De Palm Island?

I have read good reviews on the Carnival website in reference to De Palm Island, and am wondering if anyone has been to this island? If so, was it with Carnival or an outside company? I would like to do this excursion but am torn because I would also like to see some of Aruba. Any thoughts? Thanks!!:confused:

I have been on land vacations to Aruba many times. We all like different things, but I would skip this. Just do a tour of the island and see the highlights and then spend some time on one of the beautiful beaches.

I have read good reviews on the Carnival website in reference to De Palm Island, and am wondering if anyone has been to this island? If so, was it with Carnival or an outside company? I would like to do this excursion but am torn because I would also like to see some of Aruba. Any thoughts? Thanks!!:confused:

I have been to DePalm Island twice, with a third visit this July. It all depends on what you are looking for. The reason we go to DePalm Island, is that I have a 6 year old nephew and a 2 year old niece. They have a great waterpark with a bunch of slides, snorkeling where you can see beautiful blue parrot fish, a beach, food (it is not great, but passable), drinks, and a banana boat ride for the adults, all included in the price. We go for half a day which is more than enough.

I have also taken a jeep tour of the island. Aruba is definitely not the most scenic island I have ever been to, but there are some interesting spots to see if you have never been.

Bottom line...what are you looking for, and will you have children with you? If yes, DePalm Island might be a good excursion for you. If not, I agree, you might want to look for an island tour, or just take a bus to a beach and stay there for the day.

Have a great time in Aruba! It is one of my favorite places to go.

Thanks for the information. There are eight of us with ages 19 to 79. We all love to snorkel, and love the beach. I was just torn because of wondering whether we should tour the island since it's our first time there. Would you go there if you didn't have small children? Obviously, the water park is not a draw. ha! Thanks!

I too would skip De Palm Island. Imo it is a poor value for the cost. The waterpark is a good draw for little kids, but my 15 yo would be underwhelmed by its size in comparison to those here in the U.S.

Assuming your ship is in port for a full day...

The snorkeling is almost always better in the morning. You could take a snorkel excursion or a taxi or bus to Boca Catalina/Catalina Cove/Arashi.

Head back to the ship to change your clothes and grab some lunch.

The afternoon could then be spent touring the island for 2 or 3 hours.

I agree, I would skip DePalm Island. I went there a few years ago to do the helmet walk. Other than that, I wouldn't do it again, unless we had small children with us.

Thanks for all the great advice! Any ideas on other excursions with snorkeling would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!!

Thanks for all the great advice! Any ideas on other excursions with snorkeling would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!!

Do all of you, including the 79 yr. old plan to snorkel? Is he/she very mobile, and does he/she plan to spend the entire day with you, or will he/she just be spending part of the day on shore? Also, when are you going to be in Aruba and what hours are you in port? This info. will help us make better suggestions for you.

Yes my parents will both be snorkeling, but prefer to snorkel from the beach. They are both in good shape, and keep up with us fine. We will be in Aruba June 14th from 8am till 4pm. Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks for the info. If you get in around 8:00, I'm guessing you probably won't get off the ship until 8:30 or so. Probably, you won't get to any of the snorkeling sites until after 9:00. The best snorkeling sites are at Boca Catalina and Arashi. They both have a few shade huts (palapas), but they go very quickly. I got to Arashi around 8:30 two weeks ago and got one of last ones. If you are fine without shade, this is a good spot, but the sun in Aruba can be brutal. Arashi recently started renting chairs but Boca Catalina doesn't. We've snorkeled both areas, which are very close to each other. If you look back through some threads about snorkeling, you will see some pictures of these areas. Both areas have rocky entrances around the snorkel sites, but you can enter the water down a little ways and swim over to the snorkel areas. Aruba doesn't have a lot of good snorkel spots. You can get to these areas by bus or taxi, but if I were you, I'd take a taxi to get there faster, and have the driver come back for you at an arranged time. We've done this several times with no problems. Baby Beach also has snorkeling, but it is a very expensive cab ride and the water can get treacherous around the snorkeling area. You could arrange an island tour in the afternoon. I'm guessing that you'll need to be back at the ship by 3:30. The taxis in Aruba can only take 5 people, so you will need several. Sonny Binns does island tours for large groups. He's very popular and books up quickly. If this sounds too complicated, then DePalm Island might be a good choice for you. Just send someone to claim some shade as soon as you get there while they give the rest of you their information talk. That wouldn't be as complicated, but you also would probably not have as much time to see much of the island. Hope this helps.

Kini Kini is a small mom and pop operation offering among other tours, a beach tour for snorkeling or lounging. Maybe contact them and see if their tour hours would fit within your time constraints. http://www.kinikinitours.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=20

There are 6 of us. We are in for half day only. Two 4 year olds and a 6 yr old, grandma and me and DH. We would like to snorkel but do not have to. Any ideas for a fun half day. If we sight see only what is there to see? Depalm island a good option for the young kids? Are parrot fish the only fish we will see at the island?

We went to DePalm Island in January. We had 40 people ages ranging from 4yrs old to 73 yrs old. We all had a fantastic time and wished we had more time there. We thought it was worth the money and there was so much to do that we did not get to do it all. The snorkeling was great and you see a lot of different fish beside the parrot fish. Just a heads up, they make everyone wear a life jacket. They are not uncomfortable and are the ones that inflate only if you need them to. We thought the food was good. The fish at the buffet was really good and so are the chicken tenders at the grill. When we got back to the ship we still had 2 hours to walk the downtown area. Great day and can't wait to go back!

We went to DePalm Island in January. We had 40 people ages ranging from 4yrs old to 73 yrs old. We all had a fantastic time and wished we had more time there. We thought it was worth the money and there was so much to do that we did not get to do it all. The snorkeling was great and you see a lot of different fish beside the parrot fish. Just a heads up, they make everyone wear a life jacket. They are not uncomfortable and are the ones that inflate only if you need them to. We thought the food was good. The fish at the buffet was really good and so are the chicken tenders at the grill. When we got back to the ship we still had 2 hours to walk the downtown area. Great day and can't wait to go back!

Thank you!!

We went to DePalm Island in January. We had 40 people ages ranging from 4yrs old to 73 yrs old. We all had a fantastic time and wished we had more time there. We thought it was worth the money and there was so much to do that we did not get to do it all. The snorkeling was great and you see a lot of different fish beside the parrot fish. Just a heads up, they make everyone wear a life jacket. They are not uncomfortable and are the ones that inflate only if you need them to. We thought the food was good. The fish at the buffet was really good and so are the chicken tenders at the grill. When we got back to the ship we still had 2 hours to walk the downtown area. Great day and can't wait to go back!

Glad to hear this.Our group of 13 (youngest is 19) want to go because we all plan to do the helmet dive. Not really looking for the typical water park adventure. :)

momof4boys,

We were debating on trying the helmet dive, but decided against it only because we were there only an half day and the helmet dive takes an hour to do. You can just book the island and if you decide to do the dive booked it once you get there. The office is right when you walk in and they have all the times they go out posted. The day really went fast. The banana boat ride is really fun and the snorkeling was good. They also have volleyball nets up so we had a nice game of volleyball going on. The adults and older kids really liked that. We paid $69 p/p through the cruise line and thought it was worth it for what you get if you do everything. Remember there is an open bar. We found some of the drinks weak, but you can ask them to put an extra shot in and they will.

The helmet dive is really cool. We loved it!

We've been to Aruba many times and done lots of different things.

Now, DePalm Island is our favorite and where we always go. Love the Blue Parrot fish! It's a very pleasant place to be. :)

Summer Lovin: We book thru the cruise line. You will see some of Aruba on the bus ride to get to the dock to go to DePalm.

Just back from Aruba as a port on the Crown Princess - we went to DePalm Island (ship tour ended up being cheaper than booking directly). We weren't impressed - there was really no direction at all - my husband and 2 teens "snuba-ed" while we were there - they really loved that - but otherwise I wouldn't do it again.

FYI - Breakfast buffet is served till 10:30 AM and Lunch starts at 11AM. Princess tour states you receive lunch. Only problem is boat leaves at 11:15 to get you back to bus for ship if you are doing the Panama Canal trip. Can't comment since at last minute I wasn't allowed to do the water slides nor snorkelling due to knee problem. Did get sun and frozen pina coladas were really good.

FYI - Breakfast buffet is served till 10:30 AM and Lunch starts at 11AM. Princess tour states you receive lunch. Only problem is boat leaves at 11:15 to get you back to bus for ship if you are doing the Panama Canal trip. Can't comment since at last minute I wasn't allowed to do the water slides nor snorkelling due to knee problem. Did get sun and frozen pina coladas were really good.

While we very much like DePalmIsland, we'll find something else to do in Aruba if only morning tours are offered for the reasons you've stated above.

LuLu

~~~~

My husband and I did DePalm Island on our trip to Aruba last year and we are doing it again next week. If this was our first time to Aruba we'd probably do something else (sightseeing, one of the many pretty beaches) but having seen all that we decided to try DePalm and I'm glad we did.

Yes, it does have activities for children including the aforementioned small waterpark (although I saw as many adults as children in that area) but it also had quite a bit for us (50s) to do as well.

Complimentary food and drinks, plenty of lounge chairs in sun and shade, snorkeling, snuba, volley and basketball, hair raising banana boat ride to name a few. We found it to be a perfect place to spend a few hours.

We had signed up and paid for the helmet dive but chose not to participate... didn't realize it was so structured and would have to sit through presentations, waiting for ppl in the group to sign off on medical releases, etc. I know all about "island time" but I'm not spending any part of my vacation waiting in line!

For those who have done the helmet dive:

It says the helmets weigh 70 pounds out of the water. But I read on a review somewhere else that said that they put the helmet on as you are going down a ladder. I'm not sure that I could get up a ladder and out of the water with an extra 70 pounds. So I am concerned about that aspect. Can anyone tell me the how it goes on/off and when about the helmet?

For those who have done the helmet dive:

 

It says the helmets weigh 70 pounds out of the water. But I read on a review somewhere else that said that they put the helmet on as you are going down a ladder. I'm not sure that I could get up a ladder and out of the water with an extra 70 pounds. So I am concerned about that aspect. Can anyone tell me the how it goes on/off and when about the helmet?

My wife and I have done the helmet dive in Grand Cayman some time ago. My wife doesn't swim, but she loved this. As you said the helmet weighs about 70 lbs. When you walk down the steps they put the helmet on your shoulders as you enter the water. This weight is what allows you to continue to walk down to the ocean floor. It gives you neutral buoyancy and let you walk freely at the bottom. Quite a great experience. Where we went, there was a reef area that was cordoned off. There were scuba divers that worked with the company watching the people on the ocean floor. At a certain point they started feeding the fish and we were surrounded by thousands of fish. It was an incredible experience. Walking on the sea floor like that has been likened to walking on the moon. To your initial concern, as you walk back up the steps, they simply lift the helmet off your shoulder as your head breaks through the water line. You never feel any weight on your shoulders. After this my wife was so enthusiastic that she thought it would be nice to try scuba diving, I had to remind her that to go scuba diving you have to be able to swim. Scuba diving is great, if you cant sucba dive this was pretty good (IMO). I love everything the ocean has to show us. Have a good time.

Hope this helps

Ian

We are thinking of going to De Palm on our Carnival cruise. It is scheduled for 4.5 hours but can you leave earlier if you want.