This post brought to you by Aruba Tourism Authority. All opinions are 100% ours.
We miss The Caribbean. After falling in love with the islands when we vacationed on Tobago twenty years ago, and visiting nearly a dozen other islands through the years, we ended up living on one, St. Croix, up until 2008.
Five years later, we are feeling the need for a refresher dose of island time.
We find ourselves longing for the tropical breezes, swaying palms, and brightly colored buildings.
And we really miss the food. It’s been way too long since we had any goat stew, or freshly caught mahi-mahi, wahoo, or spiny lobster. Where could we find all of that, but something different too? We always like a new place to explore.
When the Aruba Tourism Authority asked us to write about why we would like to visit their island, we found our answer. Unlike most of its Caribbean neighbors, Aruba has an arid climate and cultural influences more from nearby South America than The West Indies. Definitely a unique place.
With a quick visit to Aruba.com we could see that the island is also all about pristine beaches and crystal clear water. We love the water, whether we’re boating, fishing, parasailing, or – our favorite – snorkeling. The website features ways to enjoy all of these – another check on the plus side.
Then, when we looked a little deeper and discovered that there is a World War Two-era German cargo ship sunken right off Malmok Beach we got really excited. It is very rare indeed to be able to explore a shipwreck without SCUBA gear, much less an historic relic such as The Antillla.
Back in 1940, when it eas thought to be supplying German U-Boats, the 400 foot ship was ordered to surrender, but the captain chose to scuttle it in the shallow water instead. Folks on Aruba say that he didn’t want to surrender, but he also wanted to give future tourists a great dive site.
Granted most would think of Aruba as a winter getaway, but there are factors in favor of a visit in the summer or fall. Like great off-season deals that we found on Aruba travel, and no need to worry about the weather spoiling the trip like it could on other islands. Aruba sits well below the hurricane belt, so there’s little chance of a storm interrupting the trip.
Like most travelers, we keep an ongoing lineup of all of the places we want to see in our heads.
Aruba definitely just jumped up on that list.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
YOUR TURN: Is Aruba on your bucket list too? Have you been to Aruba? Let us know why YOU think we should go!
