Aruba Private Island Paradise

My wife and I had a great trip to Aruba this year and one the the things that made it so great was the private island that the  Marriott Renaissance had in downtown Oranjestad. The hotel is actually two hotels separated by about a 5 minute walk. Between the two hotels there is a pier and a great little shopping mall with lots of restaurants and touristy shops. We liked the location downtown. There were lots of things to do downtown at night and we found great places to eat. We stayed at the adult only part of the resort. This hotel is right next to the harbor and does not have access to the beach, but is right in the middle of town. So you get great access to all of the shops and restaurants.

Trip to the beach

Boat ride out to the island

So you are wondering why would we go to Aruba and not get a hotel on the beach. We kept going back and forth between staying in the High rise part of Aruba (All inclusive resorts right on the beach) or staying downtown where we would have to travel to the beach. We found out the Renaissance has a "Private Island" for its guests. It was a short 15 minute boat ride from the hotel to the island. So we decided to take the chance and stay there. We figured we could always go to the other beaches if the "Private Island" didn't work out.

The boat runs every 15 minutes starting at 7 am and ending at 6 pm every day. It is pretty consistent and we rarely waited longer than 10 minutes for a boat. The boats are small and prepare to get a little bit of ocean spray. It is a fun trip out on the ocean and really isn't very far. We met several people on the boat and each couple had a unique and interesting story.

One Island, Two Beaches

Paige making a new friend at Iguana Beach.
Look close it is plastic.

When you arrive to the island you quickly find that the island is broken into two areas Flamingo & Iguana Beaches. Flamingo beach is a couple minute walk from the boat dock. While Iguana beach is right close to the dock. The beaches are named after the animals on the beaches. At noon they feed the Iguanas on the beach and some of them are quite large.

Iguana Beach

Iguana beach has the rentals for water floats, snorkel gear and towels (free). They also had a restaurant. The restaurant burned down a couple of months previous. But they had a great little food shack as a temporary restaurant.  The food was great especially the Piña Coladas (Virgin of course). 

Iguana Beach was a great beach like every other beach we saw in Aruba. Beautiful white sandy beaches with clear blue water. This beach is for families so there where some kids on this beach. Even though there where kids, it was not that crowded or noisy (except for the sound of jets taking off from the airport which was about 2 miles away). We got on our snorkeling gear and went snorkeling There were fish everywhere we looked. Especially along the rocks on the edges of the little lagoon they built.

Flamingo Beach

Darren trying to ride a flamingo.

Flamingo Beach has flamingos. Yes they are real life flamingos. Just wandering around the beach. Not cages, not restrictions. You can even feed them. If you have food. They become your best friend very quickly. 

Flamingo Beach was for adults only. So you didn't get the noise of kids so it was somewhat more relaxing.  The only downside is the restaurant is on the other beach. A two minute walk away. But they do have waiters that come by periodically to make sure you are hydrated. More Pina Coladas :) 

We went snorkeling again on this beach and found even more fish. We spent most of days here sitting on the beach, snorkeling, eating and sleeping. Needless to saw if you want a relaxing day this island is the place to go.

DWP 

Flamingo getting ready to attack.

Aruba lighthouse restaurant

One of the first places we visited on our trip to Aruba was the California lighthouse on the northern tip of the island country.  The light house is named after the SS California which ran a ground over 100 years ago.  They built the light house to warn other ships  of the rocks and reef on that side of the island.

Romantic Evening

We asked the navigator (concierge) at the front desk about the light house and places to eat near there.  She suggested a nice Italian place with great views right by the lighthouse.  Sunset would make it even more romantic.  So we booked a table for an hour before sunset.

One thing you should know about Aruba. The weather is the same everyday. 88 degrees for a high and 78 for a low.  Oh and the wind blows about 15 to 30 mph. Being new to the island we heard of the year winds but did not understand them until our romantic evening outside at the lighthouse.

When we arrived at the restaurant they seated in the best place to see the sunset. Which happen to be outside on the terrace. It was a beautiful spot,  except for the 20 mph winds that we experienced for the two hours of our dinner.

Many of the women on the terrace with us tried everything they could to keep their wind blown hair out of their face or food. Bobbi pens, pony tails and in the case of my wife the cloth napkin that was on the table. 

It was quite funny to watch people as the tried to deal with the wind when taking pictures with the sunset in the background.  The wind was blowing up skirts and dresses, and making a mess of hair. But since Aruba is "One happy island" and everyone was on vacation, there was lots of laughter and smiles.

The food 

Like most of Aruba, the food was great. They serve traditional Italian food with lots of seafood options. Dinner came with great bread complemented with butter, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. We also tried the brushetta which was amazing.

One of the difficult things during dinner was when we finished all of the bread,  the bread basket started flying away in the constant wind. That just gave us an excuse to ask for more. 

This is a must go and see for a romantic evening but I would suggest not sitting out on the terrace. It was far too windy. Or if you do be ready to be wind blown hair look and food that will cool off way too fast.

DWP