Aruba beach ?

We will be in Aruba for just a few hours during our Panama Canal cruise. Does anyone know of a free beach where we can enjoy the sun and sand and still get back to the ship on time?

I don't know of any that are close enough to walk to but even some of the nicer ones on the hotel strip aren't that far even by bus. Maybe 15-to 20 minutes away and they run constantly. The bus stop is located right across the street from the port entrance.

Bus stops at Amsterdam Manor on Eagle Beach or if rushed for time, take a taxi over and the bus back..

eclue:)

We did a beach stop on a ship excursion when we were in Aruba in April. They dropped us off just beside the Riu Palace which is on Palm Beach (I am pretty sure that is the name of the beach). From the road there is a walkway to the beach, takes about 2 - 3 minutes to walk it. Beautiful beach. We spent a couple of hours there. There are a few shops, bars etc. I have heard you can catch a bus from the pier area to the beach for only a few dollars. (this from a friend who vacations in Aruba frequently). We are going there on our Grand Princess cruise this November/December and plan on going to this beach again. We'll probably try the bus, or a cab if prices are reasonable.

When we were in Aruba, we walked off the ship and found a taxi van nearby that was picking up people to take to a nearby beach. I don't remember how much it was per person, but it was very reasonable and not too far away. They dropped us off at a taxi stand where we returned several hours later, and found a similar taxi to return to the ship.

As I recall, we had a short excursion earlier in the morning and had nothing else planned for the day. Sometimes you just 'wing it' instead of planning every detail of every day. Hanging out on the beach in Aruba is one of my best memories of the trip, LOL. :cool:

The bus in Aruba is $4 and change round trip.

So, these beaches have public access? Don't want to land in an Aruba prison for trespassing on private property!

So, these beaches have public access? Don't want to land in an Aruba prison for trespassing on private property!

There are photos here of Eagle Beach right across from Amsterdam Manor. It's our favorite part of the beach.

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-day-on-beach.html

The bus is the #10. It's about $1.50 each way. Don't buy a round trip ticket; on the return, when you stand at a bus stop, you might first get picked up by a privateer, a brightly painted school bus or a minivan. They cost about $.05 less and don't accept the return ticket that you can purchase on the public bus. So by not purchasing the round trip, you'll likely spend less time waiting for a bus to get back.

There are photos here of Eagle Beach right across from Amsterdam Manor. It's our favorite part of the beach.

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-day-on-beach.html

 

The bus is the #10. It's about $1.50 each way. Don't buy a round trip ticket; on the return, when you stand at a bus stop, you might first get picked up by a privateer, a brightly painted school bus or a minivan. They cost about $.05 less and don't accept the return ticket that you can purchase on the public bus. So by not purchasing the round trip, you'll likely spend less time waiting for a bus to get back.

Agree - take the public bus to the beach! While we have purchased the round trip ticket, our wait back has never been more than 10 minutes. Never had a minivan or painted bus privateer offer to pick us up tho.

Try Nikky Beach. We just went there on our Carnival Freedom Cruise 2 weeks ago. We actually walked there from the port. It took us 30 minutes walking relatively slowly and stopping along the way for pictures. If you take a taxi, it would be less than 10 minutes.

It's basically a beach club with a restaurant, beach lounge chairs, umbrellas, and restrooms. We really liked the food--it's bar food...think mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, quesadillas etc, but it was served piping hot on real dishware and nicely presented.

They even had a van that gave us free transport back to the port (I had asked about Nikky Beach at the visitor info desk at the Aruba port after reading a few mentions of it here on cc and the gentleman gave me a flyer with George's (Nikky Beach owner) and Alex's (George's son) name on it. He said just to show the flyer and we'd get free transport back to the pier. We did. They are very nice. **They will show your bill in their local money and in USD. We ordered mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, a chicken quesadilla, a cola, and 2 white wines. Our bill was only $38.29 USD.

Agree - take the public bus to the beach! While we have purchased the round trip ticket, our wait back has never been more than 10 minutes. Never had a minivan or painted bus privateer offer to pick us up tho.

Here are photos of the buses we took to and from Eagle Beach on Christmas Day.

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2011/12/you-just-never-know.html

The second bus was a lot of fun!

Here are photos of the buses we took to and from Eagle Beach on Christmas Day.

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2011/12/you-just-never-know.html

 

The second bus was a lot of fun!

Missing Aruba right now.

Agree - take the public bus to the beach! While we have purchased the round trip ticket, our wait back has never been more than 10 minutes. Never had a minivan or painted bus privateer offer to pick us up tho.

While I would still buy a round trip ticket we had a private van pick up us one time & didn't charge anything but we went with him even though we had our return bust ticket. We were quite puzzled but he insisted. :confused: The local bus was right behind us all the way back to the ship.

The beaches are public.

Yes, ALL beaches in Aruba are public... very enlightened! :)

Thanks for the info. Have been to Aruba a couple of times so don't need to do a "tour". We are only there from abut 7 til noon, so the beach with a bar nearby to get breakfast mimosas sounds perfect!

There are photos here of Eagle Beach right across from Amsterdam Manor. It's our favorite part of the beach.

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-day-on-beach.html

 

The bus is the #10. It's about $1.50 each way. Don't buy a round trip ticket; on the return, when you stand at a bus stop, you might first get picked up by a privateer, a brightly painted school bus or a minivan. They cost about $.05 less and don't accept the return ticket that you can purchase on the public bus. So by not purchasing the round trip, you'll likely spend less time waiting for a bus to get back.

Hi, quick question. Are their restrooms, restaurants etc close by? Amsterdam Manor is a resort so not sure if that's open to the public

There are restrooms up and down the beach area.....and food isn't too far away...again, up and down the beach!