Palm Beach - Our Trip

[Lsimon]

We just returned from our cruise on the Galaxy. In Aruba, following Aruba Lisa's recommendations, we went to Palm Beach. on 2/14/07

 

The cab driver knew exactly what we were talking about when we mentioned Palm Beach by the Depalm Pier near the Radisson. This seems like a popular beach destination for cruisers, as it was a big drop off point for people from the ship. The cab driver told us there would be cabs there in the afternoon and no need to arrange a pick up. (There was). He also told us that the men by the gate would help us find chairs and a spot.

 

We had one of the men by the gate take us to a spot, apparently they work for the people who run the chair rentals. He was very nice and polite. Aruba was a little pricier than some other islands. It was $10 each for a chair plus $15 for a Palapa. We arrived around 10:30 and got a nice large Palapa that was plenty big enough for the four of us. We sat in the middle of the beach, on the side by the building under construction. The construction was ongoing and we noticed the noise but it wasn't very loud and didn't bother us at all. The palapa's around us were sort of filling up when we arrived, and might have been full at some point after we arrived, but there were people coming and going at times, so I'm not sure. I know there was a group behind us that wasn't pleased with their location (in the back row) but there were not better locations for Palapa's at the time. The person who got us our chairs told us the area in front of the Raddison was "private" which we found was not the case. It was a little more congested there, but both areas were nice. If you prefer to sit in front of the Radisson you might avoid the people wanting to walk you in, or tell them straight off you want to sit in front of the Radisson.

 

The water in Aruba at Palm beach was very pretty, slightly wavy. If you want to snorkel this isn't the spot. It was very sandy with a little sea grass growing a ways out.

 

We walked close to a mile or so up the beach ( I think) up to the Holiday Inn, walking by the hotels to check out the lunch menu's at the resorts along the way. We walked back along the water line, and did the same with the pier restaurants along the water. We like fresh seafood for lunch at the beach so we were looking for that on the menu's - we can get all the burgers and chicken we want back in Chicago! We found the menu's at the Radisson, or the bar on DePalm Pier, were as good or better looking than any other place and ended up having a nice lunch on DePalm Pier.

 

Hope this helps. Overall we had a great day at the beach and would go back to this spot again.

 

I have a few pictures of our lunch spot, and spot on the beach, at:

[CruisingTeacher19]

Thank you very much for the review. I bet your glad to be back in Chicago, we will be leaving chicago in a few weeks for the warm weather down in Aruba and I can't wait.

[jimbug]

Hi, I was wondering if you saw people (or a spot to do so) just sitting on towels on Palm Beach. We'll only be there for an hour or so before our snorkel excursion which leaves from DePalm pier, so we really can't justify paying the $10/pp for a chair. Do you think this would be frowned upon?

 

Thanks!

[Lsimon]

I don't recall one way or the other, but I would presume there were people just on towels - probably closer to the water.

 

I would not have a second thought about this if you'd rather do just that! It would not be frowned upon at all. The chairs are for those that want them and all the beaches are public as far as I know - despite the fact that the chairs placed on them are not.

[whitehme]

How windy did you find it on the beach? Our last time there was like being sand blasted.

[Lsimon]

How windy did you find it on the beach? Our last time there was like being sand blasted.

 

Wasn't an issuie at all for us.