
Here You can Park Your Rental Car and Walk the Beach, stop at
the Waterfront Restaurants or just enjoy the Scenery.
Go over to “The Fishermen’s
Huts” next to the Marriott Hotel area and park and walk the
Beach from that area of the
Island
…
You will also be able to see on Windy days, some Very Good
Windsurfing
(10
A.M.
-
5
P.M.)
& Kiting Action
(
Sunrise
until
10
A.M.
and
5
P.M.
until
Sunset
)...…
For Windsurfing Lessons or
Rentals:
Aruba
Beach
Villas, ¾ mile past the Marriott going towards the Lighthouse
(this is where we stay…)
has
a
Very
Good
Windsurfing
School...
or go over next to the Marriott
Hotel and check out “Vela”… or at the Fishermen’s
Huts... At All of these
three
Schools, You might See what Windsurfing and
it’s Subculture is All about”…
Stop at Vela and double check it out… This alone, will give
You the Windsurfing / Kite Boarding Folklore that is
Aruba
…
Eat
at these Positive Experiences…
After watching
the Sunset and
before Everyone else hits the Restaurants
which
is
usually
about a half an
hour to an hour after Sunset...
After
this,
You
may
very
well
be
waiting
in line…
You will want
to
Check the Outside Area in front of
four
Restaurants
which is kiddy corner and just across the Street of the Hyatt
Hotel. These four Restaurants are next door to each other and
each having its own Outside Dinning areas… They get Live
Music several nights a week, so You will want to check this
out early in your Vacation (the first day or two) and get the
Music Schedule “before it happens”
and not after the “Good Bands were there”. Excellent Music
– Eating Atmosphere along with 4 or 5 or 6 Gazebo type
Boutiques / Gift Stores… The Four Restaurants are Casa
Tua, Salt’n
Pepper; The Tango and Fishes
and More…
Casa
Tua: Located across
the street of the Hyatt Hotel in the above mentioned venue. Casa
Tua is the Best
Pizza and
Chicken
Lasagna we
have ever had in Aruba.
We
easily went here two or three times a week in 2008 due to our
children's ages of 3, 7 & 9 years old...
Reasonably priced, Great
Food,
we even wrote a review on April 7th, 2008 = http://www.restaurantsaruba.com/view_review.html?REST_ID=173
Fishes
and More: Is also a Great
Restaurant in this Great Restaurant / Entertainment area
across the Street of the Hyatt Hotel. We love their food too..
Great Catch of the Day as well as their Filet...
Wacky
Wahoo's: The owners used to
do the Barbeque at the Hadicurari Pier before the Government
and the Marriott forced the locals and the Barbeque out of
their Beachfront location Marina location. Now located about a
mile away, Wacky Wahoo's
has still the same Great Fresh Seafood. Beautifully decorated
along with the Staff, has continued the Great Barbeque
Tradition in a brick and mortar building. We Love the Food and
the People at the Wacky
Wahoo's...
The Moomba Bar &
Restaurant: Located
between the Holiday Inn and the New Marriott Time Share
Constructions… The side closest to the Holiday Inn is the Expensive
/ Finer Dinning side...
The side closest to the Marriott is
the more reasonable side of the Restaurant where You can get a
Burger, Wraps, etc., etc....
Otherwise, the Beach front Atmosphere and Location qualifies
for a Beautiful Island Experience. The Food, is Very Good and
the Atmosphere is a Hit....…
Sundays they have a Band between 6 - 9:00
P.M. and is a Blast....
Families
with
little
Kids,
Couples,
Singles,
Buddies...
One
of our Top Favorites…..
Hadicurari
Pier located
right next door to the Moomba bar used to be a great local
Restaurant / Bar. But as things are changing, so has the
Hadicurari. Now it has been replaced with an expensive
Hadicurari Restaurant ($ 29 catch of the day), so we don't bother with this
restaurant anymore...
The
Buccaneer Restaurant is
a Great Eating / Aquarium Positive Experience
and is a must for Families with little or grown up Kids... Way
too Cool and an easy three minute drive from the Hi-Rise Hotel
area... 10 minute Drive from the Low-Rise area...
The
Pelican Nest: on
the Dock / Pier in front of the Holiday Inn. Grilled Seafood (
4 to 5
dishes) and 1 or 2
Steak Dishes is all they make… One of our Top Favorites…..
Lings: A
Great, Local, reasonably priced Chinese Restaurant off the Beaten path,
about one-mile from the Hi-Rise Beach out in the nether
lands… You turn at McDonalds & Wendy’s going towards
Nord… Just past the Gas Station, make a left at the Bank
(about ¼ mile this side from the Main Intersection in Nord)…
Drive about 300 feet to a four or five way
Intersection and go straight, about 300 feet and Lings
is on Your Left… (across the Street from a Soccer Field with
Lights). One
of our Top Favorites…..
Bestest
Chinese
Food
I
have
ever
had...
TCBY: Ice
Cream / Frozen Yogurt stands at a lot of the major Hotels. We
like the one at the Playa Linda (which is next to the Hyatt).
Subway: Is
in the Playa Linda, next to TCBY.
We get a Sub to Go,
three to four times a week here and so do most of everyone
else (locals, employees and lots of the Tourists.).
McDonalds: About
a half a mile from the Hi-Rise beach and a Very Economical
Meal, be it Breakfast, Lunch or a Burger on the Fly. We
typically, several times a week, drive to McDonalds (1
& ½ miles away) for breakfast and bring it back and eat
with our Family on our Ocean View Deck at Aruba Beach Villas. It doesn’t get any better then this…
Casino:
The word says it All… Our favorite Casinos in Order are…
The Hyatt Hotel and Casino (
Hi-Rise
Beach
area). Very Classy as well… Very Good Entertainment as
well… Sweet Bar / Lounge area… Parking, across the street
and about 300 ft. from the Outside eating area by the Salt’n
Pepper…
The Best
Casino Band on the Island
with Mondays being their Day Off...
The
Crystal
Casino
at the Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Oranjestad…
I believe it is the Biggest Casino on the
Island
…
It is one of the Nicest, Friendliest and Excellent
Live Music Casinos on the
Island
…
Sweet Bar / Lounge area…
(Secret
= Drive past it like You were going to the Airport, turn left
at the next inter section, turn left at the next inter section
and find Parking, either behind or down the side to the left
of the Renaissance (on your left).
You might drive
your rental car around the block once to see all of your
Parking Options or… Drive Past, make a Right into the
Seaport side Parking area, make another Right and find Parking
if there’s room and drive up to the end of the Parking lot,
kind of in front of the Renaissance Hotel…).
I am sure there are a lot of
other “Good Casinos” on the
Island
…
We (my wife & I) don’t spend enough money in any
of them to want to Visit Every one of them… So as the Saying
goes… “Good Luck”…
De
Palm
Island
Tours
:
We personally haven’t done it, but I believe it is supposed
to be one of the neatest things to do one of the days… (We
Windsurf, Swim with our Kids, go shopping and now, since they
are getting older, going on these little side trips that De
Palm Tours does
makes sense)…
The
Butterfly Farm… Across the street of the Phoenix Hotel or
Time share… At the end of the Hi-Rise Beach going towards
the Low-Rise (Eagle) Beach…
¨
Go
to
Arashi
Beach
up by the Lighthouse… Great Public Swimming area… there is
a Good Snorkeling spots
just before the
Arashi
Beach
area, on the curve of the road where all of the Catamaran
Cruises go to Snorkel… Public Parking is there as well...
Don't
bother
going
to
Baby
Beach
because
it
is
a
Drive
and
a
half
to
the
other
end
of
the
Island
where
Arashi
is
closest
and
sweet
snorkeling
