I'll be visiting Aruba on a cruise in March & I'm wondering about De Palm Island. Is this a trip you can take yourself (not as an excursion) or is it only done through cruise lines or tour companies? Is it worth the trip? what facilities & activities do they offer? Has anyone been there?
We were there a few years ago but I don't recall if we did a ship's excursion or on our own. I think it was through the ship though.
You take a short ride to a dock where a small boat picks you up and takes you to the island. The distance is so short that you could swim it.
The island has a clubhouse, shade, lounge chairs, bathrooms, etc. One of the workers had a crab race where they dump several crabs into a circle that has been drawn into the sand. The crabs are painted different colors. Like a horse race, you bet on the crabs, guessing which one will exit the circle first. The bets are small so if bet on all the crabs and you're sure to win a DePalm Island T-shirt.
Snorkeling there was very good with crystal clear water and lots of large parrot fish.
We'll be going back to Aruba in 2007 and we'll do this one again.
We were just there Dec 27. I was surprised the island was so small (guess in pictures it looks a lot bigger). We did it as a ship tour, (think it was cheaper than going it on your own and getting cabs) and there were others from other ships and on their own. My first impression was not too great-down the coast an oil refinery was spewing out stuff, and in front of De Palm was a water treatment plant. It was a short (less than 5 min) ferry ride over to the island. Theres a little gift shop, shower/changing facilities (didnt use them), a few places to eat (breakfast was until 1130 then lunch-unlimited and included in your cost), a little playground (our son was happy), many watersports (scuba, snuba, snorkeling, helmet diving, etc) available.......
The beach doesnt have the fine sand but it was nice and clean. There were plenty of lounge chairs and several thathed roof areas to sit under. The snorkeling area you have to walk down some metal stairs to enter the water. Our ~4 yr old son got spooked as there were a lot of waves and backed out of snorkeling. I snorkeled-it was ok (Im a scuba instructor and have dove all over the world so it wasnt impressive to me). You need to swim out a bit to see the better coral, but it was a bit silty, and the coral was so so. Lots of parrotfish, some blue tangs, and other types of fish. I got very nervous as in many areas the coral heads almost touched the surface and I didnt want to run into them. It really annoyed me seeing people standing on top of the coral too.
We had lunch at the covered restaurant that sticks out over the water. Its all buffet and we thought the food was better than what we got on the ship. Just as we were leaving we discovered a zero entry beach area just past the lifeguard chair that our son wouldve liked and wouldve made getting in the water easier for him.
On the whole, for a few hours it was a nice stop despite the view on the mainland side. I researched beaches in Aruba-if you want good snorkeling, there are some that are better suited for that (but they didnt have facilites-food, bathrooms, easy way to get a cab). If you just want a beach, I heard Eagle and Palm are some of the best in the world. For kids Baby is a good choice as its shallow and warm (thats also where the oil refinery is).
De Palm Island, Aruba
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