Taxi tours of Aruba & Bonaire?

[summersigh]

We’ve never grabbed a private taxi tour at a cruise port before (spontaneous) but thought we might try it on our upcoming cruise docking in Bonaire (2-11pm) and Aruba (8am - 5pm).

 

DH has some issues that might make it easier to do the “taxi thing”.

 

Any tips ya’ll can offer would be appreciated.

 

PS ... we also dock at Colon (3-7 pm) and Puerto Limon (6:30am - 4pm)

[BSinPNS]

We pre-arranged with Bully to meet us at a specific time for a four hour tour of the island. He was great - great narrative, took us to his favorite bakery, explained about the island, knew where to take great photos. Had a very enjoyable time. IIRC, all taxi charges in Aruba are set, so the hourly rate is the same with all drivers. Just Google - Aruba Bully and that will get you his email. Have fun!

[serendipity1499]

We’ve never grabbed a private taxi tour at a cruise port before (spontaneous) but thought we might try it on our upcoming cruise docking in Bonaire (2-11pm) and Aruba (8am - 5pm).

 

DH has some issues that might make it easier to do the “taxi thing”.

 

Any tips ya’ll can offer would be appreciated.

 

PS ... we also dock at Colon (3-7 pm) and Puerto Limon (6:30am - 4pm)

Have you posted on your roll call & asked the others on your cruise what they are doing? You might get more info there..

 

We often do private tours but make sure you make the $$ agreement prior to getting in the Taxi..

 

P).S, Forgot to mention try going on both the Aruba & the Bonaire ports of call boards..Much info there..Good luck..We love both places..

Edited September 2, 2014 by serendipity1499

[kakalina]

In Aruba I highly recommend taking the local bus. The depot is right across from the pier. The bus costs about a dollar. We took it to Omni hotel and resort and enjoyed their beach for the day. It was $5 to rent lounge chairs and an umbrella. We have done this a few times and had a wonderful experience.

 

In Bonaire we always take the HAL boat over to Klein Bonaire and spend the day on the beach there. It is very remote with no facilities but very, very nice.

[summersigh]

Thanks for the replies so far.... especially about agreeing to the amount of $$ before getting in the cab.

I googled Bully in Aruba and plan to email him to see if our date is free.

 

So often on CC threads I see folks who say they never take ship excursions but rather get their own taxis that I hoped to get responses from them. I went to the threads for the ports but there wasn't much of anything in general about getting ones own taxi tour . We have the deadest roll call I've ever seen :rolleyes: so I didn't ask there.

 

We live very near a beach so we normally don't go to them on cruises except for maybe the private islands.

Edited September 2, 2014 by summersigh

[Fouremco]

Thanks for the replies so far.... especially about agreeing to the amount of $$ before getting in the cab.

I googled Bully in Aruba and plan to email him to see if our date is free.

 

So often on CC threads I see folks who say they never take ship excursions but rather get their own taxis that I hoped to get responses from them. I went to the threads for the ports but there wasn't much of anything in general about getting ones own taxi tour . We have the deadest roll call I've ever seen :rolleyes: so I didn't ask there.

 

We live very near a beach so we normally don't go to them on cruises except for maybe the private islands.

Cruising aside, we've spent many weeks diving and snorkelling in Bonaire. If you don't want to go to the beach, you will be missing a huge part of what the island has to offer.

 

You can rent a vehicle quite inexpensively in Bonaire, less than $50 a day, usually a small but comfortable truck. With that you can do an island tour on your own. I imagine that you could find an amenable taxi driver and do the same, but the official hourly rate was $25 per hour for two people in 2009. If you plan on going for just a couple of hours, it still might be your choice.

 

Sonny Tours in Aruba offers a variety of tours. We went with him this past February in a small bus (clean, excellent condition and fully air conditioned) with about a dozen passengers, and spent a very enjoyable 3.5 - 4 hours. You might want to Google him.

 

Whatever you do, enjoy!

[summersigh]

We pre-arranged with Bully to meet us at a specific time for a four hour tour of the island. He was great - great narrative, took us to his favorite bakery, explained about the island, knew where to take great photos. Had a very enjoyable time. IIRC, all taxi charges in Aruba are set, so the hourly rate is the same with all drivers. Just Google - Aruba Bully and that will get you his email. Have fun!

 

I've emailed Bully and am waiting for a reply. This sounds perfect for us. (got my fingers crossed) :D

[take us away]

We have had great experiences grabbing a taxi or a small tour bus at the pier in many ports. Just make sure the cost is settled before you board. In Tahiti, 4 of us walked off the ship to the taxi line and after a small discussion, we had a 4-hour tour of the island for very cheap. The driver was awesome - he showed us a map and told us where we were going when he found out we wanted to go all the way around and wanted him to show us his island. He did like that we did not want a beach day. The best part was he would stop at a place, tell us all about it and what is there, point out the 'facilities', whether personal or shopping and say, "I'll be here under this tree when you are ready to leave". He asked if we wanted to go home with him for lunch and was ready to call his wife; we graciously declined. Our 4-hour tour ended up being just over 5 hours and there was no extra charge!

 

You should have a wonderful time as Bonaire is even more friendly and much less 'developed'.

Edited September 4, 2014 by take us away

[TN Cruise Traveler]

Aruba is a good place to wing it. There are a lot of air-conditioned mini-buses waiting to give you a tour. Walk a little further down for a better price. We had a very nice tour of 5 or 6 sites for a few hours for $30 each. Very nice and relaxed.