What do you like so much about Aruba ??

[aquaman]

I read the many comments posted by fellow Aruba lovers. While sitting in a major traffic jam last night while returning from work, I started wondering what it is that each of us likes about Aruba. I am hoping that this thread will get response from others about their special likes of Aruba. Is it the people, the weather, the beaches, the food, or other things that we all like. I am really curious to see what are other visitors favorite things about Aruba.

Lets have some replies. Does anyone have a really unusual thing they like

Regards all

[SanNic44]

My "island" friends. The people I know who are natives, expats, or visitors.

Not unusual, but one of the things that makes the place great.

[Elaine S]

Along with the usual: great island friends, wonderful weather, kind and caring Aruban people, but for me personally, I cherish the peace I feel; no stress; acclimating myself to "island time, and just be happy." As you can see, my "bests" are not really tangible, they're simply what I feel in my heart and my head while I'm there.

[dwippies]

it is the only place in the world that i can actually feel enough peace to take a nap.

[Corrine]

The weather, the water, the people, the food - a perfect place to vacation and feel at rest!

[Tina from Sweden]

If i should write about everything that i love about Aruba it would be a very very long story.

So i just say this....The first time i came to Aruba Aruba welcomed me with a hug full of warm love. I couldn't do any thing els but hug back. I fell for Aruba and the charm around the hole island. Everytime i come back to Aruba we hug each other long and hard.

Aruba is the piece of my lifes puzzel that i have searched for. I found it and now i'm complete.

Hugs to you all

Tina from Sweden

[charlierat]

Everything everyone else has said, I agree with. At the top of my list would have to be the feeling I get while on the island. This comes from a combination of things, some things totally personal to me. For lack of better words, I just get a feeling that all is right with the world when I'm on the island.

[bhoffdhoff]

I love to travel. When we go to new places we run, run, run. We make sure we see as much as possible. But...when we go to Aruba, we go to relax. We go for all the reasons everyone else said and we go to relax. It is the one place we go to totally rest and be happy. As they say, Aruba, One Happy Island.

Bobbie

[Chip]

Arashi beach and our friend Mark, a dealer at Stelaris, that I fish with every trip. He always takes the catch home to his family and brings Diane and I back a meal of the catch, salad, plantains and corn bread that we devour with a few frozen cocktails by the pool.

He plans to have his boat finished by our next trip so, as he says, I can fish for free. I guess I'll find out what it's like to take one of the wooden Aruban fishing boats out into the surf.

Oh and waking up every morning to realize where I am.

[bt0510]

1. No plans! When we are in Aruba, we don't have to plan much of anything, we just go with the flow and make decisions on the fly. Everywhere else that we seem to travel is just the opposite.

2. Relaxation is soooo great in Aruba. My wife loves the sun and being really hot. I like the sun but don't like to be really hot. The island breeze is so peaceful to me, while still allowing my wife to get what she wants.

3. The smile on my wife's face the whole time we are there.

[arubabob]

Originally Posted by aquaman

Aruba. Is it the people, the weather, the beaches, the food, or other things that we all like.

Lets have some replies. Does anyone have a really unusual thing they like

Regards all

All this plus total tranquility and lack of stress.

[john]

Wife & I are retired, so we are used to doing not much. What we love is being with friends in Aruba and just having a big party for 2 weeks. We are at Divi Village weeks 4-7, but our "group" is mostly weeks 5 & 6. It's wonderul seeing people every year from Oregon-NYC. The people on the island are so caring, it just makes it a wonderful trip. We have traveled throughout the world and not found anyplace as relaxing and enjoyable as Aruba. 4 months from today we will be there again!

[DiviAruba]

I love the safety of the island. Also just lazing which is really all I do, lay on the beach and sleep. Nothing like getting a tan while sleeping.

[TomFrederick]

>>> "I love the safety of the island. Also just lazing which is really all I do, lay on the beach and sleep."
---- Ditto.
Plus: Drinking a few cold Bright beers on the beach.
Walking the beach.
Taking a swim in the ocean now and then.
Having lunch at a beach bar.
Going out to a great local restaurant for dinner.
And then repeating the process day after day.
R & R all the way.

[chrisnwillie]

I love the peace, I love the beach, I love our timeshare, and I love the friends I have made there...if it wasn't for Aruba, I would have never met people from all over and they have so enriched my life. I am thankful everyday for finding Aruba and all it has brought into my life.

[chip collector]

The food, the ambiance, the pace, the hotels, the people, the beach, the relaxation...and, of course, the casinos (and their stuff)!! I especially love the poker room at the Excelsior and Marta (I have no idea how she spells her name), who makes it such a fun place to play every night.

[Kent]

Its a place where my wife can lay in the sun and get a great tan. I can go snorkling everyday and see alot of great stuff. The drinking water is the best around. You just can't lose going to Aruba. Its the only place that we go that feels like home!!!!

[tinad]

I love the warm blue water esp. Eagle Beach. I love the fact you really do not need a car , public transp via bus is great. We wqish we did not relax as much as we do because I must admit we never want to leave the beach.We have not explored much in the way of tourist sites.I love the supermarket Hong King and Lings. I also have discovered Cerified the bakery - great breakfast and sandwiches to go. I love sitting on the baconey in Aruba watching a sunset and drinking a cool rum drink. WE LOVE THE FRIENDS WE'VE MADE IN Aruba.

[jahmon123]

Tranquility and Relaxation at it's finest.

[Dee273]

I like being able to walk on the beach at 6:30 am and watch the sky change colors as the sun rises on the other side of the island. I like watching the pelicans dive into the waves to catch their feast. I like listening to the sound of steel drum music while sipping cocktails with my toes in the sand. I like staring out at the ocean and the setting sun until it's completely disappeared. I like the fact that the setting sun always puts on such a mesmerizing show. I like the peace and tranquility that infuses my head while I'm doing all of the things above. I especially like spending REAL quality time with my DH, forgetting our "real life" stresses while we're there make our kisses/hugs/"etc"(!) all the more enjoyable. Sigh.....11 1/2 more weeks......can't come soon enough!

[Rainbow Villa]

What I like so much about Aruba??? Plain and simple...Its HOME which is where the heart is......

[ArubaMary]

Where do I begin? I have been visiting Aruba (sometimes three times a year) since 1985. What attracted me and helped make my decision to purchase time share is the wonderful Aruban people. On my first visit I became friendly with the native Arubans,and was welcomed into several homes. The friendships remain with me today. Of course, I love the weather, the wonderful Caribbean, the restaurants (one better than the next), touring the island and finding new spots for photography each year. Now semi-retired, I look forward to the month of February on "my island" in 2009.

[seashelldiver]

Met my husband there, fell in love with the pace of the island, the perfect weather, warm warm gin clear water, sticking my face in the water and snorkeling for hours with my thoughts-total relaxation, the local food, my neighbors and friends who made living there such a joy and the friendliness of all the Arubans......I have never been any place in this world where people actually get to know you, remember you from year to year and get so excited to see you each time you arrive in ARUBA.....Arubans are the Kings and Queens of hospitality. I used to not greet people on the streets or in stores etc etc....after living in Aruba, I now make it a point, even though I am back in the states, to greet strangers and hold doors open more often and take time to be a kinder, friendlier American, I LOVE THAT ARUBA had that effect on me

Hello everyone......sorry it's been awhile, but I work at GM now, and I'm not supposed to me online during the work day, but I couldn't resist this topic !!!

[aquaman]

Shellseadriver,

What a great response. I am personally involved as a supplier to all of the auto mamufacturers and therefore fully understand you.

I am loving to see all the comments and responses. Aruba, is indeed a special place.

Hopefully there are a lot of others out there who may not be posting due to "bashhfullness" or just being shy, but I really encourage one and all, lets hear what we all like about Aruba. In these rough economic and political times we need a rufuge and to share what is good and something we all enjoy.
Having been born and brought up in the South Pacific, I must say that of all the islands I have visited in the Caribbean, Aruba takes the cake.

As with all of the world, Aruba faces challenges. I truly hope that Aruba will learn from the experiences of other equivalent countries and put in place systems that will maintain this paradise.

Aquaman

[Jeff Stanley]

There isn't anything that I don't like about Aruba....Aruba makes me feel whole even in bad times. I can't wait to get back, I need the healing that the island brings to me!

[tds-ken]

Outside of everything in life! What the Island has meant to our family, it truly is our second home!

We just love it there.

[Cathy&Jim]

I love when the airplane touches down, I feel the stress of every day life melt away. It's an instant calm that comes over me.

I love getting out of taxi at the resort and being greated by resort staff with smiles and hugs welcoming us back.

I love renting a car with no destination in mind and setting out early for a day of new discoveries without being fearful.

I love floating on my raft in the clear ocean water without a thought in my head.

Sunsets....breath-taking.

I actually love getting up early to line up for a hut watching the sun come up. I have met the most wonderful people while waiting to book a hut. Everyone has a great story and you always hear the best while sipping on a coffee, watching the sun come up.

Spending time with my husband in Aruba. No cell phones, no computer, no work. Just us and an island we both love. We have the best talks! Corney, I know but after 17 years married, we always feel like honeymooners.

I'm sure I have many more....Heading there Sunday. I just can't wait to see my friends and meet others.

Everyone says I could have travelled the world by now if I didn't spend so much time going to Aruba. Sadly, those people have never been to Aruba. If they had, they would understand.

I hate to fly so if you find time, think of us flying on Sunday.

[mambo]

I think the first thing are the people. The Aruban people are so friendly and I believe that if you didn't have this it wouldn't be the same island to
visit. You can feel pretty safe there.
The second thing is the weather. It seems to be always nice. Sure you might have a quick shower or passing clouds but that is about it. The evenings are just incredible. The balmy nights with the breeze and the rustling of the palmtrees can put you into a trance.
Next in order...the sunsets, the ocean,the restaurants, the bars, and of course all those great looking women. I believe I should have put the women first, what do the guys think?

[Sandra]

It's home! nuff said.

I hate not being there and I hate the fact that there are people who hold that against me. I am absolutely miserable being in Holland; alive but not living.