You Will Want to Rent a 4-Wheel Drive While Visiting Aruba
Oct 27 '01
The Bottom Line A rental car or Jeep is great for sightseeing. You can also take bus tours and sunset cruises that allow you to explore a variety of locations.
If you're visiting Aruba for the first time, you'll probably want to rent a 4-wheel drive vehicle. There are several areas of interest that are definitely off-road. Besides, this sporty little (mostly Suzukis) are fun for darting around the island.
Regular Cars on Paved Roads Only
Rental car agencies will restrict you to paved roads unless you choose a 4-wheel drive. What we found to be an ideal combination was to rent a 4-wheel drive for 3 days, then exchange it for a regular car.
Aruba is a small island and you can easily have time to visit the remote areas such as Natural Bridge or Natural Pool in three days. Trust me, that will give you plenty of time to bump around on dusty hot unpaved areas. You'll probably gladly exchange it for a regular, more comfortable and cool car after a few days.
Then you can spend the rest of your visit to Aruba checking out beach areas, shopping, or casinos.
Other Transportation Options
If you really prefer not to drive, you can take a bus tour of the island to see all the spots, then use taxis to get around the island.
The taxis do not have meters and charge fixed fares for destinations. For example, it cost $10 to go from the airport to downtown (with no luggage) and $11 to return from downtown to the airport with luggage.
The fare to go from downtown Oranjestad to the high rise hotel areas was $7.
Party Time
There are also some party buses you can take in the evening that pick you up at your hotel around 6pm and take you to a variety of dining and drinking establishments before returning you sometime after midnight.
How to Rent a Car
Upon arriving at the Queen Beatrix Airport you will see a row of car rental agencies -- at least a dozen are on airport property.
Bargain Alert: Having just returned from Aruba I can tell you there are some bargains to be had in rental cars. Because tourism is off, there were a couple of people that approached us with special deals as we walked to the Budget Rental office (where we had reservations). There are also car rentals located at various hotels and resorts on the island.
Maybe Even a Freebie
If you think you might be sitting through timeshare sales pitches you might want to hold off. Some people got 2-days free car rental for an hour of their time. It worked out really well for two couples who went in together -- they had 4 days of free rental.
Rental Prices
You can expect to find a compact car for as little at $170 per week -- even better rates were given to couples staying two weeks. (We spent a lot of time sipping beer and comparing deals with other couples while in the condo pool in Aruba.)
Bottom Line -- You're Probably Going to Rent a Car
One couple initially decided not to rent a car and planned to take a bus tour of the island. By the end of the second day in Aruba they had rented a car for three days.
You don't necessarily have to have a car all week - depending on how much you want to sightsee or go to various locations. We've visited three times and had a car each time.
This past visit we stayed a week and a day -- we paid $250 for a week (intermediate car) -- rather than pay $70 for an extra day, we dropped it off and took a taxi back to our hotel for the last day and then to the airport. (With an early morning flight back to the U.S. it was nice not to have to deal with a rental car return that morning.)
Don't Miss the Aquatic Forms of Transportation
Of course, there is one more way that you will definitely want to see Aruba, and that is from the water. No trip would be complete without a sunset sail up and down the leeward side of the island. You can find a variety of boats that leave dock around 5pm, treat you to cocktails and hors d'ouerves as you watch the sun set, and then return you about 7 pm.
We've taken catamarans, as well as a large 75-year old sailboat. It provides a perfect view of the beautiful white sand beaches and affords you a wonderful sunset as the breeze picks up and the temperature cools down. It is the perfect way to see Aruba from another angle.
Of course, I also like to get around Aruba under water, as well. There are some great reefs and wrecks to visit and a dive boat is a pretty good form of transportation, as well.
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