Skipper John..
check out this map/image on Google Maps... then scroll down the beach.
You can see the piers and the hotel names. all of these are on
Palm Beach.
aruba - Google Maps
Starting at the top of this image in the link, You'll see the
Marriott. The Marriott is actually several Marriott properties. (time share, hotel, etc). There is a dock there at this location.
Native Divers runs from this dock.
Scroll down.. (south).
Just south of the Marriott, you'll see the
Holiday Inn. There is a dock just south of it. It's
Pelican Watersports. (FYI, Pelican is owned by Unique, which also operates off another dock). Also on this dock is Pelican's nest, which is a good place to get a burger and a beer after a dive. Dinner there is ok, but it's mostly the atmosphere of being on the water and the sunset that makes it worth going to.
scroll on down and skip the next pier at the Hyatt. I don't think it has a dive op at it, unless something has changed in recent years.
The next location is the pier just south of the
Radison. This is where
Unique Watersports operates out of.
Last time there we stayed at the Westin, just south of that. (it was the Wyndham then). It's very easy to walk between all these resorts as they all share a common sidewalk system right on the edge of their property before you go on the beach. It takes about 15 minutes to walk between the Westin and the Holiday Inn and is a very nice walk. (I wouldn't want to do it hauling dive gear though.).
this makes it easy to get from hotel to hotel as to go to their restaurants, etc. (they welcome you to come into other resorts as they want your $$$). All the resorts all have some type of shopping center in them. Stores, jewelry, clothing, etc.
Pelican let me keep my dive gear in their ondock location locked in their shop since I was diving with them every day. I just took my reg and camera back to my hotel with me as they were the most likely stolen items, just in case. but I had no problems. They also have a security guard on the dock all night there. FYI.
Where to stay?
We liked the Wyndham (now Westin) facility, but the bar really sucked. While we are not big drinkers, it just really sucked that they couldn't make a decent drink. I don't know if they are any better since the Westin took over.
The Radison and Hyatt are VERY NICE. (much better bar also). I'd reccomend these.
There is nothing wrong with the Holiday Inn, but it's a little bit of a step below the other places in quality. but it's much cheaper also. Since it seems to be cheaper, it seems to get swallowed up with families and college kids also. so the beach is more crowded there as compared to the Westin, for example. .
Along that hotel strip are some great restaurants. Amazonia, El Goucho (Venezuelean I think), etc. Plus McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, etc.
closest grocery store is back towards town.
Several rental car agencies along that strip also. I reccomend renting a car for a day and exploring the island. (or actually rent a jeep and head up to the lighthouse and drive the dirt roads along the north coast. lots of fun).
Hope all that is helpful.
mike
