A R U B A
08/31/21 - 09/05/21
DAY 1
Day 1 - Our first day started very early! We were at the airport by 5:00 AM and on-board for take off by 6:30 AM. We had a nice direct flight from Boston to Aruba via JetBlue. 9/8/21 would be our 20th anniversary and Karen and I came to the Hyatt Aruba for our honeymoon, so it was nice to return with little Michael. After getting settled and checking in, we headed to the Hyatt's lovely pool complex for some food, welcome drinks and a dip! The pool complex features two levels, a waterslide, cabanas and a fun swim up bar. We were sure to experience all of them multiple times! The Hyatt also has a very central location to many bars, restaurants and shops that you can walk to. We picked a local one, Giannis, for an early dinner outside. It was a fantastic start!
DAY 3
Day 3 - The next day featured more fun in the sun. After breakfast, we started with seats at the pool today and enjoyed the many slides, levels and waterfalls of the Hyatt's main pool We even stopped by the Pool Bar for lunch. Its amazing, you can have a drink or snack with your feet cooling off in the water! After lunch, we had reserved a catamaran snorkeling tour through Red Sail Sports. The boat took us to two different snorkeling areas, one close to the shore with tons of fish and another by an old ship wreck. After snorkeling, the boat took a sail down the coast and offered some refreshments. We were all pretty tired from the boat ride, so for tonight we decided to grab some local Chinese take out and have it on our balcony.
DAY 2
Day 2 - Dad went down to the beach early for a nice beach walk. The beach was so calm and relaxing. After his walk, he reserved a spot on the beach. The Hyatt had numbered "palapas" that you could choose from which included chairs, a table and a shaded hut. We spent the morning at the beach and had lunch and our favorite beverages delivered to our palapa! During the afternoon, we took a short drive to Aruba's famous lighthouse point. To our surprise, it was open for you to walk up to the top of it! At the top, we took some photos and got some amazing views of Aruba. After the lighthouse, we explored the Ritz Carlton hotel for a few minutes and then headed to a delicious dinner outside with fantastic live music at Madam Janette's.
DAY 5
Day 5 - Today we decided to do a little early island exploring. We drove over to the small town center and stopped at Linear Park. Linear Park has a large colorful Aruba sign that you may recognize from some tourism ads. We took a few pictures by the sign and then headed to Aruba Aloe. Aruba Aloe is one of the worlds largest Aloe producers. They offer a self guided tour of their facilities, allow you to walk through some of their farms and have a large store offering their products. After our tour, we headed back to the hotel for some beach time and had a special 20th Anniversary dinner at the hotel's signature restaurant, Ruinas Del Mar. We dined at a nice table overlooking the gardens and pools and they even gave us a special surprise anniversary cake!
DAY 4
Day 4 - Today, we just enjoyed the resort! After breakfast we relaxed by our beach palapa enjoying the beach, sea and pool. Aruba has a similar climate all year round with an average temperature of 82 degrees and beautiful beach winds. At 1 PM, the resort offered Koi Fish feeding. Each of us were given a small bag of fish food to throw out to the fish. It was fun! Those big guys were hungry! Shortly after, it was our turn for lunch, so we ordered lunch by the pool while playing a game of Bingo! So close, but no winners at our table! After a brief break in the room, we took a small walk to a near by shopping area, stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a quick snack and had dinner. I could live here!
DAY 6
Day 6 - The Aruba fun in the sun was coming to a close! Our flight back to Boston was scheduled for late in the afternoon, so we did get to enjoy one more morning of breakfast at the hotel and swimming by the pool and beach. We all said our "good byes" to the pool and slide and by early afternoon it was time to pack up the car and head to the airport. After a quick ride to the airport, we returned our car and then got in line for a very, very long check in process. This was a little bit stressful and took over 3 hours. We finally made it to our gate and were on our way home! We all enjoyed Aruba and would definitely recommend it for a relaxing Caribbean vacation, especially if you live on the East Coast. Excited to return one day soon!
WHAT WE THOUGHT OF IT
MICHAEL
KAREN
MICHAEL S
