1 Year Wedding Anniversary Vacation

[Jam1173]

So in July i will be married for one year. For my honeymoon the wife and I spent 3 weeks in Italy touring around. That was no way to spend a honeymoon(on and off a tour bus and keeping to a schedule) , so for our anniversary we want to spend time just relaxing on the beach and by the pool.

We just booked our trip to Aruba. Has anyone been there? any advice on Restaurants, night spots or any just anything I should know about before hand.

 

[Bsneed51]

Congratulations on nearing the one year mark. Those sound like a couple excellent destinations (even if the Italy trip wasn't as fun as it could have been.)

 

[thatsonofa]

Congrats..... :thumbs:

never been but I had some friends go and they had a blast!!!

 

[The Master]

I have been to Aruba 4 times and my favorite restaurant is http://www.elgaucho-aruba.com/. Be very careful about how much sun you get. Aruba is very close to the equator and the sun is incredibly strong. You can burn the shit out of yourself in 1 hour. Make sure if you are lying at the beach or the pool, you have access to umbrellas or tiki huts. There is always a strong trade wind blowing so you won't feel yourself burning until it is too late.

Bring your own cigars, the prices for Cuban cigars are expensive and most of the stores have inventories loaded with beetles. There is a La Casa Del Habanos in the main shopping district and I have seen them keep the doors open in 80 plus degree weather.

There is a nice place to snorkel called Baby Beach. There are 2 dive sites worth diving. One is a wall dive with a beach entrance and the other is a German freighter that was sunk years ago.

The only golf course is http://www.tierradelsol.com/. The wind blows like a mother there so you had better like playing in strong winds.

The island itself is a desert rock so there really is nothing to see in regards to flora and fauna. There are tons of casinos if you are into that kind of thing.

The locals are very nice and they understand that the tourists are their reason for having jobs.

Have a great time

 

[MiamiCubano]

I have been to Aruba 4 times and my favorite restaurant is http://www.elgaucho-aruba.com/. Be very careful about how much sun you get. Aruba is very close to the equator and the sun is incredibly strong. You can burn the shit out of yourself in 1 hour. Make sure if you are lying at the beach or the pool, you have access to umbrellas or tiki huts. There is always a strong trade wind blowing so you won't feel yourself burning until it is too late.

Bring your own cigars, the prices for Cuban cigars are expensive and most of the stores have inventories loaded with beetles. There is a La Casa Del Habanos in the main shopping district and I have seen them keep the doors open in 80 plus degree weather.

There is a nice place to snorkel called Baby Beach. There are 2 dive sites worth diving. One is a wall dive with a beach entrance and the other is a German freighter that was sunk years ago.

The only golf course is http://www.tierradelsol.com/. The wind blows like a mother there so you had better like playing in strong winds.

The island itself is a desert rock so there really is nothing to see in regards to flora and fauna. There are tons of casinos if you are into that kind of thing.

The locals are very nice and they understand that the tourists are their reason for having jobs.

Have a great time

Well stated. Aruba is a great place to relax. Enjoy it and, more importantly, congrats on the anni. :thumbs:

 

[Jam1173]

Excellent information, thanks. I was planning on bringing my own smokes since I had a feeling the prices would be high.

Thanks for all the congratulations. :thumbs:

 

[stogieman]

Congrats brother on the 1 year. Sun screen will be your best friend...... :thumbs:

 

[AKmik]

It is a fun place , I go there a few times a year. As said above the beaches are beautiful and the water is unreal, if you are a diver there are lots of tours available. One thing I would reccomend is to rent a jeep one day and drive the loop through the desert, you can be on your own schedule and it is a pretty interesting ride around the back side of the island.

Definitely bring your own smokes, I agree 100% there, tons of expensive fakes available. I also reccomend you pick up a few Kilo bags of Cubito Coffee, good stuff (I just ran out).

Also a word of warning, there is a lot of night life down town and there is a sleezy element that starts showing up more and more the later it gets, just keep that in mind as the evening goes on and you are out with your wife. For the most part it is a very nice place just keep your eyes open. If you do get in a jam keep your eyes open for white boys with short hair cuts, we are always there . The resorts are very nice and always a great time.

I just cringed when I read about the German freighter that TM mentioned, on my first trip there me and a buddy of mine swam out to that beyatch from the beach! Mask fins and snorkle, not a bad swim out but that swim back was a mother!!!! The 30kts of wind that make wind surfing so great will really kick your ass when you are swimming against it, I remember the bottom sliding past me every time I stopped for a breather. Like running on a treadmill, going nowhere fast!

mmmmm, I am craving a crab sandwich from the Paddok.