Unfortunately, we visited Montego Bay, Jamaica during a state of emergency and wound up staying on the resort the entirety of our trip, missing out on the beauty that the island of Jamaica has to offer. While visiting Aruba, we did not want to make the same mistake and therefore, before reaching our destination, we did plenty of research to find the best way to go out and explore the island.
We came to an agreement that we wanted to enjoy the beautiful Caribbean Sea and decided to do a snorkeling trip, which would be Steve’s first time ever snorkeling. Our other adventure involved exploring the non-resort side of the island, riding an ATV to see some of the picturesque parts of Aruba. For those who would want a calmer experience, there were also UTV vehicles or a Jeep tour you could book as well.
We ultimately felt the two different experiences would give us a good representation of all that the island of Aruba had to offer.
HOW WE BOOKED
We did our research through TripAdvisor and discovered two highly rated companies with many positive reviews. For the snorkeling experience, we found Sail Away, and we were sold on the fact that they did not overbook their boats and were able to provide a more personal experience. For the ATV tour, we found Kini Kini Tours1 and were drawn to the fact that they offered water throughout the trip, which some other companies did not, so keep an eye out for that when booking your own ATV excursion!
We wound up booking both trips through TripAdvisor and paid for both tours on our Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card to earn 3 travel points per dollar spent, but you can of course use any travel credit card which earns bonus points or even a cash back card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited if travel points are not your thing.
When we made it to the island, we noticed the advertised price was $2 per person cheaper if we had paid there. While we did not ask, we have also heard a lot of the salespeople along the beach are also willing to negotiate on price. That said, you may need to pay in cash at that point, so be prepared to have some U.S. dollars on hand (standard operating procedure on the island is to accept U.S. dollars). We appreciated the opportunity to collect redeemable travel points and have certainty there would be room on the excursions the days we wanted to go.
SNORKELING EXPERIENCE AND IMPRESSIONS
Sail Away requires you to meet them at Hadicurari Pier in order to begin the trip. Luckily for us, this was less than a ten minute walk from our hotel, but if you’re not nearby you will likely need to take a cab to the Pier before hand. If you’re also staying in the hotel zone though, this should be less than $10 USD per way. Once at the pier, you will board a motorboat with 2 crew members who will meet you at the dock, but Sail Away also has a small office nearby to use as a meeting point.
The motor boat ride took less than 5 minutes to get to the actual snorkeling sail boat, which was large enough to hold 60 people. On our day, only about 15 guests total boarded, so we very much had a more personal experience and allowed for all the guests to spread out and enjoy the comfort of the ship. As a comparison some of the other boats we saw out on the water were certainly more packed than ours and while fun, I’m sure they did not get a chance to interact with the crew as much as we did. The captain was very knowledgeable of all the surrounding sea and areas of Aruba and one of the crew members, who doubled as a bartender, was able to give Steve plenty of tips to make his first snorkeling experience an enjoyable one.
We unfortunately missed one snorkeling stop due to another boat refusing to undock, but the two stops we made it to, we saw a good amount of colorful fish. We also missed out on sea turtles that others mentioned seeing though! Additionally, there was a rope swing on the boat to jump off the boat into the sea for some extra fun, and Steve even got over his fear of heights to try it once himself (and he failed hard, check the video!). The price included unlimited alcohol, though be sure to tip your bartender if you want an extra stiff drink, and a full fresh lunch of chicken, fish, rice and vegetables which was really delicious.
Overall, we were happy we picked Sail Away and would definitely recommend it to others looking for a snorkeling experience in Aruba. For $60 USD per person it was a great way to spend three and a half hours outside of the resort and see the beauty of the surrounding island.
ATV EXPERIENCE AND IMPRESSIONS
Our morning with Kini Kini Tours started with them picking us up from our hotel by van along with four other passengers from neighboring hotels. Since the tour starts from their office in Oranjestad, they offer complimentary pick up and drop off as part of the ATV tour. Just remember to wear a bathing suit and bring a towel and some sunscreen with you. At their office they gave us a quick safety breakdown and provided us our helmets and we were off on our way.
The journey to the first stop was smooth though and we had a great experience of riding the ATV through the streets of the island, giving us a first hand glimpse of daily Aruba life. After our stop at the chapel, the road turned very rocky and Gokce got bounced around a bit on the back, so if you’re riding as a passenger hold on tight! Our other ATV experience was in Cappadocia, Turkey, and in comparison, while this started off smoother, it quickly got a lot more rocky, so just be prepared for a bumpy ride!
We made three additional stops after the chapel, and our favorites were the natural bridge, which nature had carved out over thousands of years, and the natural pool, where we got to swim for a bit before returning to Oranjestad. They saved the best for last, but I must say I wish we went there first to start our day. The pool area gets packed and it definitely takes a bit away from the experience when so many others are there.
Overall though, we would still highly recommend Kini Kini. Alex and his co-worker were always nearby to assist when needed and provided water throughout the four hour tour. On the way back to our hotel, Alex dropped us off and pointed out many good local restaurants to try out the local Papiamentu food which was much appreciated. For $80 USD per person, we had a blast, though keep in mind if each person wants to ride their own ATV, it will be a little bit more expensive.
WHERE TO EAT
While we ate two nights at Atardi, our hotel’s beach restaurant, we will save that as part of our hotel review. The recommendations by Alex was to try Red Fish and Wacky Wahoo, but both are inland and having come from the winter cold of New York, we just really wanted to relax on the beach and take in the sunset over dinner. We ultimately wound up eating at Hadicurari, Pelican Bar and Moomba Beach on the other three nights.
We would have to say Hadicurari was our favorite, and would actually return when making it back to Aruba. The fish tasted extremely fresh and dessert was a treat as well. We would definitely recommend grabbing a reservation for sunset time if you want to eat on the sand as those tables get reserved before hand.
The other two were just all right, with Pelican Bar having slightly better food, but a rowdy crowd coming fresh off an evening boat tour, so just be prepared for that if you eat there around 8 p.m. Moomba Beach had disappointing food, though the service was really excellent, with the manager going out of his way to sneak us onto a table on the beach after a reservation did not show.
All three restaurants were along the beach within walking distance from our hotel. Ultimately we decided against paying for a taxi to go much further from our hotel on top of paying for the dinner which can be a bit on the pricey side in Aruba. If you’re going to drink alcohol, share an appetizer and each have an entree, certainly prepare to pay over $100 USD each night for dinner while in Aruba. We paid for dinner on the aforementioned Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card which has no foreign transaction fees. In this instance, a cash back card will set you further back as it will (most likely) face a foreign transaction fee, therefore more than defeating any cash back benefit.
If you really think we dropped the ball by missing out on Wacky Wahoo, Redfish or some other restaurants on the island, or think we should have done a different excursion, please let us know in the comment section below. We’re also happy to answer any questions or comments you may have on the tours we did or the restaurants we ate at! We would love to hear from you!