Aruba Beach Club

May 10 - May 17, 2003 by Paula and Mike Richman

We recently returned from our first visit to Aruba having spent a glorious week at ABC (5/10-5/17). For those not wanting to wade through my overly long journal/ trip report, here’s the reader’s digest version: IT WAS AWESOME! Next, to address those negative people out there who feel anything positive said about Aruba is a conspiracy perpetrated by the powerful timeshare owners lobby to increase the value of their investment, hogwash! We had the time of our lives and loved everything about Aruba and cannot wait to go back!

Saturday 5/10

Paula and I got to the Cleveland airport at 4:30 for our 6:45 AM flight. We were flying United and were the first in line for check-in. We breezed through that and through security and had 2+ hours to kill before our departure. Our flights were delayed in Cleveland and Chicago due to bad storms but we still managed to get to Aruba only about 30 minutes later than plan. The airport process was quick and we hopped a cab to Aruba Beach Club. Our unit was everything we had hoped for! Facing the water on the first floor we were a few steps to the beach and a few more to the water.

It couldn’t have been more perfect. The cell phone guy arrived exactly as planned and went over the phone rental, features and answered questions. I highly recommend Rent-A-Cell to anyone considering renting a phone. I made most of our dinner reservations in advance and our first night was at Pirates Nest for the Honeymoon dinner on the beach. Our reservation was for 6:30 hoping for a great sunset. The sunset was lousy but the dinner and whole experience was wonderful. We just loved the printed menus with our names, the champagne and the leisurely meal and attentive/pleasant staff who seemed bent on making it a special evening. The evening cost us $90 which included tip that I added on top of the included service charge. After dinner, we wandered over to Ahlambro casino and deposited a few dollars to boost the economy, a theme we repeated throughout the week.

Sunday, 5/11

I was up too early and surprised to find a storm outside, waves crashing over the rocks. It didn’t last long and a bit later I took a walk down the beach, then running till I got to the high-rise area. I was excited to see the area and planning ahead, I had taxi fare not wanting to reverse course and hike home. The high-rise area has a resort feel to it with its beautiful grounds, glitz and buzz of activity. We prefer to stay in the low-rise area for all the opposing reasons. It is quieter and has less of a "big resort" feel to it. We just love being able to walk out our door and be so close to the beach and water. Unfortunately there are only a handful of units like this and it would difficult staying any place else. Each day would start with me putting our towels out to reserve our chairs and shade and then some form of exercise that always included a walk along the beach. In trying to be somewhat cost conscious, nearly all of our breakfasts would be cereal for me, English muffin for Paula. Lunch today was at Manchebo sitting outside near the beach. We both ordered chicken sate’, the first of what would be many times ordering this dish. Food was great. Drinks also good and the setting on the deck near the beach, also very nice! Dinner was at Madame Janette’s. In a word, fantastic! The food and service was great. I had a snapper dish with white asparagus. Paula had beef tornados, which were excellent, and we split an appetizer and dessert. With a few drinks and tip, bill came to $109. We would highly recommend MJ and can’t wait to come back! After dinner we went to the Marriott to look around and try our luck at the casino. A few more bucks for the economy.

Monday, 5/12

I was up early and worked out at the health club at ABC while Paula slept. One of the timeshare owners told me ABC got new equipment this past week. How fortunate for me! I found it a great place to try to work off what I consumed the day before. After breakfast, we headed into town on the bus for some shopping and exploring. The area was bigger than I expected with lots of neat shops. Unfortunately that meant it was going to take way longer than I planned with Paula feeling the need to talk to every jewelry store employee on the island! J She decided on a very nice turquoise bracelet and earrings at Noble Jewelers. Though everyone was nice, I was somewhat disappointed with the high-pressure tactics at most stores but it was their slow season and everyone needs to eat. We had lunch at the Paddock. Both of us had sate’ which was excellent. Two pork tenderloin skewers each with French bread, a few drinks and the bill came to $25 not including tip. That was enough to earn me a free tee shirt with our Aruba Plus card. We headed back via bus but messed up getting off a stop too early and had to walk ½ mile. The heat of the day nearly killed us both. Oh well, so our first bus experience wasn’t quite flawless! J We enjoyed the rest of the day in our beach chairs at ABC but did walk over to Pega Pega for a drink (too early for happy hour though). We watched the sunset from our beach chairs before cleaning up for dinner. It was a good one but a little cloudy.

Dinner was at Tabasko for BBQ and we took a taxi for our 7:30 reservation. We could have ordered from the menu but I had read the BBQ was good and wanted to try it. Set around the grill was a choice of salads, rice and baked potato with a cook offering ribs, chicken, fish and shrimp.. I enjoyed the food. It was not elegant dining, but I like rolling up my sleeves and getting involved with my food, not Paula’s cup of tea. J The setting outside on the patio with soft white lights and a very good singer was very intimate. We shared a large bucket of sangria and lingered there for almost 3 hours. With coffee and a shared dessert (caramel crème, sort of like a flan and excellent) the check totaled $67 not including tip. We both enjoyed the evening very much.

Tuesday, 5/13

Today was our jeep tour. We were picked up in the morning and shuttled to the Wix office where we began a journey through the island that we will never forget. I had made arrangements with Christian at Aruba-Experts and Marco at Wix for a private jeep with air conditioning. We are both adventurous but not young and both long past any thrill one might derive from too much heat and eating sand! Forget anything negative you have heard about Wix. They did a wonderful job accommodating our request (for an extra fee) and I highly recommend both Wix and Aruba-Experts. The jeep tour took us to the lighthouse, Alta Vista Chapel, Baby Bridge, natural bridge, gold fort and the natural pool. The ride from the natural bridge to the natural pool was awesome. I had been looking forward to going way off road (I own a jeep at home). The rough terrain, up and down hills without trails was much more "off road" than I expected but I loved it! Personally, I would not rent a jeep and do this on my own. Its dangerous and the jeeps got pretty beat up. Several times one of the jeeps got stuck and needed assistance. It is a lot of fun with a tour group and with someone who knows the route and what they are doing. We had purchased the half-day tour but were given the option of staying on for the rest of the day, as we would miss out on baby beach and some snorkeling there. We opted out as it was already 3PM and we had other things we wanted to do that day.

Dinner was at El Gaucho. I almost cancelled it both of us being exhausted from the day and a little drunk from happy hour at our pool bar. But, after watching another wonderful sunset sitting on our chairs at ABC we got cleaned up and headed to dinner. I am so glad we went! I know some people have written it is not as good as it once was and some have had bad experiences there. We loved it! Our table was ready upon our arrival though the place was packed and some people waiting at the cigar bar. The roving musicians came by to play a song for us. We ordered the Gaucho steak and scampi and shared both dishes. The scampi was good but the steak was unbelievable! It was perfectly cooked and served with a caddy of sauces. I loved the garlic sauce and homemade steak sauce. The pumpkin soup was good and we also shared a pitcher of sangria and dessert. The bill, including service charge was $98 to which I added extra for the very special evening.

Wednesday, 5/14

The week is half over already and we are dreading seeing it end so soon. Today we have a car rental and had planned to some exploring around the island and see some of the things not included in the jeep tour. But, having spent all day in the jeep yesterday, plans changed! The day started badly with Jansen messing up the arrangements for the rental. They called and said the car would be at Manchebo. At Manchebo they said it was waiting back at ABC. At ABC, they said no, no car here. I called again and they said the car is at CDM. No car there. I called again and they said rent one from Toyota in the CDM lobby, which we did. Lost an hour but was very pleased with the car and Toyota Rental’s service. Having to be downtown by 11:30, we did not have time for Linda’s Dutch Pancakes, another disappointment.

In town, I had arranged to surprise Paula with "Touch A Tiger". How often do you get to pet a 600-pound Siberian tiger? She loved it but we now know why they call it a once in a lifetime experience. You don’t get 10-15 minutes, you get 30 seconds and once you realize you paid 25 bucks for 30 seconds, you wont do it again in this lifetime! Still, a good experience. She got her picture taken with the tiger and we had more time to shop! We managed to find Gold Town, a store frequented by friends of hers who come to Aruba often. There she fell in love with a gold bracelet and got a great deal. Leaving the store, it was raining or misting. It felt great and cooled us off and lasted only a few minutes. The rest of the afternoon was spent on our patch of sand watching the water and reading. We swam some and used our floats but the waves were too fierce and it took everything I had to paddle back to shore. Dinner tonight was at Fishbones. Our table was on the side facing the sunset at the water edge. Feet in the sand. A very nice setting and place to watch the sunset except for the big boat docked blocking our view!

A waitress said we could not switch tables as the table I wanted was reserved for someone. That made sense until another waiter moved a couple from another blocked table to that table! I was ticked. Oh well. Not going to let that ruin a great evening. We each had a drink and a glass of wine (free with a coupon I found in a flyer). Paula had the lobster tail and I had one of the fish specials. Both were very good but dessert was excellent. We shared a crème brule which they split into two cups. The coffee is served with a tray of cookies and fresh fruit. The crème brule was the best we have had and we order it quite often. Our waiter was very nice, very busy catering to a lot of tables and taking pictures for people like us that asked. From our table we saw fish just below us in the water, and a crab and eel getting washed in and then out with the waves. Very cool. The bill came to $108 including tip. We enjoyed the setting and evening very much but will probably try some of the other sunset dining options before returning. After dinner we made a deposit at the casino at the Wyndham but only after winning some and then giving it back.

Thursday, 5/15

Two more full days! OMG its almost over! Today is Sea Trek and a half-day at De Palm Island. Paula really wanted to do this and several people including Christian at Aruba-Experts did say it was a lot of fun, though expensive. My day started with a run on the beach and before returning the car, I took a drive around the high-rise area and then picked up a few things at Hong King grocery store. It’s a very nice store with everything anyone could possibly need. We had several hours to lounge on our beach chairs having made reservations for the afternoon for Sea Trek. On the bus over was a family that also did the jeep tour with us. Small world! They were very nice and we ended up doing Sea Trek with them and spending most of the afternoon together. Sea Trek was an experience we will never forget. For those not familiar, you climb down a ladder into the water and a guide puts a helmet over your head that has pressurized air pumping into it. The pressurized air keeps the water out of the helmet and keeps your head dry. Very cool.

A guide is with you as you continue climbing down the ladder until reaching the bottom, about 20 feet down. At this point, you just walk, holding on to a handrail. We saw tons of beautiful fish down there and the guide took a lot of pictures with their camera that you can later buy if you wanted and he also took pictures of us using my waterproof camera. There is an airplane submerged down there forming a reef with all kinds of fish around it and basically you just keep walking and after about 20 minutes, you climb back the ladder. It was a lot of fun. Prior to starting the trek, they do offer wetsuits for rental. There has been a lot written on the BB about this. There was no high-pressure pitch. Several people did rent suits. If you are like Paula and have a low tolerance for cold, get the suit. I was chilled but I can tolerate cold pretty good.

After the trek we had lunch. You could go to the counter for a burger, sate’ or chicken fingers or the buffet line that had quite a few things to choose from. We took advantage of the open bar several times and after lunch; I tried snorkeling for the first time. It was awesome! Big blue parrotfish everywhere and all kinds of fish of various shapes and colors. I tried to get a few pictures but had used up most of them at Sea Trek. After, we lounged on beach chairs, sipped another pina colada and they ferried us back at 5PM. It was a wonderful day and for us very much worth the money. We were both too tired to venture far for dinner so we wandered over to Pirate’s Nest. We both like it a lot there. This time we sat on the deck close to the beach and had the same waiter as Saturday night. He remembered us and was very pleased we had returned. We had a few drinks. Paula ordered the salmon with champagne sauce. I had the special for the day which came with tomato soup, salad bar and I chose "Keshi Yena", an Arubian dish. For those not familiar it’s chicken with raisins, cashews, olives, green/red peppers and melted Gouda cheese. It’s slightly spicy with a very unique seasoning and I loved it! My dinner came with coffee and dessert. Paula had the flan and the bill came to $75 including the service charge to which I added extra for the wonderful meal and great service. After dinner we checked out the shop by the Alhambra casino and watched the lunar eclipse. Cheap entertainment having made so many deposits all week at the casinos!

Friday 5/16

Last full day! Today we intentionally planned nothing until the sunset cruise so that we could relax and enjoy the day as we saw fit. I started with a workout and long walk up and down the beach. Still in search of iguanas, I took my camera and asked several maintenance workers along the way but came up empty. Around 8AM sitting in our beach chairs, we watched the cruise ship coming into port. It was close enough to read the name, Carnival Destiny. Around 2 we wandered over to the pool bar and had lunch. Sate’ for me, chicken fingers for Paula. Both were good but the sate’ and in particular the sauce was excellent. With 2 drinks the bill came to $29 including the service charge. On the way back to our timeshare, we saw an iguana near the pool and I ran back and got my camera and got a few good pictures. Later we took a taxi to Moomba Beach for the Jolly Pirates sunset cruise. That was a lot of fun. Several people tried the rope swing and we got a good laugh at some trying to do flips or whatever. The crew performed many flips while we sipped a few. Very entertaining.

The sunset was the best one of the week. The colors were amazing, pinks and oranges. Just breathtaking. The only disappointment was having no food. Aruba-Experts steered us to this tour saying the food was better than on some of the other boats. Oh well. We had a great time and for the money it was well worth it. Next time we will try Mi Dushi. Dinner at Papiamento was excellent. We had a nice table outside near the pool. With the soft lights on the trees behind us, it was everything I had expected. I had my usual Balashi, Paula her usual pina colada. We shared an appetizer of Keshi Yena which was excellent. I had a shrimp special. Paula ordered the beef tenderloin with melted Gorgonzola. Both were very good. Coffee and a slice of cheesecake with Kailua sauce (excellent) and the bill came to $117 including the service charge. After dinner it was back to Alhambra to hand over more cash. We enjoyed it there. None of the casinos are large like you might find back home. All were pretty similar in size and options. For us, Alhambro was very convenient and always buzzing with activity. We got back home in time to watch the cruise ship all lit up heading out to sea and then it was time for bed.

Saturday, 5/17

We talked to several people also leaving today and decided to leave for the airport at noon for our 3PM flight. I cannot tell you how sad I was writing today at 5AM hoping our last few hours moved at a snails pace!

I wrote my final entry halfway home. Paula and I were on opposite ends of the plane thanks to the stupidly of United Airlines. As previously instructed, we got into the United line for check-in and waited and waited until our turn came and we were told, no, we need to get into the USAIR line as this United flight is operated by USAIR. At the USAIR counter we were told our seats are not together. When I booked the trip, United said the seats could not be pre-assigned but as long as we are there 2 hours in advance, we will get seats together. WRONG! We were there almost 3 hours prior and they had already pre-assigned seats, and ours were not together. I was still ticked sitting in a row with a young couple returning from their honeymoon not able to keep their hands off of each other, cuddling and giggling the whole way home. Sweet but I would rather have sat with Paula!

My last few hours in Aruba were spent walking the beach, swimming and taking pictures.

I saw a family of iguanas near the pool. We said goodbye to our neighbors and hope to see them again. We met a lot of wonderful people from the various excursions and bumped into them at various places and we will miss them for sure. Thanks again to all the BB people who gave guidance and helped make our week an amazing experience. There were only a few regrets and things we will be sure to do next time:

• Get to Linda’s for Dutch pancakes.
• More snorkeling!
• Next time rent a car for most or the whole week. The taxi fares add up fast!
• Try to squeeze in a second week. One week is not nearly long enough!

Regards, Paula and Mike