The casinos are located in all the major hotels: Westin, Radisson, Hyatt, Marriott and downtown in Oranjestad, The Crystal and Seaport Casinos. They are open until early in the morning. The stores in Oranjestad are closed on Sundays. The grocery stores are open on Sunday, but only half a day. We have a small grocery store across from Wacamaya, called Ting Wei. It is open Mon-Sat from 8 - 8 and on Sundays until 1 pm only.
There is a washer and dryer downstairs on the property, it is 4 florins for each load. The currency in Aruba is florins (AFL). Everything in the local stores is in florin. The hotels use $US. The conversion is:
1 dollar US =1.75 AFL
The water from the tap is safe to drink in Aruba. You do not have to boil it.
Aruba is very close to the equator. Be sure to drink lots of water, keep hydrated and wear sunscreen.
Tuesday night is two for one at the cinema. The theatre is located in the new mall opposite the Holiday Inn. It’s called Paseo Herencia. There are fountains in the mall and they have a little water and light show every hour that is synchronized to music.
They should have given you a copy of Destinations Aruba at the airport and some literature on restaurants and sightseeing. This is a list of our favourites:
Madame Janette, Dutch, large menu
Chef's Table, Dutch, variety of food
Wacky Wahoo, fish
Marandi, romantic setting on the water, mixed menu
Smokey Joes, for ribs, casual
Gianni's, Italian
Blossoms, Chinese/Japanese, at the Westin Hotel
On Sundays, if you're looking for a local meal, alot of places have BBQ., around lunchtime. One place we've been is the Chinese restaurant, the new Wei Tei and they charge 13.50 AFL for a load of food including ribs, chicken, rice, coleslaw, corn. One order is alot of food. It's take out.
Entertainment: Garufa, Cigar Bar across from El Gaucho, Friday night is Martini Madness, band, lots of fun, dancing
Bugaloe at De Palm Pier, end of the walkway beside the Riu Hotel. I think it's Friday and Sunday nights.
There are watersports booths all along the beach if you want to snorkel, dive, windsurf, boating, deep sea fishing etc. If you have your own snorkel gear there are many places that you can go and snorkel on your own. Malmok Beach and Arashi Beach and along this area are the spots to snorkel. A lot of people also go to Baby Beach at the other end of the island to snorkel.
All the beaches in Aruba are public. You aren’t suppose to use the hotel pools and chairs, but you can use any of the beaches. You will find many spots along the beaches with huts and you can use these and take some beach towels etc.
Wanted to mention some restaurants add an additional 15% surcharge automatically to your bill. Check if they do or not, because if they have you don't need to tip on top of that.
If interested, we now have local cell phones available for rent, $25US/week. They allow free incoming text and phone calls. They can be used for local and international calls on a pay-as- you-use system. Cards can be purchased across the street at Ting Wei. If interested, we would collect $100US upon arrival and would refund $75US upon departure once phone and charger are returned in the same working condition. If rented in advance the phone #’s can be provided to you so that you can leave them with your family.
Please take note that we try to have the units ready for your arrival, but check in time is at 4:00PM and check out is at 11:00 AM, should other arrangements be required please feel free to ask and we will see if we can accommodate your request.