Aruba

I did make it to Aruba for a few days in late January for work. What a pain it is to get there from the west coast. I had to fly a red eye to Chicago and then connect at 6am to a flight bound for Aruba. Aruba like most of the islands in the Caribbean thrives on tourism from the eastern seabord. Most west coast folks just fly west to Hawaii for island sun. However, I prefer to tough out the extra hours on a plane and make my way to Fiji, Bali, or Thailand.

That said here are a few thoughts on Aruba as a destination. If you are all about sun, beach, water sports and gambling, then Aruba is your kind of destination. I can only sit on a beach so long, and need an urban city nearby with vibrant night life. Unfortunately Aruba shuts down by 10pm unless you are inside a casino - boooring. The weather was windy the entire time I was there, but the locals told me the wind helps keep the climate cool. The wind does make for great wind surfing and I am told that Aruba is one of the best places in the world to wind surf. They did have a lot of beginners out on the water as well as people using large kites to speed across the water on their boards.

I managed to get one afternoon to soak up some sun, but typical Aruba weather got the best of me. The sun is out, it is gone, the rain comes for 15 min, then the sun comes out. This process repeated all day while I was there. So if you are outside all day you will get nice sun, but there is no guarantee if you just hit the beach for a few hours.

How do you like the view from my room?