Aruba: The Don'ts of Visiting Aruba

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walter's world and today we're here on the beautiful beaches of Aruba and today what we have for you are the don'ts of visiting this gorgeous Island and the first stone I have too actually deals with the name of Aruba now Aruba they'll say it's part of the Netherlands Antilles or the Dutch Antilles or the Dutch Caribbean you'll see that a lot here but my dope for you is don't take the Dutch Park too far now Aruba actually is a sovereign country within the kingdom of the Netherlands and also they are polygots like the Dutch the Netherlands you know they speak the local language papiamento but also they speak Dutch and English and Spanish and maybe some Portuguese it's some other stuff so there are some dutchisms here and actually probably the best one is the pastechi which is a pastry that's stuffed with cheese they fry up yes the love of cheese kind of came over as well but in general don't think you're gonna be in the Netherlands you know you might smell the wacky tobacci every so often but that doesn't mean it's legal here I mean they do have a bulldog uh Cafe like you have the Netherlands they have one right here on Palm Beach you can go to not going to be having the the wacky tobacco like you have there so don't think that that's a legal thing and another big donut I think is the big difference between the Dutch and the Netherlands versus here has to do with time I mean we are in the island so don't get in a hurry to get your order taken to get your drinks to you get your food to you getting you know getting checked in your hotel getting your breakfast line at your inclusive hotel or Chernobyl hotel look you gotta have patience when you're here okay that's why I want to really stress that yes it is the Dutch Caribbean but it's not super Dutch all the time so have a heads up for that now another donut I have for you and moving away from the Dutch part of it is don't worry about the rain or the Hurricanes actually too much this is a desert island not deserted island you'll see with all the tourists here but it is a desert island which means there's very little rainfall that actually comes through here and we're actually just south of the hurricane like lane or Hurricane Road or whatever you want to say say so actually this place does not get hit by hurricanes very often so that means it's popular all year round because you can come all year round and when you're enjoying those beaches all year round one thing that's nice here that you don't have to worry about that you have a lot in some of the other Caribbean islands is you don't have to worry about the over aggressive touts the towns on the beach here are pretty laid back like if they want you to go take a boat ride or go do something else they'll just ask you and if you're like nah I'm good man like all right good have a good day and then they might chat you up just to have a conversation not to get you to buy so that's really kind of nice now my next dome for you has to deal with when you are on these gorgeous beaches that encircle this entire beautiful island and that is don't forget the sunblock and your sun protection yes I know my face is red but I've been putting on 50 on my face with my hat the sun is super strong here we're only a few degrees away from the equator so you have pounding sun and remember not a lot of rain means not a lot of clouds so it's hitting you all the time with reflection off the water and if you're going to be doing things like the pair Arizona kite surfing or going hiking in a national park and stuff like that the sun is still hitting down on you so you've got to be careful with that so make sure you're lathering up early and often and going along with that is also don't forget to stay hydrated and no I'm not saying just stay hydrated on the Balaji beer and the palmeiro rum which are both actually pretty good but you want to stay hydrated with the water here and yes you can drink the water here in Aruba when you go to the restaurants they will just keep filling up your water all the time just keep knocking it back and knocking it back I mean we've got water bottles we're taking with us everywhere I mean I have mine here filled up with water from the hotel no big deal you have that so stay hydrated because really you do dry out very quickly here with the heat and with everything because remember it's a desert island okay so have a heads up for that now another Beach donut I have for you is don't think you could just roll up and take a Palapa if you're not sure what Palapa is those are the the like the tents you'll see like the umbrella the beach umbrella that's made out of like wreaths and leaves and stuff like that you may see oh there's an open one right there I'll just hop there oh no no no no someone is going to be paying for that or they're going to make you pay for that so if you do want one make sure you reserve one or ask if there's one available a lot of the hotels have their own and so you might do the night before go down and say like hey could I reserve one for tomorrow so you can have that because with that intense Sun you're going to want to have some kind of sun protection oh and if you're at your hotel don't forget to take back your towels because they might charge if you don't take them back if you get those free tiles just FYI now another don't I have for you is don't worry about exchanging your dollar no problem now remember I told you this is part of the Netherland Antilles you know it's within the kingdom of the Netherlands they don't use the euro here they actually have the florins is their local currency and you might get change back in that but you can pay with US Dollars anywhere no problem and the thing is you will need to be getting some of those US dollars in the ubiquitous ATMs that are all over because my next dome for you is don't have a heart attack when you see the prices for the food at the restaurants look Aruba it's an island which makes things expensive already and also it's a very popular tourist Island and also people know if they cannot come here any time of year so it's always popular and so those prices are high high and higher okay so do have a heads up for it especially going out to heat so prepare your budget accordingly all right so there are a lot of supermarkets in many markets all over the island so when you're driving around or going around pick some stuff up so you can have some snacks to the room so instead of having you know three meals so maybe you only have two meals you know and so we do is we actually have a big breakfast at our hotel because it's included in our hotel and then we have you know just a really big lunch or like kind of later lunch or an earlier dinner if we can't have it we do that to kind of get us through the day now the thing is though what I will warn you about is my next dome for you and that is don't think you can eat all the time now there's tons of tourist places out there okay yes you'll see tons of Taco Bells and KFC's and stuff like that and actually for your budget maybe you want to go to one of those I know it sounds sacrilegious to say that but the thing is with the price is your pain I mean think about it the four of us are going out to eat and it's 200 for the four of us to eat but we're not drinking wine or anything like that it's just an expensive proposition to go out to eat that sometimes ordering that Domino's going to the little Pizzeria on the beach or going to one of these burger joint or some kind of kiosk or just getting the pasta cheese something like that can really save your budget because man it is pricey when you are here okay so do have a heads up for that and I wanted to talk about this the guy kind of mix up is another donut I have here you is don't expect you can eat all the time yes the tourist stuff is open all the time but you want to go to restaurants some lunch restaurants will close at 3 or 3 30 and dinner places might not open till six so if you're like my dad who likes to eat at five o'clock sharp you might have some issues so you might have to go to those touristy places that might be a bit more expensive okay and the thing is we actually brought some snacks for the kids so we have in the room but also you know we bought more Stacks when we were driving around the island and I just gotta went to the many supermarkets that were here price at the supermarkets are significantly cheaper in relation to back home versus the prices for restaurants to back home okay so that's a nice thing to check out now another thing I want to talk about with the eating is don't expect to eat inside with views like this you're going to want to have dinner on the beach looking out at the sunset it's gorgeous and so you have a lot of outdoor seating when you're here so just be ready for that that's why you want to be lathered up and have your hat in case you are eating outside I mean it's not a bad thing it's a wonderful thing eating outside here but it's something you really gotta think about if you're worried about the Sun and stuff like that and the reason I want to talk about this is because my next door for you is don't skip this Sunset I mean the sunset here in Aruba is just spectacular the Colors that appear out from the sea and when the Sea and the sun meet I mean it's just a gorgeous experience even my kids are like Dad this is a really beautiful sunset I mean it's got to be something about a 13 year old an eight-year-old are like wow dad that's really beautiful sunset I'm like yes yes it is so make sure you do get a chance to do that don't just sit inside and kind of relax and wait for dinner go enjoy that Sunset and have a nice time when you're here now my next stone for you is don't think don't think that Aruba is just the high-rise a low-rise hotel areas most likely this is where you're gonna stay you have the high rise area which is where Palm Beach is you know where the Holiday Inn the Marriott and the Hyatt are and stuff like that the high rise you know the taller hotels versus the low rise ones that are on Eagle beach look you can go around this island there's a a lot to see and do when you're here and you can rent a car just for a day to go and explore or get one of those gators and drive around you can do it I mean yesterday we spent the day driving around going up to the California Lighthouse and going up there um I would say don't build the lighthouse if you're claustrophobic or scared of heights or scared of the dark I mean Liam had a tough time so just be have a heads up for that but just going up there it's gorgeous driving around okay you can go yes there's a Donkey Sanctuary you can go to there's an ostrich Farm you can go to uh we went on the east side of the island and over there it's a very much a rougher beaches and stuff like that so you want to be careful but you have the Natural Bridge you can go see when you're there there's a fort you can see when you're there the National Park is over there so you can go hiking you can see the cave paintings that are here I mean there's a lot of really cool stuff to do when you're on the island and it's not just here on the beaches of the high rise and low-rise kind of resort areas you could really get out okay and that's why my next dome for you is don't think you have to do a tour when you're here you can rent a car and do it on your own it is very easy to drive around here the roads are good the people are nice it was very easy to drive around even with all the tours that are here it was very simple I mean we went from the California lighthouse in the very North to you know down to Baby Beach the very south and we were just like wow that's really easy nothing was very far it's really really worth it okay so get out there and explore the island and yes you can go to the Capitol on this stop and go there and then you could do your shopping because yes there's a lot of shopping there it's a lot of shopping everywhere here but there's really a lot of stuff you can do and if you want to just do the beach relax you can but honestly get out and kind of Explore More but the thing is my next done for you is don't forget that there's a big difference between the beaches on the west coast here where it's kind of calm and nice and stuff like that and the East Coast beaches on the East Coast you have a lot rougher waves stuff like that so I would not recommend taking the kids to the East Coast beaches because those refs Seas stay on the west coast side because it's a lot more calm or yes you you go down to Baby Beach which is very nice where the coral is really easy to to float over and stuff like that and snorkel down though it is weird near this beautiful beach and then you look up and you look back and you're seeing all the refinery right there so do have a heads up you're going to Baby Beach that's kind of a funny thing awesome in regards to the coral there's a lot of coral here and we'll they will wash up on shore you will step on it when you go out there so do be careful but don't take the coral okay don't take it home leave it here all right make sure you don't take it with you you'll see signs saying don't take the plant life don't take the animal life that includes the coral okay now going back to the orange Todd going back to the Capitol my next dome for you is if you see the big cruise ships in like two of them maybe don't go that day ask your hotel hey is there a cruise ship coming in today they probably will know because winster gets two big cruise ships in there think about it 10 000 tourists invading for four hours so do have a heads up because it can get a little crazy at that time other times it's actually pretty laid back relaxed and and the thing is if you're in there in the evening most of the cruise ships have got the people back on the boats by then so it kind of calms down so you can do that enjoy the town then but just have a heads up for those cruise ships now some other don'ts I have for you that are a little quicker ones one don't forget to tip here in Aruba you're going to be tipping about 15 on your bill yes I know it's expensive when you're going out to eat here but you also do tip and I'll be honest the service here the quality of the food you will be happy with it at least we've been very happy with it which is super nice because yes I'm paying a lot of money but I'm getting good service and a really good food I'm kind of okay with that which is really nice and actually people in the food service industry here are very well trained as well so that's a really nice thing another donut I have for you is don't worry when you're here Aruba is super safe and the thing is you can go out at night you can enjoy yourself and stuff like that and have a good time in the high-rise District the low rise District you're going around if you're in the capital stuff like that you're going to be pretty safe I mean obviously use your usual tourist insights like or should I not be here maybe not obviously in the evening time things always get a little bit more you know dangerous overall but and honestly the rube is not really dangerous your most danger here is the Sun and when you're driving around when the other tourists aren't paying attention because they're looking to that beautiful beach and whoops they quickly jump out of the way I mean we've almost been hit a couple times so do have a heads up because you may think the drivers see you but they might not because they're looking at all the different stuff all the beauty that's here also another donut I have for you is don't forget to rent that rental car before you come if you're gonna be coming here during the holidays or on a weekend because a lot of the places a lot of the rental car agencies actually book up and they have no cars I mean we had to go to three when we came here I mean we weren't supposed to come to Aruba this was a really a last minute thing like we got the tickets the day before so we flew in we got in and we went to Alamo they're like no we have no cars went to another place no we don't have any cars we went to a budget oh we have no cars oh wait we have one car left and we have to get it here for you like that's fine we'll get it whenever you can get it for us and we're gonna talk to them like yeah on the weekends especially holidays and stuff like that make sure you're booking those cars early because there's a limited fly up now another donut I have for you is don't skip out on Carnival if you can come here when it's Carnival season you know Mardi Gras in the US they have Carnival here and it's one of the biggest places for Carnival in the world so definitely if you come here for Carnival enjoy the music and the dancing and everything it's well worth it and my last done for you is one thing is when you're gonna be leaving Aruba just remember if you're going to be going to the US from a rubber they do customs and stuff like that here before you go back to the US so it can take a little bit longer to get through customs to get checked in so my don't is don't wait for the last minute to get to the airport because your mic is stuck in line and you don't want to miss your flight though maybe maybe you do want to miss your flight because it really is gorgeous here anyway I hope this helps you know a bit more about Aruba special thank you to all of our members on YouTube of our patrons on patreon for helping us make honest travel videos like this and we wish you all the best and bye from here on Aruba

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 319,866

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: GX63YBrNvN4

Length: 14min 39sec (879 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 22 2023