Aruba vs Grand Cayman

[Zeze]

Who's been to both?

As I understand it:

Aruba:
+ Much more to do, more resorts, activities, etc.
+ Also touristy as hell, I even saw bumper-to-bumper traffic on their touristy main street.
- Arid desert environment like SoCal with cacti.

Grand Cayman:
+ Much quieter, surprisingly sparse. Wife thinks we'd get bored. It sounds perfect to me.
+ Your typical wet and rainforesty
+ One-of-a-kind Stingray city thing (in a natural 3' shallow waters in the middle of ocean)

My friend just came back from Grand Cayman few times, so I feel like I'm quite comfortable with the island. You can just rent a car, walk the beach, enjoy drinks, drive locally to eat at great restaurants, etc. Parking is easy.

Is Aruba like this? Do you recommend renting a car or just go with excursion packages? Tell me everything about Aruba.

We are thinking of going 4-5 nights in early/mid August this year.

 

[ponyo]

Of the two, I would vote Aruba. I only visited Grand Cayman for a stop during Princess Cruise so I don't know much about the island other than the port area. We went to Aruba for a week for my daughter's Spring Break in 2017 and really enjoyed it. It's easy to drive everywhere and you can just pull over and enjoy secluded beaches with nice shade from trees, huts, and constant gentle breeze. There are plenty of great restaurants and prices are pretty reasonable. Driving and parking is really easy. Excursions are fun and cheap. And the local people are super friendly and I always felt super safe unlike some of the other places in the Caribbean. Aruba never felt touristy. But then again, we didn't stay in the hotel zone with other tourists and stayed with the locals in local area. I think that's why we enjoyed Aruba so much. If you stay at a resort, I'm sure it's pretty and boring, just like any other resort anywhere. Anyway, here's my short review of Aruba trip. https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...mily-vacation-feb-2018.2504330/#post-38858516

 

[Zeze]

Of the two, I would vote Aruba. I only visited Grand Cayman for a stop during Princess Cruise so I don't know much about the island other than the port area. We went to Aruba for a week for my daughter's Spring Break in 2017 and really enjoyed it. It's easy to drive everywhere and you can just pull over and enjoy secluded beaches with nice shade from trees, huts, and constant gentle breeze. There are plenty of great restaurants and prices are pretty reasonable. Driving and parking is really easy. Excursions are fun and cheap. And the local people are super friendly and I always felt super safe unlike some of the other places in the Caribbean. Aruba never felt touristy. But then again, we didn't stay in the hotel zone with other tourists and stayed with the locals in local area. I think that's why we enjoyed Aruba so much. If you stay at a resort, I'm sure it's pretty and boring, just like any other resort anywhere. Anyway, here's my short review of Aruba trip. https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...mily-vacation-feb-2018.2504330/#post-38858516

What area did you stay in Aruba? It sounds like you were really somewhere remote.

Based on the youtube vid, the main street of Aruba looked sickeningly super touristy with Gucci & brand name shops, etc. I even saw bumper-to-bumper traffic in that main street. Yuck.

But wife would love to go to Aruba and I think it's fine. GC is pristine but can get boring even for me for 4 nights. Aruba you can go somewhere remote and have all the activities/nightlife/excursions available to you.

 

[purbeast0]

I've been to Aruba 5x and Grand Cayman once and am going back there in September. You won't really go wrong with either it's just up to what you want to do.

And yes Aruba is like Grand Cayman in that you can rent a car and drive everywhere. Both islands feel extremely safe. I've rented a car every time other than the very first time I went there and drive all over the island, going to various different beaches, different restaurants, etc. The time I went to GC I rented a car as well and did the same. Keep in mind in GC you drive on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side of the car - it takes a little to get used to.

The weather in Aruba is absolutely perfect. It's like between 72-82 pretty much every single day all day, and there is a constant breeze which keeps you feeling not quite as hot. Grand Cayman was HOT with like no breeze. We definitely felt a big difference when eating dinners outside in GC compared to Aruba. I get hot very easily, as in I'll start sweating, and in Aruba that is rarely the case when we're eating dinner outside or at a bar that is outside. I specifically remember in Grand Cayman that eating outside was not nearly as comfortable because of the heat, but it was still doable.

The beaches in Aruba are very nice but Grand Cayman gets the nod in that area. The water is just unreal there and super clear. Again it's that way in Aruba too, but it's more prestine in GC. Seven Mile Beach is something to be seen. The water in GC is also NOTICEABLY warmer, to the point that I wished it was cooler at times to feel more refreshing from the heat.

Snorkeling in GC is noticeably better than Aruba as well, even though both places have areas to snorkel from the shore. But I saw a lot more in GC. Aruba you see the standard smaller tropical fish with an occasional turtle, but the coral there is pretty bleached for the most part.

The "busy" street you probably saw in Aruba I'm guessing is downtown in the capital Oranjestad. It's like a 200 yard strip of traffic you will pass if you go through there during the day. Other than that I have never seen any traffic on the island driving all around. Palm Beach is known as the "high rise" area and Eagle Beach is known as the "low rise" area. You can probably figure out what that means but Palm Beach has huge mega hotels like Hyatt, Hilton, Ritz, etc. They are like 20 stories tall and have a lot more stuff going on around the resort. They aren't quite the size of ones in Cancun though but many people who stay in Palm Beach don't leave the area other than for excursions. You can walk to a lot of restaurants along the main strip and find tons of bars as well. It definitely feels touristy in that area.

Whereas Eagle Beach has hotels that are more laid back and smaller and usually don't get higher than like 3-4 stories. They are more spread out so you will have more room on the beach there. There are some restaurants but it's more spaced out. Eagle Beach is like a 5-7 minute drive from Palm beach too so it's not like they are far apart. We always stay along Eagle Beach.

I could go on and on about both places. If you have more specific questions just ask them and I'll try to answer them. If it weren't for Zika I would have a trip planned to Aruba this year or would have already gone there.

 

[Zeze]

.

LOVE your reply. I sent it to my busty wife.

 

[Zeze]

@purbeast0
I sent this to @ponyo, but can you also answer these? You seem to have great knowledge and 'speak' well.

I loved your post below. Wife really wants to go to Aruba and it looks like we just do it instead of Grand Cayman this August first week flying out of EWR or NYC airports.

1. Did you do during peak season? Early/mid August is looking pricey ($600pp RT flight alone)

2. Any more stories of activities or eateries like below? I LOVED it. My wife would LOVE Zeerovers. We love doing things like that - eating, drinking, fresh food, local joints, etc.

3. What are some of your MUST DOs in Aruba? (Not just locations but casual things like - you must drive around this area, etc).

4. What are some things you HAVEN'T done in Aruba but missed out?

5. What are some things that you should AVOID doing (shitty excursion packages, crappy events or etc).

Any other tips? Thanks. How many times u visited again and when?

 

[purbeast0]

And yes, Aruba is very desert like, but I love that about it. It also has trees and a lot of greenery. But shit, where else are you going to be on the beach and see cacti? I love chilling at the beaches there with natural cover from trees and having cacti right behind us.

Here is where we chilled 2 different days, where we needed to drive a car to get to. We just post up under trees and get the natural shade and you can see there are tropical trees at one beach then the more desert looking trees at the other. That's part of what I love about Aruba.

Baby Beach:

Boca Catalina

 

[purbeast0]

@purbeast0
I sent this to @ponyo, but can you also answer these? You seem to have great knowledge and 'speak' well.

I loved your post below. Wife really wants to go to Aruba and it looks like we just do it instead of Grand Cayman this August first week flying out of EWR or NYC airports.

1. Did you do during peak season? Early/mid August is looking pricey ($600pp RT flight alone)

2. Any more stories of activities or eateries like below? I LOVED it. My wife would LOVE Zeerovers. We love doing things like that - eating, drinking, fresh food, local joints, etc.

3. What are some of your MUST DOs in Aruba? (Not just locations but casual things like - you must drive around this area, etc).

4. What are some things you HAVEN'T done in Aruba but missed out?

5. What are some things that you should AVOID doing (shitty excursion packages, crappy events or etc).

Any other tips? Thanks. How many times u visited again and when?

1. I've been to Aruba in July and GC in July as well. I'm pretty sure their peak seasons are during our winters. I did notice in Grand Cayman when I've been looking this year that the price where we want to stay again (Westin) are noticeably cheaper in August/September than they were in July. I've also been to Aruba in March (2x), September, and November/December. I didn't really notice much of a crowd different in any of the times I've been there to be honest.

2/3. My 2 favorite excursions to do is the Jolly Pirates morning snorkel tour, and then renting an ATV for the day and exploring the rugged side of the island on our own pace. The Jolly Pirates stops at 3 snorkel sports then ends with a rope swing off the boat. It's an open bar all day and they serve lunch. The crew is very fun and make sure you have a good time. Renting ATV's is awesome too and exploring the rugged side of the island is a blast. Going to the natural pool is VERY rugged but oh so much fun on an ATV. And when I say rent it all day, I mean for 8 hours. Go get lost, it's part of the fun.

My must do's are the 2 above, then we also have beach days at Baby Beach and also the beaches on the northwest side of the island, Boca Catlina, Arashi, and Malmok. My favorite restaurant on the island is Barefoot and sitting out on the sand when eating. I also loved eating at Flying Fishbone and sitting IN the water (or right on the shore as water brushes your feet).

4. The only thing I havent' done that kind of want to try at some point is kite boarding. But it's expensive as shit so that has stopped me, as well as just the time. I'd also like to try and SCUBA there but my wife isn't really into it so I haven't done it there yet. Last time I finally had enough time when ATV'ing to check out the windmills which was pretty cool because I'd never seen one in person before and they are rather large when you're right under them.

5. The only thing that I'd avoid that I have done is the Kukoo Kanukoo trip. It's a party bus that takes you to 3 "local" bars but it's just meh. I'm pretty sure the "local" bars are owned by the people doing the tour and you're pretty much the only people in there. You also have to pay for drinks at all the bars which is not explained very well, and the dinner was very forgettable. I also ate at Madam Janette I think it's call and it was very underwhelming.

 

[rh71]

I loved your post below. Wife really wants to go to Aruba and it looks like we just do it instead of Grand Cayman this August first week flying out of EWR or NYC airports.

Hah, we just may end up on the same plane. Same week for us, most likely out of JFK if history is any indication. No specifics though, still in the planning phase.

So exactly how cautious should we be of Zika? That may be the dealbreaker right there.

 

[Zeze]

Hah, we just may end up on the same plane. Same week for us, most likely out of JFK if history is any indication. No specifics though, still in the planning phase.

So exactly how cautious should we be of Zika? That may be the dealbreaker right there.

Are you hot? Do you have nice quads?

 

[Zeze]

Hah, we just may end up on the same plane. Same week for us, most likely out of JFK if history is any indication. No specifics though, still in the planning phase.

So exactly how cautious should we be of Zika? That may be the dealbreaker right there.

Whoa whoa whoa, avoid Aruba if you plan on spawning hell-demons in the near future. Wife and I were mad at this whole Zika outbreak when we were just trying to enjoy our last freedom before pregnancy. We followed CDC to the letter and avoided the entire south of US.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/zika-virus-aruba

What is the current situation?
Zika virus (or Zika) has been reported in Aruba. Public health officials have reported that mosquitoes in Aruba are infected with Zika and spreading it to people.

Many people infected with Zika virus do not get sick or only have mild symptoms. However, infection during pregnancy can cause severe birth defects. Because there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika, travelers should take steps to prevent getting Zika during travel. They should also take steps to prevent spreading it when they return home.

----
I wouldn't f*** with it if I were you. Also Aruba is freakin' small and have Zika infection? That's a consideration saturation & risk.

Call your OB/GYN. I think he/she will yell at your wife.

 

[purbeast0]

Grand Cayman is Zika free which is one of the major reasons we're going there in September.

 

[Genx87]

Who's been to both?

As I understand it:

Aruba:
+ Much more to do, more resorts, activities, etc.
+ Also touristy as hell, I even saw bumper-to-bumper traffic on their touristy main street.
- Arid desert environment like SoCal with cacti.

Grand Cayman:
+ Much quieter, surprisingly sparse. Wife thinks we'd get bored. It sounds perfect to me.
+ Your typical wet and rainforesty
+ One-of-a-kind Stingray city thing (in a natural 3' shallow waters in the middle of ocean)

My friend just came back from Grand Cayman few times, so I feel like I'm quite comfortable with the island. You can just rent a car, walk the beach, enjoy drinks, drive locally to eat at great restaurants, etc. Parking is easy.

Is Aruba like this? Do you recommend renting a car or just go with excursion packages? Tell me everything about Aruba.

We are thinking of going 4-5 nights in early/mid August this year.

I have been to both. Aruba is like going to the desert on an island. It was hot, the water was not as nice as Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is more tropical and still under British rule. So it is very nice.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. But if I was going back would pick Grand Cayman.

 

[ponyo]

What area did you stay in Aruba? It sounds like you were really somewhere remote.

Based on the youtube vid, the main street of Aruba looked sickeningly super touristy with Gucci & brand name shops, etc. I even saw bumper-to-bumper traffic in that main street. Yuck.

But wife would love to go to Aruba and I think it's fine. GC is pristine but can get boring even for me for 4 nights. Aruba you can go somewhere remote and have all the activities/nightlife/excursions available to you.

We stayed in San Nicolas area near some national park I think. We were about 2 miles from Flying Fishbone and Zeerovers restaurants.

The area you saw on the Youtube video with Gucci & other brand name shops is downtown Oranjestad. That's the area near the port where all the cruise ships dock and it can get busy with bumper-to-bumper traffic when the ships unload all the cruise passengers. If you avoid that time of the day and that short stretch of the road, then traffic isn't that bad. We were there for my daughter's Spring Break so we weren't looking for nightlife. Just nice beach and relaxation.

 

[ponyo]

And yes, Aruba is very desert like, but I love that about it. It also has trees and a lot of greenery. But shit, where else are you going to be on the beach and see cacti? I love chilling at the beaches there with natural cover from trees and having cacti right behind us.

Here is where we chilled 2 different days, where we needed to drive a car to get to. We just post up under trees and get the natural shade and you can see there are tropical trees at one beach then the more desert looking trees at the other. That's part of what I love about Aruba.

Baby Beach:

Boca Catalina

I visited both those areas in your picture and enjoyed it. Like you, I loved the different vegetation and all the natural shades from trees on the beach. It was so nice to be able to sit in the shade with the gentle breeze blowing and fall asleep for hours at a time. It was just perfect.

 

[ponyo]

@purbeast0
I sent this to @ponyo, but can you also answer these? You seem to have great knowledge and 'speak' well.

I loved your post below. Wife really wants to go to Aruba and it looks like we just do it instead of Grand Cayman this August first week flying out of EWR or NYC airports.

1. Did you do during peak season? Early/mid August is looking pricey ($600pp RT flight alone)

2. Any more stories of activities or eateries like below? I LOVED it. My wife would LOVE Zeerovers. We love doing things like that - eating, drinking, fresh food, local joints, etc.

3. What are some of your MUST DOs in Aruba? (Not just locations but casual things like - you must drive around this area, etc).

4. What are some things you HAVEN'T done in Aruba but missed out?

5. What are some things that you should AVOID doing (shitty excursion packages, crappy events or etc).

Any other tips? Thanks. How many times u visited again and when?

1) We went for a week during my daughter's Spring Break. So like first week of April I think. I'm in Atlanta and flights to Aruba are usually pricey. But I used my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book so the flight was free for all 3 of us. Normally it's around $600-800 per person.

2) We chilled and just enjoyed our time checking out various beaches to swim and snorkel. We were pretty close to Baby Beach so we spent couple days there and the beaches near it. We also spent time at Boca Catlina, Arashi, Malmok, Eagle Beach, Palm Beach and any roadside beach area that caught our eyes as we drove around. We enjoyed the food and views at Zeerovers and Flying Fishbone. The two restaurants are literally right next to each other and both excellent. We also enjoyed breakfast dutch pancakes at the Dutch Pancakehouse, excellent beach view and lunch tapas at The West Deck, and dinners at Yemanja Woodfired Grill. But skip Kamini's Kitchen and Gostoso. Both have really mediocre food and I'm pretty certain they paid TripAdvisor for positive reviews. We didn't see any locals there. Just tourists which was bad sign.

3) There isn't anything you must do in Aruba other than enjoy the beautiful beach. The north rugged side of the island has pretty incredible beach scenery with rough waves. You can only get there on 4x4, ATV, horses, or walking really far on foot. We went on one hour horseback guided tour of the area and we really enjoyed it.

4) We didn't do any nightlife or gambling since we were with our daughter so I can't help you there if that's what you're into.

5) We didn't do any other excursion packages other than the horse riding tour since it's super easy to snorkel from the beach and snorkel in the same areas the snorkel party excursion boats stop at. So I didn't see any reason to pay to ride party boat and some packed lunch when I could just drive to the same spot and enjoy it before all the boats showed up.

One thing I found interesting in Aruba was all the numerous small grocery stores/marts all along the road. And many were owned by Chinese. And that's other thing I noticed. All the Chinese named stores.

There is big supermarket called Super Food Plaza near Eagle Beach area. This was our favorite stop and we bought bread, cheese, deli cuts, and fruits for our breakfast and picnic lunches at the beach. The fresh bread they bake at the store is pretty good and better than the bread you find in the US supermarket. It's similar to European bread. And gouda, various cheeses, and deli cold cuts are better too than what you typically find in the US.

 

[Anubis]

I'm in Grand Cayman right now lol

AMA

 

[Anubis]

This is my lunch view

 

[purbeast0]

@Anubis what part of the island do you stay on? We never made it up to Rum Point when we were there last year but if we go this year we plan to check it out. If you've been there do you think it's worth it? From the pics I saw, it looked just kind of alright and just looks like a tourist trap place. I mean you can't even bring in coolers with your own drinks which I don't like at all.

 

[purbeast0]

There is big supermarket called Super Food Plaza near Eagle Beach area. This was our favorite stop and we bought bread, cheese, deli cuts, and fruits for our breakfast and picnic lunches at the beach. The fresh bread they bake at the store is pretty good and better than the bread you find in the US supermarket. It's similar to European bread. And gouda, various cheeses, and deli cold cuts are better too than what you typically find in the US.

That is interesting you say that about the bread. We too loved the bread there and would get a warm hot loaf of the "french bread" style of bread nearly every morning. We went there almost daily in the morning to stock up on drinks and stuff to bring to the beach. We made sandwiches with some of the rolls they make too and as you said, it's fantastic. I also really enjoy their little food court for breakfast and I would get 2 ham toasties nearly every day for breakfast because they are quick and cheap and yummy.

 

[Oyeve]

Aruba. Loved it. in the 2 weeks we were there it rained once for 3 mins. After the 8th day it was getting repetitive. Its a small island and we hit every part of it. Go horseback riding on the north part of the island. Very cool.

 

[Anubis]

@Anubis what part of the island do you stay on? We never made it up to Rum Point when we were there last year but if we go this year we plan to check it out. If you've been there do you think it's worth it? From the pics I saw, it looked just kind of alright and just looks like a tourist trap place. I mean you can't even bring in coolers with your own drinks which I don't like at all.

we own property on the east end, out by The Reef and Morritts Tortuga club. so basically the other side of the island from 7 mile. Its much more laid back on this side. sure there is less to do but less is what we like. but IIRC when you asked me years ago if you are young and wanna do more shit 7 mile is a better place to stay.. but if you wanna just do nothing and sit on the beach IMO its better on this end. + there is always a breeze on the east end. so its not as fing hot as it is in Georgetown/7 mile

if you are a big diver staying over here is also great as the Morritts has boats that go out and so does The Reef. single to 3 tank dive trips basically daily. better diving on this side of the island as well so your boat will be closer vs leaving from 7 mile or Morgans Harbor

as per your question about Rum Point. Yes i have been there and Yes its a bit of a tourist trap. they send people from the cruise ships there so if you go avoid one of those days. I didn't know they had that cooler policy (that blows) that must be somewhat new. Ive never seen it enforced TBH. Its a nice place and great for the sunset. but you can also go to Kaibo which is just around the corner from Rum point and have mostly the same experience.(is also much less crowded) they have a beach restaurant as well as an excellent fine dining restaurant at the yacht club - its a public beach out front and very calm like Rum Point and i don't think they have a cooler policy. There is also Starfish Point which is around the corner the other way which is another public spot that is great for sunset and whatnot

 

[purbeast0]

we own property on the east end, out by The Reef and Morritts Tortuga club. so basically the other side of the island from 7 mile. Its much more laid back on this side. sure there is less to do but less is what we like. but IIRC when you asked me years ago if you are young and wanna do more shit 7 mile is a better place to stay.. but if you wanna just do nothing and sit on the beach IMO its better on this end. + there is always a breeze on the east end. so its not as fing hot as it is in Georgetown/7 mile

if you are a big diver staying over here is also great as the Morritts has boats that go out and so does The Reef. single to 3 tank dive trips basically daily. better diving on this side of the island as well so your boat will be closer vs leaving from 7 mile or Morgans Harbor

as per your question about Rum Point. Yes i have been there and Yes its a bit of a tourist trap. they send people from the cruise ships there so if you go avoid one of those days. I didn't know they had that cooler policy (that blows) that must be somewhat new. Ive never seen it enforced TBH. Its a nice place and great for the sunset. but you can also go to Kaibo which is just around the corner from Rum point and have mostly the same experience.(is also much less crowded) they have a beach restaurant as well as an excellent fine dining restaurant at the yacht club - its a public beach out front and very calm like Rum Point and i don't think they have a cooler policy. There is also Starfish Point which is around the corner the other way which is another public spot that is great for sunset and whatnot

I actually didn't find that 7 Mile Beach had much at all to do either, but then again we were there with our son who was 2 and a half when we went, so it's not like we were out there looking for bars and stuff. I liked how laid back it was where we were and the restaurants there were all phenomenal.

But we enjoyed taking the car to other beaches rather than staying at the Westin the whole time. I'm not sure if you went to Cemetary Beach but that was probably my favorite beach. The water and beach there is incredible. There's hardly anyone there getting a spot under trees is not a problem.

 

[Anubis]

I actually didn't find that 7 Mile Beach had much at all to do either, but then again we were there with our son who was 2 and a half when we went, so it's not like we were out there looking for bars and stuff. But we enjoyed taking the car to other beaches rather than staying at the Westin the whole time. I'm not sure if you went to Cemetary Beach but that was probably my favorite beach. The water and beach there is incredible. There's hardly anyone there getting a spot under trees is not a problem.

yea having a kid somewhat limits what you do, its just that there are more bars/restaurants/whatever close to 7 mile so you can walk vs driving everywhere like on the east end. I have been to cemetery beech, at this point i wanna say ive been to almost all of them. Smith Cove is another great pub beach that almost never has anyone at it. its small but calm and secluded. Staying on the east end with kids is also nice as there are less people. The beach in front of Morritts/the reef is prb a mile long if you count both properties and there are less than 100 people out here right now

This was a number of years ago, but this is about as busy as it gets

 

[soulcougher73]

This is my lunch view

Meh. Overcast. Dont care....