Summer in Aruba

TL;DR

• Wheels2go was great and trustworthy
• Renaissance island was not worth it
• Bring snorkel gear
• Eduardo’s and BBQExpress live up to the hype
• The Aloe Factory is the only souvenir you need need

Starting this summer I decided to focus on trips closer to home but out of the country- one place I always had in my mind was Aruba. In total the trip was 4 full days with 2 travel days- while there are many hotels and resorts on the island, this trip took on a more adventurous vibe in the shape of an Airbnb and a rental car.

Arriving in Aruba

The flight from Florida to Aruba was just around 3 hours, I had my entry form filled out ahead of time, passport control was basically a walkthrough.

While I have rented from major rental companies in the past (Avis, hertz, sixt) I have also had a lot of luck with local car rental companies. This time I decided to stay local (with my CSR car rental protection) and rented from wheels2go. The car rental site is a 5 minute drive from the airport, but locating the shuttle there was very easy and the drive to the lot was about 5 minutes. On the way there the shuttle driver gave me a rundown of how roundabouts work in Aruba, which was really helpful even though I still needed to look up a few videos just to be safe. The car pickup process was very easy, the worker at the lot was helpful and assisted me in reviewing the rental for preexisting damage (which should always be done). The car was clean, however did not have any backup cameras- parallel parking turned from a precision strike to intuitive guesswork.

Car rental with Wheels2go rental car

On my way to the Airbnb I decided to stop at Foodtown to pick up some snacks for the week, my go-tos are bread, peanut butter, water and coffee creamer. My main takeaway is to go early during off hours AND to bring a quarter (the shopping carts are Aldi style). One thing I have always enjoyed is going to supermarkets in other countries, the items there (candy, seasonings) make great souvenirs.

MooMba Beach Bar and Resturant (overall 7/10)

For dinner I headed over to MooMba Beach Bar and Resturant, which was located ocean side in Noord, Aruba. The location was not too formal, vibrant and appropriate for families or a relaxed get together.

The food:

• Chicken fajitas: 8/10- basically everything you could ask for in a fajita
• Cheeseburger: 8/10- a safe choice.
• Brownie Lasagna: 6/10- the brownies were great, the dulce de leche pastry cream had a sour taste to it
• Passion fruit mojito: 8/10- it had a lot of mint and lime flavor and wasn’t overloaded with sugar, definitely one of the better mojitos I’ve had
• Piña colada: 8/10- this one did not have rum in it, but the flavor was great

Day 2

Diana’s Pancakes (Overall 7.5/10)

While searching for breakfast spots I found a plethora of Dutch pancake houses, which makes sense considering the strong presence of Dutch culture in Aruba. While I wasn’t a fan of the coffee, the ambiance and food made up for it.

The food:

• Diana’s Special Breakfast (7/10)- this was a breakfast combo containing eggs, bacon and a plain Dutch pancake. The eggs and bacon were great, and the table had different seasonings for the pancake. My favorite was the cinnamon sugar (which was available for purchase)
• Locally made chicken Pastechi- 9/10- amazing flavor and clearly very freshly made

Butterfly Farm (overall 9/10)

After breakfast I decided to make my way to the butterfly farm. This is a butterfly sanctuary located in Noord, there are tours available with purchase of a ticket. They also have a cute patio set up where you can treat yourself to smoothies, coffee or a beer if you like. If it weren’t for the pancakes I absolutely would have sat and enjoyed a smoothie. They also had a great gift shop, which is a big draw for me as well.

Royal Aruba Aloe ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (overall 10/10)

I did not expect my trip to the aloe factory to be the highlight of the day but here we are. Upon entering the factory I was able to join a tour immediately. The tour was free and went over the process of harvesting aloe while overlooking the aloe farm. We then went to the aloe processing area, and were able to see how aloe was turned into different products such as gel, shampoo, body lotion, etc. It ended up in the main store, which was filled with beautiful aloe products, making for perfect souvenirs. This is a great stop to make at the beginning of any trip to Aruba, so you can pick up after sun skin care.

Donkey Sanctuary

The Donkey Sanctuary is definitely a must see. When arriving there was plenty of parking, though it was off road a bit. They have a small gift shop with merch, and 1$ and 3$ cups of pellets for the donkeys to eat. If you want you can bring carrots for them.

Amore Mío Aruba (overall 8/10)

After a short trip to the beach I was walking in a local downtown area close to the Hilton and the Hyatt and my nose led me to Amore Mío Aruba. They have comfortable indoor and outdoor seating, though I preferred indoors. The servers were nice and very attentive.

The food:

• Beef lasagna: overall 9/10. I could tell the components were from scratch, including the pasta. The flavors were cooked perfectly, no notes.
• Diavola Pizza: overall 8.5/10- essentially a pepperoni pizza with spicy pepperoni. The pizza was cooked in a wood oven so it tasted very traditional. The portions were great.
• Polenta (appetizer): overall 5/10. it didn’t stand out to me and I think it could have used a little more seasoning.

Day 3

Waffles Beach House- 9/10

This is a small but cute resturant located in Noord, serving breakfast, light lunch and smoothies. The vibes were cute and beachy which made it a perfect breakfast place. Of note parking was limited and service was slower than expected.

The food:

• Vanilla latte: 5/10- the taste was great but very milk heavy
• Hot chocolate: 9/10- flavorful and creamy, but not overpowering on chocolate
• Bananaaa waffles: 7/10- the waffle was on the dryer side and less sweet, but the Greek yogurt, peanut butter, banana and granola saved it. This would have been better as a yogurt bowl.
• Waffle with whipped cream and chocolate sauce- 8/10- the whipped cream and chocolate saved it
• The Americano- 6.5/10- the eggs and bacon were great, the pancakes were not sweet and dense.

Visiting Baby Beach:

While I am native to Florida I will never turn down a good beach. Baby Beach is located in southeast Aruba, about 45 minutes from Noord and is often listed as one of the world’s top beaches. Arriving there at 10am gave me plenty of time to park, as well as set up my beach umbrella rented from Umbrella Beach Rentals. They dropped off my umbrella the morning after I got here and the extra shade was a lifesaver, I would highly recommend using them!

The beach is beautiful, there was plenty of parking and 2 restaurants to chose from. Both had full bars with the options to take drinks back to your chair on the beach. I got the piña colada (obviously) and a tropicalolada, both were great.

Day 4

Renaissance Island

While many of the beaches are open to the public, the Renaissance (part of Marriot) owns a private island only accessible by boat. To get there you can either stay at the resort, or purchase a day pass. A day pass will run $125 per adult, a night at the hotel is about $550-700 depending on the day. While valet was not an option for those with a day pass, I was able to park onsite at no additional cost. My first impression of the Renaissance resort was that it was beautiful, but a very generic high end beach resort. If you are looking for luxury with little to no whimsy, that’s a great option. Getting on and off the boat was easy and accessible. Right after docking I was able to pick up towels and an additional floating raft (at no cost but a credit card was required to ensure the raft was returned).

There is food service on the island and plenty of chairs and umbrellas. The island is open to families but has an adult only area where most of the flamingos sit. I ended up trying the piña colada (obviously) as well as a “yellow shark”- a winning combo of vodka, tequila and rum. The drinks had great flavor and were STRONG.

Renaissance Island Food- overall 8/10

• Piña colada- 8/10- great flavor but lacked the slushy texturezq
• Lemon shark: 10/10- a rare perfect score but well deserved
• Chicken fajitas: 7/10- decent flavor, store bought guacamole but great portion size
• Cobb Salad: 4/10, dry chicken, way too much bleu cheese

Day 5

Lindas Dutch Pancakes (overall 6/10)

This was one of the many Dutch pancake shops located in Aruba. It is a cute restaurant with outdoor seating and service was fast.

Food overview:

• Dutch pancakes- 7/10- I tried various combinations this time, apple/whipped cream, banana/peanut butter, strawberry/nutella. The pancakes were less oily than Diana’s and had a good overall flavor. The peanut butter tasted like Jif.
• Farmers omelet: 3/10- the eggs were hard and the cheese in the middle was stringy and not melted.
• Dutch pressed coffee: 6/10- strong but muddy.
• Hot chocolate: 5/10- not very chocolaty.

Snorkeling at Boca Catalina Beach

If you are looking for a beginner level snorkeling trip Boca Catalina beach is a great place to go. I was able to find plenty of parking and the water was very accessible. It justified bringing the snorkel gear in my luggage.

Eduardos Beach Shack (overall 8.5/10)

There were 2 places that appeared social media and this was one of them. Eduardos is located directly on the beach and serves up some pretty good smoothie bowls- I recommend it if you are in the area. I tried “Eduardos Special Bowl” and the “Island Bowl”- both were good options.

BBQ Express: (small billing issue but the food was good- 7.5/10)

BBQ Express was another place I chose due to social media.

Overall the food was great- it had good flavor the portions were very generous. The sauces were great too.

There was a mix up with my bill where the cashier told me my $47 meal was going to be $105- since I ordered online I had my receipt on me and was able to clear it up but since there was such a big crowd I recommend ordering online ahead of time and double checking your charges. Also since it was a food truck there was no seating. Other than that I would definitely come here again.

Final day!

Nothing of note here. The airport in Aruba has US customs and immigrations so once you land back home you are free to leave. While there are 2 lounges offered in the Aruban airport, one was open and there was a wait. I wouldn’t arrive early for the lounge experience. Overall this trip to Aruba was well worth the experience.