Aruba questions (camping, lighthouse, rent, hotel)

[summer918]

Hello all. Doing all-inclusive in Aruba end of April. Did some research but reaching out to get some info. Would like to do some activities outside of hotel. We haven't booked anything. Would you recommend booking before we get there, or once on the island. What/where would you recommend? Would love to do some type of snorkeling. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Bringing some electronics, they do use same outlets as USA correct, or do I need an adapter? Also, I know they take American dollar, but trying to figure out how much cash we should bring. Most purchases will be made through credit cards, (gifts and other necessities). I know we will be tipping, as we go along for appropriate services. Thank you again for any input that may be helpful to us. Have a great day.

[southkakkatlantan]

Not a whole of advice to offer here as I've never been to Aruba. However, I am in the process of trying to plan a small girls' trip there in late June.


I hope others will chime in with answers to your questions!


Of note, a few popular beaches you should Google and take alook at (try looking at them on TripAdvisor to view photos): EagleBeach, Palm Beach, Arashi Beach, Baby Beach, Noord


Things to do besides the beach:

-Butterfly farm
-ATV tour
-Tour via boat
-Horseback riding
-Donkey sanctuary, ostrich farm
-Casino
-Small submarine tour
-Arikok National Park (desert like park for hiking, caves, beachy area)

[cebuan]

My advice would be to just get of the plane and take it from there. There are lots of other travelers who can tell you face-to-face what they liked and didn't like. You can make a your activity choices once you get a feel for the island. Even meet other travelers to double up with, maybe rent a car for a day together.

My wife and I probably never would have bothered, for example, with a safari out of Nairobi. But we met another couple at the hostel, and rented a car together, and rented camping equipment, and did a week-long self-guided tour of the game parks. Moral of the story -- keep your options open.

[RooCeleste]

Aruba was easy. It's been a couple of years since I was there, but I think they do use US plugs. Just google it. It's a safe, friendly, clean, non-pushy island with tons of water activities and land activities. Don't book ahead of time - just do it once there. The Segway up to the lighthouse was a blast, but my favorite was renting the Harley trikes and going on an island tour on them! We had a rental car so we drove everywhere - out to Baby Beach, out to the prison where we saw donkeys in the wild, up to the lighthouse, to Arikok, to Casibari Rock (we went there on the trike and it was so cool to climb to the top), to the awesome Dutch grocery stores.....there's so much to do! I'm a diver so I did a shipwreck dive on the Antilla, but I'm sure the snorkeling is great too. You'll have a blast! We were two girls, and at different times we were exploring alone, and no problems at all. Be ready, though, it's a desert climate and not lush and tropical like you might expect. And it's WINDY WINDY WINDY all the time so be sure to have a way to secure your hair or it will drive you crazy!