John Sims

You arrive at the pier at 8 AM and all aboard is at mid-night. One note, Aruba is on Atlantic time and that is one hour ahead of EST. The ship sets the clock ahead one hour that night after leaving Jamaica so ship time and local time is the same.

This is our second trip to Aruba and I love it here. It is a desert. It is 20 miles from the coast of Venezuela, South America and part of the Dutch Islands. It is 20 miles by 6 miles that is about 74 square miles.

We rent a car here. Hertz and Avis have stalls at the dock along with a couple local companies. We got a piece of junk 4-wheel drive mini-SUV for $89. Same cost as a ship excursion but we got to go where we wanted and when. They drive on the right side of the road so that helps if you are from the US. Store hours are from 9 AM to 6 PM. So what do you do with the extra hours until we leave at mid-night? Many did the pub crawl in Oranjestad and they were pretty wiped out.

You definitely want to see the natural land bridge. There are some ruins on the way there and the rocky, eastern shore line is great to see. They have a snack shop with food, souvenirs, and bathrooms at the bridge. Try the local beer. The bottles are small, but it is good.

You should have plenty of time to head north after the land bridge. Go to the far northern tip to see the California lighthouse and the California sand dunes. It is really cool. The funny part is that right in the middle of it all is the Tierra Del Sol Golf Course. It looks beautiful.

>From there work your way back along the beaches on the west cost. Pull in and walk down to Palm Beach. It is a long, beautiful, sandy stretch of beach. The water is shallow, clear and feels great in the hot sun. Remember, you are only 12 degrees from the equator here. Even in January, the sun was hot and you burn quick.

If you have time go to the south tip to baby beach and see that area. That would be the third item on my list. Some maps show the tunnels and caves like the Tunnel of Love. MHO is don’t waste your time on those.

After that we returned our car and shopped around downtown Oranjestad.

Check out the shore excursions available in Aruba.
Aruba Shore Excursions

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