Due to COVID-19 traveling after March 2020 was not possible and if you did travel it was a scary experience to get on a plane during the pandemic. As months went by and things started to open up I was due for a vacation. A friend of mine invited me to go to Aruba for his birthday celebration and I was ready.

Flight

Another important factor, in my opinion, is the airline you choose to fly with, especially in the times that we are in. You want to make sure that the airline is taking the proper precautions that align with your needs and what you’re comfortable with.

I flew with JetBlue because they were one of the few airlines that were not packing out flights and even if they were there were only two people a row with the middle seat being empty. I was comfortable with that so I went ahead and booked my flight. The flight was $289.45 and with the insurance I purchased, which was $60.00, it came out to a total of $349.45. I always purchase the insurance on a flight when I’m booking ahead of time because a lot can change, especially during these uncertain times. I was afraid that we’d go into lockdown again and we wouldn’t be able to go so I wanted the security of getting my money back in the case we needed to cancel the vacation. Buying the insurance is totally optional but I always think it’s worth it.

Flight Experience

My actual flying experience was pretty smooth and easy. I flew out of JFK and the airport was clean and I felt comfortable with their setup. I made it roughly 20-30 minutes before I needed to board so I wasn’t waiting that long at the gate. I was prepared with alcohol wipes, hand sanitizers, disinfecting spray and extra masks. When I got on the plane I wiped down the seats and the tray table just as an extra precaution.

The flight was 4 hours total and we had to keep our masks on the whole time, you were only able to take it off when you were eating the snacks or were drinking water , which they provided.

This was my first time flying since January and I was on the fence about how I would feel getting on a plane and flying. Overall, my experience was great. I felt safe the whole flight, they were really strict about the masks staying on the whole flight and I honestly felt comfortable flying.

Pre-Travel Prep

It’s really important that you do the research for wherever you’re trying to go PRIOR to purchasing your flight. Due to COVID-19 there are different restrictions for the countries that are currently opened to travel and it’s important that you know them.

The best place to go to get the proper information needed to enter the country is their website. The main things you need to know is that you’ll need to take the COVID test up to 72hrs prior to your flight, your test must come back negative in order to be allowed into the country. I recommend looking at their COVID-19 test requirements page, here you’ll find all the health requirements and everything you need to know about what COVID test to take, what they require and what happens if you don’t have it done prior to arrival to the country.

The second thing that you’ll need to make sure to have done is filling out the Embarkation/Disembarkation card that you should have filled out as well prior to arrival. You’ll have to get this done 12 hours before your flight and show proof that your ED card is filled out and approved.

You’ll also have to purchase insurance to the enter the country which was $60.00.

The website is super helpful and informative and I used that for guidance on what to do.

Where I Stayed

We stayed in a villa that we rented on AirBnB. It was a 6 room, 7 bath villa that could not have been better for our stay. There were 8 of us that went on this trip and there was enough space for us all. There were 5 formal rooms that were located in the home itself, 3 on the top floor and 2 on the main floor. The 6th room was located in the “apartment’ right outside of the home. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and was stocked up with beach towels, shower towels, and extra blankets. The entire villa cost us $1,883 which, of course, we split.

The villa was located in Noord and it wasn’t far from the Palm Beach area. Everything was honestly roughly 10-15 minutes from the villa. Of course depending on where you’re going it’ll take a little longer but it wasn’t a long drive to get to anything.

We did have a curfew from 10PM to 5AM - so it was definitely nice to have a big villa where we can spend time at and cook when needed.

We also rented cars to move around easily and not depend on Ubers or any taxi services they may have had.

The overall cost of staying in the villa and renting a car wasn’t bad. I think we got everything we wanted for the price we paid.

The one thing I did not get to do was take decent pictures of the villa 😅

Activities

There’s a ton of things to do on the island and as each day went on we kept finding new activities to do. Here’s a list of things we did and the companies we did them with:

• ATVs: We booked our ATVs through Arubiana. I highly recommend going to them for any excursions you may want to do. They were awesome, clear and the freedom we had with the ATVs was amazing. Most places you need to have a tour guide and they take you around to where they want to. With Arubiana..all we had to do was download the app that had the island map and we were good to go. You can be out all day and just need to make sure to be back by 6pm the latest. The cost for the ATV was $100 a vehicle which was a great deal for us.

• Seabob Aruba: This was absolutely the highlight of my trip. This was the most exciting and nerve wrecking experience ever. They’re basically underwater jet skis. Tony, our tour guide, was amazing and he took so many amazing photos and videos of us. We actually found out about the Seabob tour at Arubiana and we booked through them the same night. There were a few of us going on the excursion so we were able to bargain. The seabobs came out to 100$ per person which was a great deal.

• Octopus Aruba: We booked a two hour catamaran sunset sail and it was such an enjoyable trip. There were unlimited drinks included as well as appetizers. The captain and crew were so sweet, they were really there to make sure our experience was lovely. They had someone doing magic and someone else entertaining us with some dancing and conversation. The cost of the catamaran was $60.00 per person.

• Banana Boat Ride: On our last day at the beach we wanted to get into more water sports and really enjoy our time at the beach. We did the banana boat ride which is basically a group of people sitting on this banana looking boat..literally..and it’s attached to a speed boat and it basically takes you for a ride in open waters. Depending on the speed it can fling you off the boat or if you’re strong enough you don’t fall into the water. I definitely had whip lash after I flew off that. We paid $10.00 each person and this was through Delphi Water Sports Aruba.

We were only there for 4 days and we had our days planned out, it was also our friends birthday so we were doing things we wanted to do. Below is the one thing that we would have loved to do but just didn’t have the time:

Booze Cruise: We found this activity after we finished on the Banana boat ride and we were super bummed because we didn’t have time to do it. Basically you get on this boat where they have music blasting, drinks flowing and food available. They have a slide on the boat and a mini zip-line that goes right into open water. They have all these activities on the boat itself. This was definitely a miss and should I find myself in Aruba again I am absolutely doing it.

Food

Finding GOOD food is always on my radar and I’m always trying to find places to eat that are worth my money. I also try to find a place that makes local cuisines and traditional dishes.

I will say that I didn’t have the best experience with food in Aruba but we were also in a group setting and we had to compromise on where to eat. The restaurants were good but not mind blowing except for a gem we came across…but I’ll get to that in a second. Here’s where we ate:

• Quinta Del Carmen: This place was really nice, and the restaurant itself was beautiful. I ordered ceviche and shrimp piña colada. The ceviche was not my favorite, I’m not sure why but there was an after taste that I did not like. The shrimp piña colada was good, but I did feel like it could have been seasoned better.

• The West Deck: We ate here on our last night and it was also very regular. The drinks were so good but the food fell short. I ordered the coconut shrimp and it was good but I expected a little more flavor.

• Ché Bar: We came across this place after we were done ATV’ing and it was REALLY good. It was an Argentinian restaurant and we loved it. I ordered these patacones that had their “chimi de gallo” on top and it was so delicious. We also ordered Argentinian beer and that was also very yummy. I definitely recommend stopping by.

• Fermin’s BBQ: We were on our way back from our boozy boat ride and one of the guys on the boat told us about this spot and recommended we should go to it because of the great food and great prices. We stopped by and this was our absolute favorite place to get food. Had we discovered them early on in the trip we would have eaten there every day. We ordered so much food: yuca, churrasco, chicharron de puerco and chicken wings. I only eat chicken and seafood so I only got to enjoy the chicken wings and yuca…I was happy with just that. Their chimichurri sauce was like nothing I’ve had before. 10/10 recommend.

• Lucy’s Aruba: On our last day we went near the Aruba cruise port. That strip is essentially made up of all souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and luxury retail stores. We were looking for something to eat before heading to the airport and we found this place. We got some drinks which were yummy and I ordered a fish sandwich and I wish I would have gotten a decent picture because it was so damn good. Probably one of the best fish sandwiches I’ve had.

Whenever I travel I try really hard to eat locally and support smaller businesses that really serve traditional dishes. On this trip we found three places that we for sure LOVED which were Ché Bar, Lucy’s Aruba and Fermin’s BBQ. Below are images of all the places we went to in the order I listed them above.

Overall

My experience overall in Aruba was awesome. It’s an island I’d travel back to, I feel like everyone was happy and it was good energy all around. I wish there were more food options, I feel like this is the only thing we didn’t get all the way right. We found amazing places but I expected to find more places to eat at that were enjoyable. Other than that, I think the island was beautiful and definitely would go back.