Umbrellas at Palm Beach or...just papulas?

[BopRN]

I have been reading all the great info about Palm Beach. But I am a bit confused about what is available for shade. The Papulas cost $15 per 1 person's post but in the pics, there doesn't appear to be too many available considering amount of cruisers that will prob. be coming there....and I saw umbrellas mentioned once. Are there umbrellas available for rent...and for how much? Thanks!

[Arubalisa]

The palapas to which you refer are those on the beach at the Riu Resort. The resort is closed for renovations and an "enterprising" watersports entrepeneur is using the resort's palapas as a money maker for himself. There is another operator who works out of a spot just next to him who rents umbrellas and uses the Radisson's side of the beach (rather than the Riu's). The vendors up and down the entire length of Palm Beach are competitive in their pricing, so you could always take a walk, say down towards the Westin or Occidental and see who is offering the best pricing that day. Photo below is the vendor using the south end of the Radisson's property.

 

Image below is a palapa we rented in December.

[cruisecamp]

We were not charged to use the palapas in front of the Rui resort when we were there 2 weeks ago. The vendor led us to one and only charged us $16 for 2 chairs and $5 for a floating mat.

[Arubalisa]

It is good to hear that you were not charged for the use of the palapa, considering it is the resort which owns them and the resort is obviously closed to guests. :)