THUMBNAIL SKETCH: Aruba is one of the most visited spots in the Caribbean. Many visitors are from the United States and South America. The island of Aruba is only 19.6 miles long, 6 miles wide and only 17 miles from Venezuela with a population of over 72,000 Dutch residents. It is a most beautiful island with lush tropical forests and even a desert! You have a wide variety of hotels; from the top notch Hyatt Regency to the low budget class Best Western. Aruba has wide, beautiful beaches; many, many scenic spots like the Natural Bridge and Boca Grandi; and for the gambler in you CASINOS!!! You ask, how's the weather in Aruba? Well I'll tell but you may not believe this... Number 1: 3 out of 4 days are sunny. Number 2: Even though there is 85 temps., there is a constant breeze. And finally, Number 3: You'll never ever sweat as it isn't humid in Aruba. As you can see, Aruba is very beautiful.

WHAT IT OFFERS: Aruba offers a peaceful vacation with zest! There are many malls and shopping plazas in downtown Oranjestad (the capital). Only there is no bargaining. I would recommend you shop at the Harbourtown Mall because it's cheaper and there is a lot more stores than other malls. There is exceptional weather (as you heard). If you like to take tours, there are many tours on the island. We took the half day tour around the island. We went to Baby Beach where I snorkeled, the Guadirikiri bat caves, the Natural Bridge (by the way every tour goes there), St. Anna's Church which was the first church on the island, and then we went to the California lighthouse. The tour was long but I stayed awake. You can also rent a Jeep for a day and ride around the island.

There are many scuba diving programs in Aruba and there must be 10 wrecks out there from ships to two DC 3 airplanes. You can also snorkel in Aruba. You can snorkel at the Antilla, a wreck, Arashi Reef which is beautiful, and Catalina Cove. If you'd like, you can travel on a glass bottomed boat. The one I went on had complimentary drinks and a couple of slot machines. For the dare devil in you, you can parasail for a cheap price starting in the water. (I don't know much about parasailing so that's why my thing on parasailing was short.) So as you can now see, there are many activities on the island.

There are many restaurants on the island. I would recommend the Buccaneer which is a seafood restaurant but it also has meat. I liked how every table has their own aquarium. I'd also recommend the Waterfront which is just what it says - on the waterfront. It is an excellent place for breakfast. I also ate at the Ruinas Del Mar at the Hyatt Regency which was out-of-this-world!!!

Don't worry about drinking the tap water in Aruba, there is a water desalination plant - one of the biggest in the world. Aruba offers so much in just one small island!

WHAT IT DOES NOT OFFER: This is a hard one! Umm...Oh! I know a good one! Disney World! No, no. One thing though you should avoid. Avoid going to the Holiday Inn's Carnival Night on every Friday.

Although the only thing I did like was the limbo show with Vincent. Also avoid going to Rigoletto's restaurant. It is an Italian restaurant with a terrible menu, terrible food, no children's meals and the atmosphere was terrible. (Sounds appetizing...doesn't it? NOT!!!)

SHOULD YOU GO? Well, whaddya think? If you either like peace and harmony or go, go, go, Aruba is the place.

KID FRIENDLY? Yes, certainly. I went there and I'm a kid. The only time I got bored was when my parents went to the Casino! I'd advise you though not to take younger children because it is a long 4 hour plane ride (from Boston) and they might get restless. Otherwise, it is fine.

PRICE RANGES: Restaurants aren't very cheap. Around $10.00 to $29.95 at a first class restaurant. Childrens prices are half price usually and all major credit cards are accepted. (What do I know?) Hotel prices range from about $70 a night at a budget classto over $200 at a deluxe hotel.

GREAT PLACES TO STAY: (Rated * to *****): The Hyatt Regency is the best, it's extraordinary, it's fascinating! There is tropical gardens, lagoons, a casino, excellent restaurants, a waterslide, pools, a pool bar, state-of-the-art rooms, great beach, and a great atmosphere! What more can you ask for? From a scale from a 1 to a 10, I give it an 11! I give it 2 thumbs up! I give it *****. A 7 night stay costs about $1799 so save your money.

The Holiday Inn is where we stayed. It is very nice. Nice pool, nice beach, friendly service and many activities. A little run down though. I give it ****. Reasonable cost. There are many other hotels in Aruba so check with your travel agent to find more information.

GREAT PLACES TO EAT: Here are some other restaurants in Aruba that you haven't heard me talk about. I've heard the Mill Restaurant is supposed to be good. Also Boonoonoonoos (try to say that 10 times fast) is supposed to have great Caribbean food. The Flame has excellent steaks while Twinklebones has excellent entertainment! The waiters dance all around and the chef comes around and sings. It's supposed to be fun! This is only a partial list of the restaurants.

HOW TO GET THERE: Aruba has several airlines. They are called Air Aruba, Avianca, American Airlines, Aeropostal, Dominicana de Aviacion, Avensa, and Viasa though if you go with a travel company, you may get a charter. Aruba has its own airport, the Queen Beatrix Airport.

FOCUS ON ARUBA: English is spoken everywhere though Dutch is their official language. They have composed their own language in Aruba called Papiamento. It is a mixture of English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swahili and many more. Aruba is one of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao and part of the Netherland Antilles. Their currency is the Aruba florin but the U.S. dollar is accepted. Aruba's climate is an average of 81 F (27 C). The rainfall in Aruba is only 500mm (20") a year. There is excellent telephone lines. AT&T telephone lines to be exact.

FOR MORE INFO. ON ARUBA: Contact the Aruba Tourism Authority at 011-2978-23777. Fax: 011-2978-34702. The Aruba Tourism office is located in Oranjestad. Tel: 011-2978-23778.

We got back from a wonderful stay in Aruba. First we stayed at the LaCabana. We had a studio unit and it was very nice, and the Murphy bed was fine and no complaints. LaCabana is fairly new and they keep the place very clean! The pool area is very nice and it has a nice beach even though you must cross the street. We also liked the casino there and it was fun to go there at night.

Now for the RESTAURANT REPORT. We tried El Gaucho like everyone else and loved the beef. We also had a meal at Jocasa. It is located downtown and serves local and seafood dishes. We tried their specialities and had a great meal. The service there was wonderful and would highly recommend the place. We also had meals at the Old Mill, and the Buccaneer. We asked to be next to the big aquariums. We loved the atmosphere and had a great meal there too. We also ate at Gasparito and had a lunch buffet at Warung Djawa, an Indonesian restaurant. It was fun trying the different dishes. We saved our last night to eat out on the patio at the Hyatt Ruins and had a terrific meal. The seafood grill platter was wonderful and I had the garlic shrimp. Good!!!!

Now for our SNORKELING ADVENTURES. We took two excursions on boats. Our first was on the Tranquillo. This was a whole day trip but liked it a lot. We snorkeled two different spots but really enjoyed Mangel Halto Beach. You can reach this beach by car and we did at a later time. We also took the Balia catamaran trip to the wreck. We just loved doing this and would highly recommend this trip for good snorkeling. We also did Baby Beach on our own too.

We had lots of fun going to the different casinos at night. Our favorite ones were the Hyatt and LaCabana.

Our last four days we spent at the Hyatt and enjoyed the grounds and hotel. We loved going down their waterslide and enjoyed their pool too.

Our WEATHER was perfect. The breezes did help to keep you from getting too hot. We also liked how casual one dressed at night.

First, I would like to indicate that I have underlined and capitalized some things that I felt were "key words" or relevent topics. I did this for those people interested in finding out how to make the best of their stay in A R U B A.

For the most part, I agree with both poeple's accounts/descriptions of A R U B A. The one particular thing I feel I must comment about is the "Finding your way around" paragraph (in the 2nd description). You can find (free) road maps anywhere on the island - especially in the airport, when you first land - just look for them in any brochure. Since the island is small, even the crudest road map can help you get around. This is assuming that you are travelling during the day. By the light of day, you can see many landmarks that, aside from being on the map too, can help point you in the right direction. For example, there are Divi-Divi trees (and they are everywhere!), which bend due to the constant trade winds. It just so happens that they point toward the main hotel area. So, no matter where you are on the island, you always know which direction to head in to get back to the hotels. Follow the DIVI!

If you have any questions or comments...

E-MAIL ME at: JCArubaCT@aol.com

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