Aruba: good sides, bad sides...
Written: Apr 07 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful beaches, safe and friendly environment, great food
Cons: disappointing nature and history, the wind
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| tunga's Full Review: Aruba |
Well, looking at all the reviews before me, the Epinions community can certainly be considered a fan of Aruba! I'll take a risk and write a review of Aruba that includes both the positives and the negatives of the island.
My wife and I visited Aruba in Spring 1997. We stayed for a week in a timeshare right by the beach and spent our time exploring the island, the culture, as well as getting plenty of sun tan. Based on our experiences during that week, I'll discuss first the positives, and then the negatives...
POSITIVES:
<li>The Beaches: There is no question that Aruba has beautiful, long, pristine sandy beaches that take hours to walk from one side to the other, as well as a gorgeous blue water. Regardless of how many hours we spent at the beach, it was never enough.
<li>The Culture: The local people are extremely friendly, cheerful, and helpful. No complaints here...
<li>The Food: We ate in different restaurants several times. However, we also had a kitchen so we had the chance to cook. Each and every restaurant that we went to had wonderful food, especially the seafood and lamb dishes... There is also a local fish market where you can get fresh fish extremely cheap, so we bought fish and cooked it at home a few nights: simply terrific.
<li>Safety: Aruba was extremely safe and comfortable; there are no locals running around at the beaches trying to sell you stuff or making you uncomfortable. We could see no reason why you would feel wary, unlike in some Caribbean islands.
NEGATIVES:
<li>The rest of the island aside from the beaches: The moment you move 100 fee past the beaches, the rest of the island is one big desert with cactuses and iguanas. The pine trees on the hotel grounds are not Aruba's natural flora, they are planted by the hotels. The rest of the island is only made of the Divi Divi trees, which are cute at first sight, but are really nothing more than bushes.
<li>Historical and Cultural Attractions: We are also interested in sight-seeing, particularly historic and natural sites; and we were deeply disappointed what Aruba had to offer. Granted, no one argues that Aruba is rich in such attractions, but we found it to be extremely poor. Most of the sites featured in the tourist guides (a windmill, a fortress, a natural bridge, a few caves, and a national park) are ordinary at best and failed to excite us.
<li>Shopping: The shopping is extremely westernized and commercialized. It is primarily made up of cheap t-shirts, brand name products, and jewelry; the majority you can find anywhere in the world. There were only a few places which really featured local artists and/or products.
<li>The Wind: We had read that the island could get a little breezy, but we certainly did not expect what we faced. It is practically impossible to read a newspaper or hang on to a hat at the beach. We even saw the wind take out small huts or beach umbrellas and fly them off across the beach. It was a little tiring towards the end of the trip...
Overall, we had good time, nothing to really complain about, but nothing spectacular either. I would recommend that everyone see it once, and make their own decision. However, personally I don't think it provides enough diversity, excitement, or unique beauty to deserve repeat visits. There are so many different and unique places around the world; a repeat visit to Aruba would not be the best option.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
tunga
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Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 22 members
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