Took the family to Aruba about 10 years ago, stayed at a friend's time share. Flew in, rented a car and made our way to the place we were staying. Hit up the grocery store and was able to eat at the unit for breakfast, spent most days at the pool or at the beach relaxing. At the time my son was 2 or 3, so we did not go out for all day excursions. We did adventure out to go shopping or some sight seeing, in the evenings we would eat out at various restaurants. Felt safe while there, but was always cognizant of where we were or what we were doing. Never strayed into aby shady areas, but don't really recall ever seeing any. I enjoyed Aruba much more than St. Lucia.

Just an update on our vacation and thanks to the folks who shared their experiences.

Spent the 4 nights at the Hilton Resort/Casino and rented a car with the Hertz affiliate at the airport.

Wife booked a couple of excursions ahead of time, a half day ATV tour on Tues afternoon and a catamaran snorkeling tour on Wed morning.

ATV tour was a blast, highly recommended. Its very bumpy and dusty, but it was a lot of fun. Take good googles if you have some, the cheapies they sell don't seal much better than sunglasses would.

Catamaran snorkeling excursion was much better than I thought it would be. It was so windy the whole time we were there I didn't think we'd be able to see much, but the vis was ok (not great) despite the choppiness and wind. We stopped at wreck for about 30 minutes and then went off of small beach reef area for an hour or so, and then they called us in to let people rope jump and use the slide. Certainly just enough of a snorkeling trip to say you did it, not for the hardcore snorkeler. They had an open bar and a snack and it was very enjoyable, highly recommend as well.

We rented a jet ski for half an hour, which seems short but again with the wind constantly blowing up waves and spray it was much rougher than doing it on a smooth lake. Wife lasted about 5 minutes and said she'd had enough. I told her it would be like swimming wet but the spray and the wind had her freezing (it was 84!) so I took her back to the beach and cruised around solo for the remainder.

We drove around a couple of the days, down to Baby beach and over to the National Park and the caves. We couldn't go to the natural pool because the rental wasn't 4WD. If I were to go back I would have rented a jeep instead of a regular SUV so we could have explored a bit more adventurously on our own.

Hilton resort and casino was nice. Daily breakfast buffet was good and included in our rate. This was probably my last year as a Diamond member so it was nice to go out with an upgraded room and some small perks. Casino is small, we walked through a couple of times just to take a look as we don't play. No craps table, but a fair amount of slots, a few blackjack tables, and a couple poker and roulette tables. No smoking which was nice.

Went to Fireson Brewing Co. Small tap room with a kitchen adjacent and 3 local brews. We like to visit brew pubs so I had to go check it out. Enjoyed the beers, nothing special but it was an interesting take on the concept.

Ate dinner at Fishes and More in Palm Beach area right across from the Hilton. Seated inside as I don't care for outdoor seating, espcially with all that wind, and we were almost alone in the indoor seating. Very good dinner, I had a filet that was actually quite good and my wife had some grouper dish that she enjoyed. Most of the dining areas are outside but they are very popular so getting an inside table wasn't a problem for us.

Our big dinner of the trip I reserved in advance was at Ocean Z restaurant. It was very good. Was the wife's birthday so we stopped by earlier to check out the seating and they let my wife choose the table to give her the best view of the sunset across the beach. Splurged a little and it was a very nice diner. Highly recommend.

Last dinner was at Moomba Beach Bar and this time we did sit outside, actually out on the beach and got another nice view of the sunset. I had the beef Pincho (basically a beef kabob) and the wife had the seafood salad. Both were very good and a nice surprise to walk up and get a table right on the beach a half hour before sunset.

Departing through the airport is an interesting experience. They recommend you get there 3 hours ahead of departure, and it took almost 2 to get through the various checkpoints to the boarding area. You have to check bags, wait in long line outside in the heat and wind to go through security, only to have to go retrieve your bags, clear customs and then get in another line to drop your bags again. Go through another TSA type security, and then clear US immigration on the back side of that before finally getting into the departure terminal. This is old school TSA, shoes off and all of that, no precheck procedures. I set off the second metal detector and was searched like I was going into prison. Wasn't happy about that.

I'm not sure if one of the VIP departure services would have skipped any of that, but it might be worth considering if you can afford it. It was a hassle and was not the way you want to end your time in the happy island nation of Aruba but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Overall the folks there seemed very happy to have tourists back and although we don't stay out late it seemed pretty safe walking around. Everywhere we went was fairly busy with tourists and when we were driving around away from the crowds it was actually pretty quiet without many people out and about.

It was a very enjoyable trip.

Nice report. Yes it is a little windy most of the time, I’ve not had to much problem finding a semi-protective cove or beach. I think 95% of the times the wind is from the East.

I’ve not seen any issues with security around town.

Yes, long lines at the airport, at least you are cleared for US Customs on arrival home.