We just got home from a wonderful week at the Surf Club. There was no problem getting a palapa. Sunday morning I first went down after 7 and figured I'd be out of luck and there were still several available. The rest of the week I just paid the $10 and reserved ones in advance because I was lazy, but there were empty ones pretty much every day, so I could have reserved one either the afternoon before or in the morning for free. There were plenty of chaises on the beach- literally stacks of extras and even late morning the bimini chaises (the ones with the canopies) were still available as well.
It is true that the SC and OC beach areas are similar in size and the OC has something like 220 villas (not sure of the number) and the SC has 450, but I don't understand why people post that the beach isn't big enough. With the added palapas getting one isn't much of an issue and, frankly, I have been to MUCH more crowded beaches elsewhere (hey, people worldwide flock to Waikiki beach; not that's wall to wall people!).
And, the 7-7:30 rush to reserve the best pool spots, although a bit ridiculous, is similar to what happens at lots of other resorts and cruises, unfortunately. They will be cracking down on the reserving and not using issue and are working on dealing with the problem. They are also expanding the pool decks and adding chaises to accommodate everyone comfortably. The pools themselves are so large that they certainly are not crowded, let alone overcrowded. They were 96% occupied, so it was certainly a good week to judge, and we used the pool daily and there was never a crowd. As a matter of fact, there were a few times I enjoyed the Lazy River in virtual solitude. Personally, I find it nice to have a chance to chat with others on occasion.
Although I really prefer the SC pool, I respect that others prefer the one at the OC. However, I would not characterize it as loud, crowded or busy; to the contrary, I found the Lazy River wonderfully relaxing and my family strongly prefers it over the OC's much less expansive pool facilities.
Just to reiterate, since there seems to be some concern about the chair availability- there were stacks of unused chaises all day at both resorts. I'd venture to guess they need those for the peak vacation weeks, but otherwise they likely remain vacant.
Glad to have missed the frigid weather here over the last week and Aruba's wonderful weather (despite having a bit of rain every day, but luckily it didn't interfere with our plans at all) and great restaurants. Enjoy your upcoming trips!
