Is it easy to drive around Aruba?

[Laughing Gull]

My husband might prefer to renting a jeep or car and exploring on our own but I have a fear of getting lost and missing the ship (!)

[Y's Owl]

There are plenty of paved as well as unpaved roads. It's pretty hard to get lost unless you have no sense of direction. At the extreme Northwest is California Point and the extreme Southeast is Colorado Point and in the middle along the south coast is where your ship will be in Orangistad. Your internal compass can be focused on the Haystack mountain in the middle called Hoiiberg. Use that to guide you around and you should be fine.

[wave rider]

It is not a problem. In the worst case if you feel you are lost, put the water on one side, keep it there while you dirve and before you know it, you will be back near the port.

[CarribbeanTina271]

It has been 10 yrs since I was in Aruba on my very first cruise, but then it was very easy to drive around the island!! And it was 3 ladies in a 4wd jeep!! We had the best day, checking out the Island all on our on!

[Laughing Gull]

Thanks!

[scraphappylady]

I agree with Tina271 - we were also a group of 3 moms, on the Adventure of the Seas this past March, and we did our own off road adventure. Serious fun!!

 

We arrived in port at 8 am, on the dock by around 9 am and were back in town by 3 pm, after seeing quite a lot of the northern and central part of the island (ie - lighthouse, ostrich farm).

 

After we got off the ship, we just ask someone where the car rentals were. We picked one called "Top Ride." Most of these places conducted business out of a shack by the side of the road, and we were a little hesitant, but for $80 US we had 8 hours of jeep time. No problems at all. You could also take a taxi to the airport for rentals there, but make sure you reserve one ahead of time if you do this, as they tend to go fast.

 

FYI: strictly stick shift driving here, and if you want to do off-roading, get a 4-wheel drive. Simplest to just drive to the lighthouse first. We got onto 2B, and just followed the signs. Took a few pix there, then hit the open country. Start back down the road you came up on, but then swing to your right where you can, over the sand and gravel, heading toward the ocean in front of you. There should be slight indications that others have traveled that way, since many of the jeep tours do this same thing.

 

If you keep the ocean on your left, you should have no problems. Just avoid the light colored, much deeper sand or you might get stuck. We went down to just past the Bushiribana Ruins (google it to see what it looks like), stopping when we felt like it, to take pix, etc. Just past the ruins, we hooked up with a road again, and went to where the Natural Bridge used to be. Coming back that road a short ways, we then stopped at the ostrich farm for lunch (try the ostrich burgers . . . really quite good!), and then the tour. ($12 plus tip) Fed the birds, petted some young newly hatched ones, etc.

 

We then headed back thru Santa Cruz and back to Oranjestad, but you could head down San Nicolas way and to the baby beach, other lighthouse, etc. I wouldn't say the few road signs we saw were really helpful, but get a map ahead of time and use that as a rough guide. It's not a huge island. Most roads aren't marked, and you might do a bit of turning around, but it's all part of the experience. Depending when you return, traffic in Orangestad could be tricky, but just stay calm and you will have no problem. I hate in town driving, and found it fairly easy.

 

Hope this helps!

[Laughing Gull]

Thank you, that IS really helpful!