SMACKDOWN

Smackdown: Arubavs Bonaire vsCuraçaoMelinda CrowFebruary 18, 2015 (Photos: Thinkstock; Corbis; Getty

Images)

These three island jewels situated barelyoff the coast of Venezuela are asdistinctly different from one another asdiamonds, rubies, and sapphires. Theyshare a common history of war, slavery,and occupation, and Dutch influence isunmistakable on all three. Join us as wespell out the differences between the“ABC” islands of Aruba, Bonaire, andCuraçao.

The case for Aruba

By far the best­known island of the three,Aruba buzzes with activity. Picture longstretches of white sand beaches dottedwith high­rise resorts and hotels. Thereare swaying palm trees, but you will alsosee cactus and scrubby, windswept trees.The ABC islands lie outside theCaribbean hurricane belt, but wind is adaily occurrence.

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Well over a million tourists visited Arubalast year for an overnight stay, withanother half million arriving by cruiseship. It can feel crowded.

Aruba might be the smallest of the ABCislands, but it sure packs a lot of sun andsand into its shores. (Photo: GettyImages)

Population and size: Roughly 103,000people call the island home. Aruba is thesmallest of the ABCs. Only 19 miles long,its total area is less than 75 square miles.The population is concentrated aroundthe city of Oranjestad, where both theQueen Beatrix International Airport andthe cruise terminal are located.

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For a truly wild Aruba experience, renta Jeep and go off roading over the sanddunes. (Photo: Getty Images)

Popular ways to get around theisland: Taxis are flat­fee, making theman affordable option for resort guests andcruise passengers to get around town. Ifyou want to see the wild and natural sideof the island, you will need to either renta car (four­wheel drive preferred) or takea tour. ATV tours and horseback rides arepopular.

The prime beachfront location of theRitz­Carlton makes it a popular choiceamong travelers. (Photo: Ritz­CarltonAruba)

Places to stay: You will find familiarnames among the hotels and resorts onthe island, including the Ritz­CarltonAruba, five Marriotts, and even a HolidayInn. There are all­inclusive resorts tochoose from, as well as traditional pay­as­you­go options. Private vacationrentals are abundant on the island.VRBO.com lists over 400 rentals,

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including three­bedroom villas, somewith private pools and hot tubs, for aslow as $300 per night. If you choose oneof these options, remember that you willneed a rental car.

Rent a car and trip up to the lighthouseon the north shore of the island. (Photo:Getty Images)

What to do if your cruise ship stopshere: Tours that include being on orunder the water are the best bets onAruba. If that’s not your thing, then thisis a port where you can safely rent a carfor exploring. Head north to see thebeaches and the lighthouse, south to

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experience the quiet town of SanNicolas.

Pull up a chair, grab a good book, andforget all your troubles on Palm Beach.(Photo: Getty Images)

The beaches: Aruba is all about thebeaches. Chair and cabana rentals areavailable at the resorts along Palm Beach.The resorts usually sift the sand on theirbeaches to remove the pebbles and piecesof coral that are common on most otherbeaches on the island. At the northern tipof the island are Boca Catalina Beach andMalmok Beach, where you can hope toescape the crowds of the resort beaches.

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That beautiful turquoise water is a starattraction in Aruba and there’s plenty todo on and in the water, includingwindsurfing and snorkeling. (Photo:Thinkstock)

Water sports: Though it isn’tparticularly a scuba hotspot, Aruba hasenough underwater options to keep mostdivers happy for the duration of theirstay. The wreck of the Antilla is a 400­foot­long German freighter enjoyed byboth divers and snorkelers. It wasscuttled in 1940 when Germany invadedHolland.

Windsurfing and kitesurfing are topwater options, along with sailing, hydro­flying, parasailing, and party boats.(Party boats are a water sport, right?)

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Tasty food and refreshing beveragescombined with gorgeous on­the­waterviews make Pelican Pier a popular spotwith tourists. (Photo: PeterVallance/Alamy)

Shopping, food, and nightlife:Shopping in Aruba is heavily influencedby the cruise industry. Look for the usualchains selling watches, jewelry, andperfumes close to the port. For betterbargains and locally produced goods, go afew blocks away from the port.

Restaurants, clubs, and casinos light upthe night on Aruba. You’ll find everythingfrom typical beach bars to crowded dancebars, many within walking distance of thehotels and the cruise ships.

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A beach is definitely preferable to this.

The Case for Bonaire

Bonaire is low­key and all aboutrelaxing and enjoying those famousturquoise waters. (Photo: Corbis)

The least populated and least visitedisland in the chain is Bonaire. First­time

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visitors either fall crazy in love or leave

grumbling about the lack of facilities. Youdon’t go to Bonaire looking for endlessstretches of beach, high­rise hotels, orrowdy nights out on the town. This is thequiet island. The pace is slow andleisurely. Small to mid­sized cruise shipsdock several days per week, almostoverwhelming the port city of Kralendijk.Locals are thankful for the tourismrevenue, but wave a happy goodbye whenthe ships sail into the sunset.

On Bonaire, much of the island is wildand unpopulated, with the port city ofKralendijk acting as the island hub.(Photo: Thinkstock)

Population and size: The island is thehome of approximately 17,000 people,who have the luxury of spreading outover most of the 113 square miles. Thenorth end of the island is mountainousand largely unpopulated, as is the ruggedand windswept east coast.

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If you want to explore the wild beauty ofthe Washington Slagbaai National Park,you’ll need a durable vehicle. (Photo:Peter Nijenhuis/Flickr)

Popular ways to get around theisland: If you are staying on the island,renting a car is the only way to getaround. The main roads are paved, butyou will need a four­wheel­drive vehicleif you plan to venture to the nationalpark, where the roads are rutted dirt.

Buddy Dive offers lovelybeachfront accommodations and plentyof underwater activities to keep youbusy during your stay. (Photo: BuddyDive/Facebook)

Places to stay: There are no well­

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known chain hotels on the island, and

only a handful of resorts not dedicated toscuba diving. Dive resorts include BuddyDive and Captain Don’s Habitat. Privaterental homes and condominiums areabundant. Everything from tiny backyardapartments to four­ and five­bedroomvillas are available on VRBO.com,FlipKey.com, and Airbnb.com. Pricesrange from just under $100 per night toas high as $3,000 per night.

The serene and beautiful appearance ofthe slave huts in southern Bonaire arealmost enough to distract from theirdark history. Almost. (Photo: CliffHellis/Flickr)

What to do if your cruise ship stopshere: As the number of cruise stops haveincreased, so has the choice of things todo. Bonaire’s protected reef has some ofthe best diving you will find in theCaribbean. Dive Friends Bonaire hasshops close to the pier and can arrangeeither a shore dive or boat dives for you.

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If you don’t do water sports, there aretours in buses, and on bicycles, Segways,and Harleys. The island is perfectly safefor renting a car and driving on yourown. The traffic is light; there’s not evena stoplight on the island. The sites to seeare the slave huts, saltpans, and thelighthouse at the southern end of theisland. The scenic cliff road north fromKralendijk is another possibility.

No trip to Bonaire would be completewithout a trip below to surface to get upclose and personal with all the localaquatic flora and fauna. (Photo:Thinkstock)

Water sports: Bonaire is a diver’sparadise, both for the beauty of theprotected reef and for the abundance ofshore diving options. Diving from shore,while a bit more strenuous, allows youthe freedom to set the pace for yourentire dive trip. You decide the time andplace for each underwater adventure. Theshops on the island make it easy byoffering unlimited air packages and even

drive­through tank­swapping stations.Most rental vehicles even come equippedwith tank racks.

Shore dive locations are marked withpainted yellow rocks along the entirewestern shore, where the water is calmand protected. Free maps of the islandshowing the marked dive sites areavailable in stores and car rentalagencies.

Snorkeling, wind surfing, and kitesurfingare good alternatives to diving, withlessons and guides available for all ofthese options.

The famous 1,000 Steps Beach on thewest coast of Bonaire is just one of thevarious beach options on the island.(Photo: Nik Wheeler/Corbis)

The beaches: The shore consistsprimarily of rocky ledges with peacefulpocket beaches tucked here and there.The southern shore, where the terrain isflatter, offers the best beaches, but beprepared to share with divers looking for

easy shore entry. Beachgoers can use thesame yellow markers as the divers,knowing there will be parking andreasonable access to the water at thosemarkers. If you hate sand, there are evenbeaches in the north made up entirely ofcoral stones worn smooth by the waves.One good example is the dive site knownas Weber’s Joy. The musical sound madeby the clatter of the stones with each newwave is a pleasant change from sandybeaches.

Come to Karel’s Beach Bar for the epicsunsets and then stay to party well intothe night. (Photo: Karel’s BeachBar/Facebook)

Shopping, food, and nightlife: Thestandard cruise port chains are beginningto move into Bonaire, but there are stillplenty of locally run businesses in theport area of Kralendijk. Local artists andvendors set up booths to sell their waresin a plaza downtown on days when shipsare in port.

Restaurants tend to come and go, but theresorts all have onsite restaurants of highquality. The nightlife is typically confinedto the resort bars or at Karel’s Beach Barin town. The Divi Flamingo Resort hasthe only casino on the island, if gamblingis your thing.

The Case for Curaçao

It’ll be hard to contain your excitementas your boat approaches Willemstadand you get your first glimpse of thoserecognizable Dutch buildings. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Consider Curaçao the working­classisland of the chain. The terrain is morerugged and mountainous than either ofthe other two islands, creating strikingscenery. The familiar Dutch architecturegreets visitors in the port city ofWillemstad. The island presents aninteresting mix of tourist facilities andurban island living. In places, resortsseem to have sprung up right in themiddle of single­family neighborhoods.

Each year, cruise ships bring in about ahalf million people to Curaçao.(Photo: Danny Lehman/Corbis)

Population: Curaçao is the mostpopulous island in the chain, with morethan 150,000 residents. Roughly half amillion visitors stayed on the island lastyear, and another half million arrived bycruise ship. The island is of medium size,an area of 171 square miles.

Rent a car or have a taxi take youaround the island.(Photo: Hemis/Alamy)

Popular ways to get around theisland: To fully explore the island, a car

is necessary. Many hotels offer shuttleservices. Be prepared for trafficcongestion in the populous areas. Analternative are the neighborhood nine­passenger vans with license plateslabeled BUS. They run on a 30­minutecycle through neighborhoods in town,making them an easy way to pick upgroceries or get to the shopping district.

The sparkling blue pools next to thegorgeous blue ocean will make it hard todecide which to take a dip in first.(Photo: Curacao Marriott Beach Resort& Emerald Casino)

Places to stay: Resorts that you neverhave to leave are typical on Curaçao.Marriott, Sunscape, and Hilton areamong the choices that include spas,restaurants, and casinos. The pools aresparkling, the beaches private, andactivities may either be included, oravailable onsite.

Small hotels are abundant, but prices arenot appreciably lower than the mega

resorts. The same holds true for privatevacation rentals, at prices ranging from$130 per night to as high as $1,000.Vacation property owners extra forelectricity use over a base amount,driving the low end closer to $150 pernight.

When you’ve had enough of thosesparkly blue waters, ATV and buggytours of the national park are a popularland­based activity. (Photo: Hein vanden Heuvel/Corbis)

What to do if your cruise ship stopshere: Tours are your best bet onCuraçao. Traffic congestion makes carrental a challenge. If you hate tours,decide where you want to go in advance,and then hire a taxi or private guide toget you there. As with the other twoislands, water sports are the primaryactivities for many visitors, but ATV andbuggy tours of the national park are analternative.

As with the other ABC islands, scubadiving and snorkeling are wildlypopular with tourists. (Photo: GettyImages)

Water sports: Scuba diving is quitepopular here, with a mix of shore andboat diving available. The wall dives arespectacular. The reef has not been asprotected as Bonaire’s, but it is healthy inmost places. Many hotels have housereefs and dive shops. Guides are availablefor shore dives beyond the resorts. TheDive Bus near the Sunscape Resort offersa house reef in addition to guided shoredives at many locations.

The stunning Kniip Beach is wildlypopular with locals as well as visitors.(Photo: Thinkstock)

The beaches: Curaçao’s most obviousbeaches lie within the resorts. Accessdepends on paying a day­use fee. It’s thehidden beaches, far from the resorts, thatattract return visitors to the island. Thebeaches are often tucked away at the footof hillsides or at the base of rockyoutcroppings. A few are set aside as parksand have entrance fees, but many are freeto use. Most have a sand and coral pebblemix, so bring your water shoes.

If you tire of the beach bars and fishshacks, Omundo provides a more

upscale alternative. (Photo: OmundoCuracao)

Shopping, food, and nightlife:Shopping ranges from the standardcruise port chains to galleries featuringCaribbean art. The urban setting lendsitself to a sophistication not often foundon Caribbean islands. That sophisticationcarries over to the culinary world, whichgoes far beyond the usual beach bars andfish shacks. You will find hidden gemslike Omundo Restaurant and WineLounge.

A word to the uninitiated: The manybuildings you see labeled “Snack” areneighborhood beer bars, not a place toget a quick bite to eat.

Nightlife is best enjoyed from the safetyof the resorts, which usually offermultiple drinking venues, dance bars,and casinos.

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