MNBluffBuffs Posted January 26, 2020 #1 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Hi everyone! Looking for suggestions on our first trip to the ABC's. We love to snorkel, shop and be beach bums! Is any island better than the other for certain activities? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted January 26, 2020 #2 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) Bonaire is the best for snorkeling by far. Aruba had the best beaches. I know the Dutch crew prefer Curaçao. Edited January 26, 2020 by mahdnc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrhdhd Posted January 26, 2020 #3 Share Posted January 26, 2020 You should check out the ports of call boards. I will mention that Bonaire has great drift snorkeling. We have used Woodwind twice and have been very pleased. https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Older Sister Posted January 26, 2020 #4 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I wholeheartedly second the recommendation for Woodwind on Bonaire. Best snorkeling excursion I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a lot. You usually need to book asap because they sell out quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin KLS Posted January 26, 2020 #5 Share Posted January 26, 2020 We rented a UTV in Aruba and spent the day driving around the island. It was great to be on our own schedule. Spent time at the beach and drove all over the island. Got to see places you would not get to see in a car. Definitely recommend. Pick up right at the pier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNBluffBuffs Posted January 26, 2020 Author #6 Share Posted January 26, 2020 42 minutes ago, hrhdhd said: You should check out the ports of call boards. I will mention that Bonaire has great drift snorkeling. We have used Woodwind twice and have been very pleased. https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/ Thanks...Looking at woodwind as many have said the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvcrusn Posted January 26, 2020 #7 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Bonaire for snorkeling is the best of the three. Aruba has great beaches. We like Palm or Eagle. Curacao is the most interesting of the three with the most to see. All three are wonderful in their own ways. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginnyfyr Posted January 26, 2020 #8 Share Posted January 26, 2020 We had a stop in Aruba over New Year's and we went out with Trikes Aruba (trikes-aruba.com) Our tour was about 4 hours long and took us all over the island. I will suggest that this tour is best suited for confidant drivers as there are a lot of roundabouts, which can be intimidating if you're not used to them, not to mention, we were on the highway a couple of times! Would also suggest requesting an automatic bike when you book as most of their bikes are manual. My husband was the driver and he drives a manual car at home but he said he would get an automatic if we did this again (they do give you instruction on operating the trike and will take you on a little test spin before you go out if you wish). Very fun day though and a great way to see the whole island, especially if you've never been! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micheleata Posted January 26, 2020 #9 Share Posted January 26, 2020 We rented a golf cart on Bonaire. Great day! Stopped at the beaches and the Donkey Sanctuary. On Aruba we go to the beach. Curacao has a casino we like, and we walk across the floating bridge to go in some of the shops. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NMTraveller Posted January 26, 2020 #10 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, mahdnc said: Bonaire is the best for snorkeling by far. Aruba had the best beaches. I know the Dutch crew prefer Curaçao. I agree. Bonaire after you snorkel has bars that extend onto the water. You can watch the colorful fish from the bar. Curacao is the city with the Dutch influences. We walked around the city and shopped. We also took a nice bus tour of the island. If you like the drink Curacao you may want to take a bottle home. They will have tastings at various places. Aruba has the nicest beaches and shopping. We also took a bus tour here of the island and the lighthouse. Edited January 26, 2020 by NMTraveller 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted January 26, 2020 #11 Share Posted January 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Ginnyfyr said: We had a stop in Aruba over New Year's and we went out with Trikes Aruba (trikes-aruba.com) And you saw the amazing fireworks display that evening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnocket Posted January 26, 2020 #12 Share Posted January 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Ginnyfyr said: We had a stop in Aruba over New Year's and we went out with Trikes Aruba (trikes-aruba.com) Our tour was about 4 hours long and took us all over the island. I will suggest that this tour is best suited for confidant drivers as there are a lot of roundabouts, which can be intimidating if you're not used to them, not to mention, we were on the highway a couple of times! Would also suggest requesting an automatic bike when you book as most of their bikes are manual. My husband was the driver and he drives a manual car at home but he said he would get an automatic if we did this again (they do give you instruction on operating the trike and will take you on a little test spin before you go out if you wish). Very fun day though and a great way to see the whole island, especially if you've never been! I second the recommendation of Trikes Aruba. Many of the trikes are manual transmission, but there seemed to be enough automatics to accommodate those who needed them. It might be a bit intimidating for someone who has never driven a motorcycle before - even though the trikes, obviously, are three wheeled. I hadn't driven a motorcycle in 30 years, but had no problem driving the trike. I routinely drive a manual transmission car, so that too was no issue. It's really a great way to see the island and both my wife and I really enjoyed it. If we return to Aruba we will do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvcrusn Posted January 26, 2020 #13 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) Walking along the quay back to the ship in Bonaire we saw this. This was the view from the helipad when sailing from Bonaire. You can see the snorkelers enjoying the water. Edited January 26, 2020 by Luvcrusn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted January 26, 2020 #14 Share Posted January 26, 2020 @Luvcrusn, there is an excellent dive site near the pier at Bonaire called Calabas Reef. We dove there a year ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_T Posted January 26, 2020 #15 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Hi, We have just got back onboard the Reflection in Curacao and we did a snorkel trip with scubacao, at first we were a little surprised as it wasn’t a boat trip but instead we drove to the sites but actually I think we preferred driving to the sites, we are generally half day trip people and like to get back to the ship around 1-2pm, see more info below! Aruba - always seems to envolée a trip to Eagle Beach, we just get a taxi to the Amsterdam Manor Hotel and right opposite you can rent chairs under umbrellas, Bonaire - we did woodwind snorkel last time and it was great, we are heading to Bonaire tomorrow and this time we are renting a golf cart which we’ve heard is a lot of fun and very easy to get around, Curacao - Scubacao is a combined dive & snorkel place but as non-divers we chose the snorkel trip which includes visiting 2 sites, we were actually the only 2 on the trip so very nice indeed, we actually decided to just stay at the first site as the water at the second site was quite a bit rougher but we really enjoyed the first site a lot, I must say I think it was the most amount of fish I’ve seen of all the snorkel trips we’ve done, there’s also a sunken tug boat there that was very cool to see in the middle of all the coral etc, there are also a couple of other things to see while snorkelling there also so all in a great half day trip, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted January 26, 2020 #16 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) @MR_T, Curaçao and Bonaire are primarily shore diving islands and they are famous for that. It’s not uncommon for divers staying on the island to rent a vehicle and drive from site to site. That’s not to say that you can’t use a boat Edited January 26, 2020 by mahdnc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted January 26, 2020 #17 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Aruba - yes, the best for a beach day. Sonny Binns Tours offers a good island tour for first-time visitors. Bonaire - another vote for Woodwind. If you can't book, consider a golf-cart rental and hit some of the many excellent snorkel sites. We did that on our last cruise to the ABC's. A further option is to take the water taxi out to Klein Bonaire. You can do your own drift snorkel and the water taxi will pick you up. Curaçao - lots of options. We've frequently rented a car to explore the many beaches towards the north of the island, several with decent snorkeling. You can rent a car right at the cruise terminal (book in advance). But we also enjoy just walking around Willemstadt for some visits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniesband Posted January 26, 2020 #18 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I second the recommendation for Scubacao on Curacao! We've been out with them 3 times and have never been disappointed in the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniels5759 Posted January 26, 2020 #19 Share Posted January 26, 2020 We rented a golf cart and drove around the whole island, had lunch and did a little shopping. We had a great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser61262 Posted January 26, 2020 #20 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) I can also recommend the Trikes Aruba, we had a great day. In Bonaire we rented a golf cart. Was one of the best things we have ever done on an island. We toured the whole island from the flamingo reserve to the salt flats. Going through the donkey sanctuary in a golf cart was a riot, if not a tad smelly. Highly recommend!! One word of advice, whatever you do book early. In Curacao we just did our own walking tour and ended up at a maritime museum which was interesting.... then we went on a hunt for the local beer which was horrible. Edited January 26, 2020 by cruiser61262 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginnyfyr Posted January 26, 2020 #21 Share Posted January 26, 2020 6 hours ago, mahdnc said: And you saw the amazing fireworks display that evening? We saw some fireworks displays going off in sequence around the island as we set sail around dusk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginnyfyr Posted January 26, 2020 #22 Share Posted January 26, 2020 1 hour ago, cruiser61262 said: I can also recommend the Trikes Aruba, we had a great day. In Bonaire we rented a golf cart. Was one of the best things we have ever done on an island. We toured the whole island from the flamingo reserve to the salt flats. Going through the donkey sanctuary in a golf cart was a riot, if not a tad smelly. Highly recommend!! One word of advice, whatever you do book early. In Curacao we just did our own walking tour and ended up at a maritime museum which was interesting.... then we went on a hunt for the local beer which was horrible. We rented a golf cart on our last visit to Bonaire and have one on reserve for our next visit in May! Best way to see the island! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted January 27, 2020 #23 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Don't miss snorkeling in Bonaire!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarLieb Posted January 27, 2020 #24 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Snorkeling with Woodwind in Bonaire was extraordinary. Truly the best snorkeling experience we've ever had. I would go back to Bonaire just to do it again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzmund Posted January 27, 2020 #25 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Have done both Woodwind and Bonaire Cruisers (golf carts) while in Bonaire both were great choices. Aruba is always Eagle Beach. Curacao is a walk into town, cross the bridge, and shop, have lunch and a drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now