one day in Aruba from cruise ship

[michigander]

Do you have any suggestions for spending one day in Aruba next week from a cruise ship? In the past we were able to get a beach pass at the Marriott Surf Club by going on a "mini tour". Do you know if this option still exists, or if there are other means to spend a leisurely day at the beach, either at a Marriott, or a another (public?) beach that has chairs and umbrellas available?

Thanks for your help. We leave on Friday this week.

 

[Zac495]

Take a tour and see the other side of the island with the beautiful cliffs and natural bridge (that fell down). If you have kids, they'll enjoy the ostrich farm which is part of the tour.

If you're more the party/shop type, just go to town - it's adorable.

Or you could go to Baby Beach (catch a taxi) and enjoy the fabulous beach. They have umbrellas, snorkel for rent.

 

[gores95]

Take a tour and see the other side of the island with the beautiful cliffs and natural bridge (that fell down). If you have kids, they'll enjoy the ostrich farm which is part of the tour.

If you're more the party/shop type, just go to town - it's adorable.

Or you could go to Baby Beach (catch a taxi) and enjoy the fabulous beach. They have umbrellas, snorkel for rent.

All good ideas! What is the cruise offering? In town there is typical touristy things to do....lunch, jewelry shopping, etc. How much time do you have? Are you a Marriott TS owner? Not sure how easy it is to "sneak" onto the Marriott grounds and I don't think they offer day passes to owners.

To be honest the beach at the Surf/Ocean Club (Palm Beach) is not the finest in Aruba. Baby beach is nice albeit a far drive. Eagle Beach/low rise section is very, very nice and a short cab ride away.

 

[m61376]

If you like to snorkel you can grab a cab to Arashi beach. I don't think there are chairs there so you'd need to bring blankets/towels, but there are palapas for shade.

Going into town/shopping is nice for a few hours too, esp. if you like to jewelry shop . That's a 10 minute walk from the cruise ship dock.

We had visited Aruba a few times on cruises before buying at the Surf Club and I enjoyed combining both activities. As mentioned above, taking a cab to Baby Beach and/or a tour of the island would be nice excursions as well.

 

[lovearuba]

Renaissance private island

Hi
I've heard of people that contacted the Renaissance (also a Marriott) located in town and were able to get a day pass to their private beach. If I recall it was about $50 a person and it sounds like its a relaxing day.

 

[lweverett]

The Renaissance beach is a private island, Somebody quoted it a while back as $75.00 per person, but I think that included lunch and possibly some drinks. You take a little launch right from the hotel lobby. If your intension is to beach it - while not cheap it is real nice with all the facilities you would need - and you can easily walk to the hotel from the cruise pier. I would definately explore it as a possibility.

 

[michigander]

Thank you

Thanks so much for all the great ideas. I sure do love the TUG community!

 

[andrea t]

http://www.abc-aruba.com/jeep_safari.html
We're making a stop at Aruba on our April cruise and booked a tour with this
company.

 

[rosepointe]

You can also rent chairs and umbrellas to the left of the Radisson (facing the ocean) by the Mi Dushi boat. There has been a vendor there for years. You can also eat at the Radisson grill. We had gone there every year before we purchased at the Surf.

Karen