Aruba Jeep Safari Question

[tccgirl]

We are first time cruisers and are very interested in touring the island in a jeep but also want to have an ample amount to time to hang at the beaches and have dinner in aruba. I have read that some tours barely give u any time to hang out at the beach and concentrate more on touring the different spots.

 

My question is, should we rent a jeep and risk getting lost or take the tour thru the cruise? I don't want to overpay, or feel rushed...if i rent a jeep which is the best company?. Also, i hear the jeep tours are VERY off road and VERY dusty, will getting an air-conditioned car make us miss this cool experience of off-roading? We are all late 20's early 30s, i think we can handle the bumps??:rolleyes:

 

Thanks so much!!

 

AOS 9/5/04

[pd933]

If you want to tour the far side of the island a 4x4 is needed. But in a car most of the tourist type spots like the natural bridge you are able to get to in a car. As for 4x4 travel you really dont have to worry about getting lost the Aruba is only like 21 miles long tip to tip and there is a main road that goes from the lighthouse all the way to San Nicolas. Also the people always tell you that the Divi trees point to the hotels. I have taken an all day 4x4 tour and it was great. I was asked to drive and that was the best part. I did ask if the drive was difficult and our tour guide Claudio said "only one up and down" he didn't say it was over a mountain. We toured with a couple who was on a cruise and they said they paid about $30 less pp booking on there own. Here is a link to the company we used [url]www.abc-aruba.com[/url] this includes p/u and return to dock and lunch. Hopes this helps

[Murphy]

When we went to Aruba we reserved a Jeep from Avis, but upon getting off the ship we walked us to a no-name local agency to see what they had available. There was Isuzu Trooper hard top 4x4 in the lot that we inquired about. It turned out to be the owners personal vehicle, which he gladly rented to us for less than I had the open air Jeep we had reserved at AVIS so we took it. It worked out great. I had pre-ordered a map of Aruba from their tourism site and knew that it would be pretty hard to get lost as most of the roads circled the island. The only place we had a problem was on the far side of the island where we were trying to find an old church. Most if not all of the streets are UNMARKED and we got ourselves in a local neighborhood and had to drive around a few streets to get back to where we wanted to go.

We also made the mistake of taking off from the rental agency without checking the gas guage. As it was the owners personal vehicle, it hadn't been fueled and we realized about half way round the island that we were almost on empty! Luckily we had been trailing the tour buses and the Jeep tours and we pulled up next to one of the tour buses when they stopped to see the Caves and the driver told us to follow him and he would direct us to a gas station.

This was the first time we had ever rented a vehicle on our own and I would do it again IF there was a late scheduled departure to ensure we had time to get back to the ship if something broke down. We weren't scheduled to leave port until 11:00pm so we took advantage of it and loved the freedom of seeing what we wanted and snorkeling at a few smaller beaches. Highly recommended!

[MysticRhythmCruiser]

We went on a tour not booked through the cruise -- the Wix Jeep "N" Eco. We had a BLAST -- went to all the big tourist areas and went to the Natural Pool, which is about an hour's worth of offroading to get there but definitely worth it.

I will say that the tour operators ran a great outfit, but the tour is not for the kind of person who worries about unexpected detours or delays. For instance, there was a couple who rented a Jeep on their own and went to the Natural Pool around the same time we did. Their tire blew out, so we all stayed and hung out together while someone drove back down and got a spare tire (the other three Jeeps didn't have a spare with them either and no patch kit). No phone service on that side of the island...if the other jeeps were not there, those people would have been in some serious trouble. We didn't care...it was just fun hanging out and talking to the other people and drinking beers. Then, our tour operator was friends with the guy who did the Indian petroglyph cave tour, and decided to give him a ride home on the way to taking us to Baby Beach. A little side trip through some nice working-class neighborhoods in Aruba. All told, the trip was supposed to be 7 hours and was actually 10.5. But, we had a GREAT time...met some awesome people (and because we were delayed, got to watch the sun start to set on Baby Beach). We tipped our operator extra because we enjoyed ourselves so much.

So my 2 cents...you may want to think twice about going off on your own to some of the wilder areas of the island unless you know you have a spare tire, are experienced handling a Jeep off-road, and know how to get help if you are stuck. The Jeeps are old, see a lot of usage, and particularly around the Natural Pool area, the trip puts the "off" in "off-roading". We loved our tour and it was definitely much less than through the cruise line, and we got to see a lot of things we otherwise would have missed.

Hope that helps...we LOVED Aruba and would go back ANYTIME, and definitely recommend sightseeing by Jeep in whatever way you can.

[cruisingrightalong]

We did the 4 x 4 tour off of RCCL and thought the dollar was worth it. Our leader was superb.....we had a great time with our companions (4 to a car!) and toured the island for about 3 hours....stopped at Depalm Island for lunch....snorkeling etc. and got home in ample time to do evening stuff!

One of the jeeps in another tour behind us actually rolled over due to the driver....so it helped them to have "local help" with them. We laughed because the guy and lady with us...we told them we would switch off driving if they liked...they told my husband to start with the driving...about 1/2 way thru we said your turn to drive and the guy and lady said....we are just fine...you are doing a great job...do you mind to keep doing it! I think the sand and rocks were a bit much for them to think of driving. We were fine....nothing I don't end up going over in my van for real esate sales!!! And, we have a Jeep also!

Be sure to wear clothes that can get dusty. SUNTAN LOTION a must!

Lou

[k9cop]

[quote name='tccgirl']My question is, should we rent a jeep and risk getting lost or take the tour thru the cruise? I don't want to overpay, or feel rushed...if i rent a jeep which is the best company?. Also, i hear the jeep tours are VERY off road and VERY dusty, will getting an air-conditioned car make us miss this cool experience of off-roading? We are all late 20's early 30s, i think we can handle the bumps??:rolleyes:

Thanks so much!!

AOS 9/5/04[/QUOTE]
Rent your own 4x4 from the area just off the ship. True, the guy that does the renting works out of a briefcase and a cell phone, but we didnt have any problems. Dont worry about getting lost, the island is not that big and its very easy to get around. If you have never utilized a "round a bout" before, it takes a little getting used to, but you will quickly get the hang of it. Renting your own vehicle is the best way to get around and see the island. The back side of the island is complete desert and the other side is green. Make sure you take pleanty of sun block with you (especially if your vehicle is topless). The sun and wind in the desert is extreme. We started out renting the little scooters, and while they were a blast, you really couldnt take them to the desert (was extremely rough and too windy for them). Then we came back and rented the 4x4.
Dont bother with the tour, you can have much more fun on your own.
Have fun!!!
John