Marriott's Aruba Surf Club

September 2 - 11, 2005 by Pam

Our Aruban Vacation

We had never been out of the country before, so this was a true adventure for us. We even got a kick out of getting passports for the first time! I did alot of research on Aruba using guidebooks, not so helpful, and going to Aruba bulletin boards, VERY helpful! I am so thankful to everyone who was so nice to answer all of my questions. It made for a wonderful, relaxing trip for us.

The girls and I went to a tanning salon prior to going to Aruba. My first time to do so. While in Aruba we used a spf 50 for our faces and used a spf 30 everywhere else until the last couple of days when we went down to a 15. We also treated ourselves to manicures & pedicures. This was a late present for Jill's 16th birthday.

Our first day of vacation was spent doing last minute things & finishing up with a visit with Dan's mom. She lives about 1 hour away and her home is on the way to the airport. We then spent the night at a Shilo Inn right near the airport. We like using their park,ride & stay program, especially when our flight leaves at 6:10am! No problems or lines that early at PDX. The flight to Houston was full with 1 cranky, crying toddler. Houston's airport is HUGE. It probably has it's own zipcode. Our flight was delayed about 1 hour as a downpour started with windshear conditions as we sat on the runway. The next leg of our flight from Houston to Aruba was almost empty and we each were able to have a row of 3 seats to ourselves to stretch out and nap.

We arrived in Aruba around 8:20pm. We picked up our rental car, (not the one we reserved as pick up time is before 4:30 & Dan did not know to tell them our flight got in late). We managed to cram 4 people and 6 suitcases-yes 6-plus carry ons into our little "clown car".(One suitcase was small filled with snacks, coffee, cocoa & the other with snorkel gear). We were so stuffed into that thing that we were not able to buckle up, a first for the kids, and Dan could not see out one window, we helped navigate. The directions to the hotel were buried at the bottom of the pile of luggage so we just drove towards the high rise hotels until we found ours.

Driving in Aruba was quite an experience. It took us awhile to figure out the signs and the road rules (are there any?) I'm sure as we were thinking crazy Aruban drivers, they were thinking @#%^&*$# tourists! Dan did get the hang of it and it made for a fun memory. Did not see many locals buckled up, or babies in car seats. Beware of the occassional stray dog or goat that wander into the road. Scared the beejeezus out of us that first night.

We stayed at the Marriott Surf Club. We are not owners of that timeshare but traded for a week there. It is a beautiful hotel and we would stay there again. The resort has two timeshare properties and one hotel/casino. All are in walking distance of each other. We were sometimes able to get a parking space in the parking garage at the Surf club, othertimes we parked in the Ocean club's parking lot. To check in at the Surf Club you first check in at the Ocean Club desk. Just take your bags with you and a bellman can walk them over to the Surf Club.

The beach here is beautiful, white soft sand and clear turquoise water, almost bathtub warm. The swimming area here at the Surf Club is pretty, but the sand in the roped off area feels slimy. Once you are on your floaty it doesn't matter. Never had a problem getting shade as there were not many people using the huts. There are lots of water activities on this stretch of beach. We all parasailed! So much fun. The rope is 600 feet long, but you don't go quite that high (sure seems like it though!). We chose to use Red Sails Sports for our parasail adventure. Jill did not want to go the full 10-12 minutes and they brought her right down. We all felt a little queasy after the boat ride and decided to use Bonine for our next trip.

Down the beach aways we met up one day with the Tranquilo for our 6 hour snorkel sail. Captain Anthony sails you out 2 hours to a shallow spot to snorkel and then takes any adventurous snorkels for a drift snorkel in deeper waters, 25-30 feet. There really isn't much swimming you have to do for this, just drift with the current. We saw huge brain corals and other wonders. Dan held my hand when we did this as I am afraid of the water. The girls stayed on the boat. When we returned from this awesome experience lunch was waiting: Captain Anthony's mom makes the best pea soup and a variety of sandwiches. There is also an open bar with juice and water for those who don't want a cold beer or rum punch. The rest of the evening I felt like I was still on the boat! I swear the room was swaying!

I can not say enough about the beauty of the beaches in Aruba. We fell instantly in love. The sand is so white & soft, the water so clear and blue and warm, also very calm waters.

We liked Baby beach. This would be a good place to teach someone to swim or snorkel. Very calm, shallow water. We rented for $30 a shade hut, 2 beach chairs and couple of floaties. Forgot to bring the cold Balashi beer!!! Could have used some. Our favorite beaches were Arashi and Malmok. The girls floated in the water while Dan & I snorkeled. The water was 30 feet deep or so in places.

We spent one day at the Renaissance private Island. There is a boat at the hotel that takes you to and from the island, it leaves every 15-20 minutes. The cost for this if you are not a hotel guest is $50pp. This will get you a day on the island, lunch, one drink-mixed or otherwise- dessert and either a floaty or snorkel gear. There is a family side to the island and an adult side. We chose the adult side with the flamingo's, iguanas and topless ladies. The girls were fascinated by all three! The flamingos fight with each other over food, the iguanas will eat lettuce right out of your hand, and the topless are very comfortable being so. At one point both girls grabbed the top of my suit and pulled down! "Brats", I thought," I'll teach 'em". When it was almost closing time and there were only a few people left, one guy sleeping and one with his topless lady, I decided to play a trick on the kids. I thought, wouldn't it be funny if before I get out of the water, I take off my top, wave it at the kids and put it back on....2 problems here, 1 the kids aren't paying attention to mom in the water and 2 the top is wet and won't go back on, (tank top style). I've now got to decide if I can stay the night in the water, after all it is warm, or do I just walk out of the water with what God gave me? Lucky for me God included my snorkel fins, which when carried properly will cover up even the saggiest of you know whats. Of course when I get to the back of the beach under the trees where our towels are, the kids response is "Gross Mom, wait until we tell Grandma!". Not everyone will get this version of our trip...

We only did a little bit of sightseeing as we got lost. Most of the streets don't have signs on them. We drove by using landmarks. Someone should make a map using landmarks to show the way. We did go to the California lighthouse. Beautiful panaramic view from here.

We loved eating at Linda's Pancakes and would have eaten here more than twice if we would have found it sooner. I got online and got landmark directions and we drove right to it. Great pancakes, pizza & people. We also really liked Deli-France. Wish we would have eaten here before our last day. Great food and nice people. We ate one night at Champions Sports Bar at the Marriott. Food & service good. Our first & last night we ate at Moomba's. The first night the food was good, the last not so much & they got our order wrong, but our waiter was such a sweetheart we didn't care. Loved eating at El Gauchos. We all had their BIG steak. Made for awesome leftovers. The night we ate at Pincho's, we were 1 of two families there, no one else. LOVE the salad. Lunch & drinks one day while shopping was at Iguana Joes.

Spent too much time & money shopping downtown. Not only bought souvenirs, but some Christmas & birthday gifts as well. Dan bought me an early 22nd anniversary ring. I am SOOO spoiled. Dan bought some Cuban cigars. He let me try one. I'm not sure if a Cuban is all it is cracked up to be as I have never smoked even a cheap cigar. I would be tempted to try a flavored cigar sometime. Only share it though, a puff now and then would suffice.

I fell in love with the itty-bitty cans of Balashi beer. Just my size, even then, I only once finished one.

Aruba's drinking water is very good. As is their beer, beaches and people, not always in that order! I loved listening to all the different languages being spoken. Everywhere English is spoken, that said, I would definitely learn to speak Dutch & Papiamento, the local language, if I were to live here. September must be election month here, we somehow managed to get in the middle of what must have been a parade, lots of cars and VERY loud music. The rearview mirror in our clown car was vibrating and we were a few cars back from the truck with speakers. As with any place you may travel, there are areas of wealth & poverty. We felt as safe in Aruba as we do in Salem in the same situations.

It is very hot & humid here and would be too much if not for the tradewinds. Did I mention that it is hot, hot hot in Aruba?

Aruba is out of the hurricane belt so no worries weather-wise.

Our flight home left at 9:35am. Not many people at the airport at this time, lots of stray dogs though, our oldest cried and wanted to take them home. A quick trip through customs and then wait for the plane. Not as scary as I thought it might be. Really did not know what to expect as our only experience with customs has been what we see in the movies & on TV. We made sure we gave Dan's last Cuban cigar to the bellman, so we were good to go.

The flight home was full & uneventful.

We would definitely return to this sunny, beautiful, happy place again if given the opportunity!!!!