Tamarijn Aruba "All Inclusive"

March 2 - 11, 2006 by Andy

Aruba Forum Profile: STEELGUY

ANDY’S 3RD TRIP TO THE TAMARIJN ARUBA

So the trip to Aruba was great !, I got there on Thursday March 2nd 2006, the plane landed a bit earlier than expected and I was at the Tamarijn and in the ocean about an hour after touchdown. Here are a few highlights from the trip;

Friday March 3rd

I went in the morning to see my friend Tracy who works at the Butterfly Farm, I always enjoy going there as it’s a very peaceful place. She asked me if I wanted to participate in an 8 mile walk-a-thon the next day but I decided to pass. She also sells cosmetics from her home and she asked me to a cosmetics party for Tuesday and I told her I wasn't really into that stuff.... From there I went to Oranjestad and had lunch at my favorite restaurant which is the Waterfront Crab House having the Chilean Sea Bass. I met the owner there his name is Roy, he told me he one of the if not the biggest buyer of fresh local fish on the island. Personally I’ve never had a bad meal there. From there it was back to the Tamarijn for a swim in the ocean and ended up having dinner at there at the buffet. That night I played roulette in the Casio---finished up $400....

Saturday March 4th

I took the public transportation bus up to the northern end of the island and went snorkeling at Boca Catalina, I find the public transportation in Aruba to be very safe and reliable, as this area was close to the last stop the last stop on the bus route, the bus driver said he’d come back and look for me at 11;50 a.m., which he did and brought me back to the Tamarijn. Not bad service for a $2 round trip.......

After I went swimming and relaxed I went to Oranjestad went to the Driftwood Restaurant for a bowl of fish soup and garlic bread. A friendly staff and nice very clean well lit restaurant----After that I went to Casio's in downtown Oranjestad---went back to hotel close to midnight--so I took a cab.....

Sunday March 5th

I went to the 10;30 a.m. service at the Protestant Church in Oranjestad, on my last trip to Aruba I went to that church to tour the bible museum and see the art work paintings, so this trip I wanted to go to the service, it lasted an hour, about ½ of the service was in Dutch as was all the songs. It was nice. From there I walked to the Waterfront Crab House for lunch…back to the hotel for swimming and that night dinner at the Tamarijn—gambled at the Holiday Inn, The Radisson and the Wyndham and took the bus back to the Tamarijn.

Monday March 6th

I went on the Depalm Bus Tour Aruba, I was picked up at 9;a.m. and got back at 3 p.m., it went to the Lighthouse, Alta Vista Church, Remains of Natural Bridge and Baby Beach. A very fine time….After getting back to the Tamarijn I did my swim in the ocean and went to one of my favorite Oranjestad hangouts called Que Pasa, a very Dutch bar / restaurant, I usually sit at the bar and have an appetizer, so I had the almond fried shrimp, it was good and then back to the Tamarijn for dinner.

Tuesday March 7th

I rented a car, got it about noon-time, drove up north to a place I enjoy for lunch called Salt & Pepper, very Dutch, good hangout for tapa’s, I had the garlic shrimp, the friend shrimp and the mahi-mahi appetizers. My waitress was Cybel and she told me about her trip to Curacao and Mambo Beach. Then I drove the car around, explored Noord and Santa Cruz area, the drove to Alta Vista Chapel then took the road north to the Lighthouse, getting back to the Tamarijn about 4;30 p.m. for dinner and gambling.

Wednesday March 8th

I got up at 6;30 a.m., had a quick breakfast and then drove to Arikok National Park, got there a little after 8;a.m., It was party cloudy out a typical 83 degrees and a little windy, ideal for a hike as the sun wasn’t out in full force just yet. Walked some of the trails and walked to the Cunucu Arikok, felt like I was the only one in that part of the park, lots of birds-green parakeets and orioles, good views. As I had rented a car I couldn’t use it to explore the dirt roads in the park---next time I will rent a jeep. This trip gave me good ideas on what to do there next time.

From there I drove to Baby Beach to snorkel, the sun had come out and it was hot—so a swim was a good idea. After swimming I went back to the Tamarijn—had lunch—and then drove across the street to Noah’s Ark which is a pet food / pet toy store to pick up some toys for my cat and my friends cat. It’s a nice store, very clean with a helpful staff. After turning in the rental car I swam in the ocean. That night I went to Oranjestad to have an appetizer at Cuba’s Cookin. I was there about 5;30 p.m. so it was quiet, I had the pork bits appetizer which comes with lettuce and some fried banana, very nice-nearly more food than I could eat, it started to get busy there as I was leaving….so I headed back to the Tamarijn.

Thursday March 9th

This was my side trip to Curacao, I got this idea from my friend Jamie, so I got up at 6 a.m., took a taxi to the airport and took an 8 a.m. Dutch Antilles Airline flight to the island of Curacao, arriving at 8;20 a.m., At Jamie’s recommendation I took a taxi ride on the 2 lane super highway to the Hotel Avila, a very Dutch hotel south of Willemstad, sat out on their small open air pier and had an excellent breakfast at the Blues Restaurant for $14. A very friendly staff there as I had emailed them in advance. From there I walked 10 minutes north into the capital city of Willemstad.

This is a busy 500-year-old city, about 40 times the size of Oranjestad, Aruba. I found the clothes and souvenirs to be priced cheaper than Aruba, a very multi-cultural city. The city itself is divided in two by the bay, from one side to the other is a 10-minute ferry ride---which I took….as it was getting close to lunch I took a cab to Mambo Beach, an area south of the city, paid $2 for beach access and then had lunch there, walked down the beach a bit and found the Lions Dive & Beach Resort and hung out there at their beach bar Hemingway and got very relaxed and had a beer. As it got close to 3 p.m. I took a cab back to the airport for my 5;30 p.m. flight back to Aruba, landed at 5;45 p.m. and was back at the Tamarijn 20 minutes later. Aruba is a bit cleaner, I felt a bit safer in Aruba. Still it was a fantastic interesting day. Yes I would go back to Curacao, but only for up to 3 days.

So Friday March 10th was my last full day, I went into Oranjestad in the morning, did a bit of shopping and finally bought a ring from Tanzanite International, had lunch at the Waterfront Crab House and then went back to the Tamarijn to swim in the ocean…That night went to Salt & Pepper for some appetizers and then back to the Tamarijn for dinner.

Got up had breakfast and sat around the Tamarijn on Saturday March 11th, went in the ocean-took some pics—had lunch and Depalm Bus took me back to the airport picking me up at 1;30 p.m, It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to get thru ticketing / customs and security.

Here are a few thoughts I have on staying at the Tamarijn, I like staying there for the room, its only a 2 story hotel, if your on the ground floor you open your back door and it is 30 steps to the ocean, a long beach stretching from the southern end of the property all the way up to the Divi, excellent for swimming and I did some snorkeling there. The beach is far less crowded than for example the La Cabana area. Rooms are not the most fancy, but they are clean, not central air conditioned so the a.c. does make some noise at night if you use it. It is all-inclusive and you do pay a bit more than some of the other places in Aruba. Breakfasts are excellent, omelet bar-pancakes-french toast-waffles-pastry-lots of fresh fruit-+ usually 6 other hot items to choose from.

At the Tamarijn they now have the weeks menus pre-printed so you can see what will be served there as well as at the Divi, so lunch and dinner I found that all the fish items were excellent, as well as very fine roast pork, prime rib and excellent curry dishes. Vegetables there are good although cooked mostly very plain. Deserts always are superfine. The snack bar-soda bar-coffee bar are all excellent…for the limited amount of drinking that I do I found the bars to be good.

Traveling alone I did not get a chance to eat at the all-inclusive restaurants being the Red Parrot or The Palms or Paparazzi. If you ever have any problems at all while staying there you must tell the staff—be it the front desk or the wait staff—the chef—the maids—or the concierge—just tell them and they will fix it as they want you to have an enjoyable stay. In general I feel very safe there as well as a general safe feeling in Aruba of course always trying to use good travelers common sense.