Shannon

We booked this excursion through the cruise for $47 a piece. Free rum punch (50% rum, 50% punch). The schooner takes you out to a beach for 45 minutes of swimming and then you are allotted time to jump off the plank, swing from the rope and dive off any other part of the ship. It was great fun but I thought the crew were fake and didn’t seem to like their job. It was obvious they do, and say, the same thing all day every day. Get in line for the rope swing right away, otherwise you might not get a chance to do it, I didn’t.

ARUBA (George’s Scooter Rental) Since Aruba is so small, we thought we could get the most out of our visit by renting scooters. About a 15 minute walk north of the pier was George’s Rentals. For $40, we rented a two person scooter. The scooter was in pretty good condition, although the tire was low on air and we did not find this out until we were left in the middle nowhere with a flat tire. Be sure to have a map on hand, but also keep in mind that the roads are not marked and you will probably get lost, just keep going because the island is small and you will eventually find your way. Check the tires and gauges of your rental before you leave – there are no gas stations once you leave Oranjestad. We took the scooter up the north coast and saw the California Lighthouse (stop in at the restaurant up there – it’s gorgeous), went to Alto Vista Chapel and to the Natural Bridge. The flat tire set us back so we did not get to see the Windmill or the Natural Pool. Although we had a lot of fun on the scooter, I highly suggest renting a jeep so you can see the places that are only accessible by dirt road. We had a very hard time driving the scooter to the Natural Bridge because the road to it was meant for jeeps and ATV’s.

Since we had a flat tire, we had to walk to find a phone to call the rental store. Luckily we were within walking distance of a local bar called Bambu’s. The owner happened to know George from the rental store, called him, and he brought us a new scooter with full tires. The owner made local food for us, it was good, but some of the local food is very bland. The chicken was excellent.

My mom and stepdad did the Rhino Rider and Aruba Sunset Sailaway excursions through the ship. They truly enjoyed both of them and said the snorkeling in Aruba surpassed that of Grand Cayman, which we found to be the best. I suggest snorkeling through a guided excursion because we didn’t find any reefs off the beaches on our own.

I highly recommend renting a jeep on this island, it is a great way to see everything on the island and still have time to get back to the ship for dinner.

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

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