Aruba - any good beaches?

[kathyjack]

We have been to Aruba several times, and like almost everyone else, we love the island. A couple of times we just wandered through the shops and marina then cruised over to Carlos and Charlies for t-shirts. Once we took an island excursion. The one thing we haven't done is go to a beach there. When we went on a "See and Sea" excursion it took us near some beautiful hotels on a gorgeous beach. Does anyone know if this beach is available for anyone to use, or do you have to be registered at one of the hotels? Also, though the beach looked great there - is it? Is it on the "windy" side of the island where you constantly get pelted with sand? We once went to a hotel in Cozumel to a beautiful beach and when we tried to get into the water it was so filled with coral we couldn't get beyond our ankles without getting cut. We are just looking for a nice beach that maybe offers some walk in snorkeling. Thanks!

[DASA]

Try The Occidental Hotel. They Have A Real Nice Beach Front And If You Go To The Bar When You Get There Ask Them About The $40 A Person Use Of The Beach. This Includes Food And Drinks And Use Of All Beach Umbrellas And Chairs.

[MrPete]

Ask to be taken to the Hyatt. The beach is public, and beautiful. Your jaw will drop walking through the hotel as well.

[Snowball]

You might also want to try going to Baby Beach. It is all the way at the southern part of the island, and has a really nice beach with a horseshoe shaped lagoon in the middle, and has fantastic snorkeling when you swim out to the opening of the horseshoe. This beach is good for children and adults because the lagoon swimming area is very calm and doesn't get very deep until you swim out to the snorkeling area.

[gsb]

through the "openings". If the wind is up, and the waves are wild, you should only go out there if you're a very good swimmer. The coral is great, but it comes very close to the surface in a lot of places. It's like a maze going out, and then it can be tricky finding your path back(if the waves are moving you up and down and close to the coral)

[JenAMR]

Take a cab to Palm Beach. I vacationed in Aruba several times growing up and I feel that is the nicest beach (all the highrise hotels and casinos are there) When I ended up there on a cruise I just took a cab and asked the driver to drop me off at the first hotel on Palm Beach. The beaches are public (although you might have to be sneaky about the lounge chairs). The water at Palm Beach is calm and clear and you can see your feet.

[number1cruiser]

Baby Beach is wonderful. We been there a couple of times. I'm not very good at snorkeling however, I enjoyed swimming here. There is a snack
bar and changing rooms. The water is very clear and has a sandy bottom.
I was able to wade out a ways and sprinkle crushed chips and the fish came right up to me.

Number 1 Cruiser

[alprzy]

I also vote for Baby Beach if you're interested in Snorkeling, some of the best I've ever done once you make your way through the inlet into some awesome coral formations. It gets deep though. Got some pics of very large colorful fish right in our faces. Not a great beach for just laying out though. The refinery on the horizon spoils that for me. And FYI for the more conservative folks, not uncommon at all to see topless sunbathing there, my 16 year old son got more than an eyefull... (I didn't look...much).

Eagle Beach up on the other side of the island was truly spectacular. We stayed at Costa Linda right on that beach for a week and thought it was one of the best we had ever seen. Loved the nesting sea turtles.

[BillnBobbi]

Take a cab to the northwest coast of the Island and ask to be dropped off at one of the luxury hotels on the strip there.

We had stayed at the Radisson about three years ago, and it was simply beautiful. Just walk through the open air lobby right onto the beach. The beaches are ALL open access. The only thing you can't do if you are not staying at one of the hotels is rent a towel and beach lounge.

You can walk along the promenade which parallels the beach all the way among these hotels. There are small shops along the way, connected with the hotels. some beach eateries right on the beach ( Gilligan's has great burgers at the Radisson ), and there are a few bars out on piers into the water. There are many boat and float rentals as well.

The water is among the very best we were ever in. The constant breeze blows from the shore out over the water, and bends those Dividivi trees.

You can literally see all the way down to your feet (about 4 ft deep) in the crystal clear azure blue water.

BabyBeach way down at the other end of the Island is nice if there are little kids in your group, otherwise we weren't that impressed with it. The snorkeling is far superior at the northwest end.

Other than that, it's a desert island and frankly there isn't that much to do.
If you are looking for somewhere with nothing to do but hang out on a beach, it's perfect, otherwise after two or three days you might go stir crazy.

There are only so many watch and jewelry shops you can walk into in Orangestaad, and frankly we found a large part of the Island WAY TOO Americanized. We had heard the native business people at a meeting at the Radisson, while we were there, complaining about all of the franchises that were spoiling the beauty of their Island. You name the American Fast Food Franchise and it was there along the main strip. It looked like a tropical version of Long Island's Sunrise Highway.

We did find a wonderful place that we hung out one day for an extended lunch. Cuba's Cooking was a real authentic treat.

BnB

[kathyjack]

Thanks everyone - sounds like Palm Beach may be what we are looking for.

[gsb]

snorkelling--mostly sand, a few small baracuda(6-12"), some sea snakes(congers to the natives)--this is mainly because there are no coral formations there, and fish hang around the coral.

[kathyjack]

Hmmmmm...now, let's rethink this.

[pholter]

There was a link that I can't find now, of course, that shows you all the beaches in Aruba- the main ones. Maybe it's on the POC board. Eagle Beach may be the happy medium for all of this...If I can locate the link, I'll post it both places for everyone....

[pholter]

[font=Helv][size=2][color=#000000]Found them!

[url="http://www.visitaruba.com/attractions/sunandfun/beaches.html"]http://www.visitaruba.com/attractions/sunandfun/beaches.html[/url]

[url="http://www.aruba.com/pages/beaches.htm"]http://www.aruba.com/pages/beaches.htm[/url][/color][/size][/font]