Our Dive Trip to Aruba…

We took a trip to Aruba back in 2018 and absolutely fell in love with this Southern Caribbean island.  The atmosphere, the people, the things to do, the food – it was amazing!  Aruba is a good summer destination because it is outside the hurricane belt.

This was the third summer that my husband and I had traveled solo (sans kiddos).  We had started to work out the kinks in how we travel and what we prioritize.  So, we made a list to make sure we saw and did what was important to us, but also left time to just wing it.

We knew we wanted to dive at least one day and we wanted to explore the island another and we wanted good food but off the beaten path a little so nothing in the hotel, if you know what I mean.

We did our research and looked up places to eat and things to do, laid out a plan and set out on our five-day kid free adventure.  After our experience, we would go back in a heartbeat!

Our home airport is Charlotte and the only non-stop flight is on American (Charlotte is an American hub).  From Charlotte it was a bit long – a little over four hours – but not too bad as long as you download a few movies beforehand (for some idiotic reason, American doesn’t have video screens in the seatbacks).

I think we would probably upgrade next time because my husband, especially, could have used a few more inches of space.  Once we landed in Oranjestad, we got our jeep at the airport and got checked in at the hotel pretty easily.  For us, the jeep is a must and worth the extra money because we didn’t always stay on the main road as we explored the island.

The next day was our dive day and we were excited because, honestly, that is what we traveled to do, or at least me.  We’re a diving family.  All of our kids (now ages 13, 15 and 18) are certified and we have really gotten into spearfishing (check out our YouTube channel JAKLO Spearfishing or our Facebook Page).

My hubby dives a lot more than I do because he is a little more willing to dive in different, less desirable waters.  I guess I am a little more of a dive snob and only want to dive in clear warm water 😊.

The dive staff at Red Sail Sports, a 5-Star PADI shop, was awesome and welcoming but honestly, the conditions were not great.  The first dive was supposed to be a drift dive and we didn’t stay in the water more than five minutes before we decided the seas were just too rough and that they might not find us if we drifted too far so we got back on the boat.

The second dive was on a shipwreck, The Antilla, and much more enjoyable.  The site was full of life and not very deep.  The seas were much calmer at that location and I wish we had just spent both dives on this site.

We were told that this was kind of how Aruba diving was because of the trade winds so we decided that we would not do a second day of diving and instead just do an additional day of exploring in the jeep.

Good decision – it was awesome.  We went all over the island and stopped wherever we wanted to see things!  We went to the Aruba Ostrich Farm and the Donkey Sanctuary; we saw the Natural Bridge and the Natural Pool and Eagle Beach to name a few.  Having the jeep made it easy because we went at our own pace and turned down every road that looked interesting.

And then there was the food… YUM!!!  Hands down our favorite place was Gianni’s Ristorante Italiano.  So much so that we ate there twice in our short trip and both times getting the Formaggio Parmigiano.  It was our first experience with authentic Italian spaghetti… they had us at Parmesan cheese wheel!

That was actually our last stop before heading to the airport for the trip back to Charlotte and back to reality.  Until we meet again; Aruba and Parmigiano – we’ll be back!

Jacquie

Wife… Mother… Friend

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” – Phi 4:13

I love diving and travel (usually for more diving).