Aruba, Part Three: Palm Beach and the Jolly Pirate tour

The last place I have to share with you from our vacation in Aruba is Palm Beach.  This is the main tourist area, with all of the big hotels and resorts along the oceanfront.  The water was so calm and a beautiful shade of blue.  The white sand on the beach was so fine and soft.  Beautiful palm trees lined a path that ran along the front of the hotels.  The only downside was the amount of people everywhere.  Because of all the bodies, the water wasn't as clear as it was at other beaches on the island.  It was still gorgeous and I wish we would have stayed here the whole time.

Lizards and iguanas everywhere.

The Old Dutch Windmill

Ready to get on the pirate ship.

My little pirates.

My favorite part of our trip was the Jolly Pirates tour.  We went to three different spots.  First was snorkeling at the Antilla shipwreck, which was really fun to see...BUT there were a million little jellyfish everywhere (the crew said they were harmless, but they still freaked me out!).  Next up was snorkeling at Malmok, which was a calm, shallow area filled with colorful fish.  Our last stop was Boca Catalina, where we used the rope swing to jump off the ship into the water, which was super fun! I was a little scared that my kids wouldn't really like the tour, since they aren't old enough to snorkel yet...but they LOVED it! The crew was so outgoing and they made sure the kids had a great time...they were even able to steer the ship, which they wouldn't stop talking about for a week.  I highly recommend Jolly Pirates if you are ever in Aruba. Note: I wasn't compensated in any way for this post...I just really loved the tour!

Well, that's all I have to share from our Aruba family vacation (see part one and part two).  It's a great place, full of great people...the country's motto sums it up best, because it really is "One Happy Island"!

Note: Some of these pictures were stolen from my sister! She is the best!