Aruba 2021
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DEPALM ISLAND!!!
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Yep, we love this place! We've had good experiences each time we have been here in the past (other than me falling and hurting myself right before we left last time) from the great snorkeling here, the awesome SeaTrek adventure and of course all the food and drinks are included. HOWEVER, the reason we are stopping for breakfast this morning was because due to COVID they were operating on limited hours at DePalm, which means they weren't serving the all you can eat breakfast this time around. :(
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Of course you have to answer so many questions and fill out so many forms and consents just to get to the actual tickets...which of course will render several emails with receipts, tickets and so on. It's really such a process. Whew!
We arrived at the DePalm parking lot a few minutes after 9am and checked in. Like previously, they did not ask to see our tickets, they did not ask to see my receipt, they only ask for the name. Shew, all that work when you book it and you don't show them any of it. I feel gypped!
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They told us to head down to the dock to wait for the ferry over and the captain of the boat would let us know when to get on. There were only 2 other people on the dock at this point and then 3 more came after that. So, not many people were waiting and that was fine with me! We were going to be first on the island. We'd get prime property.
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The first ferry pulled up and several employees came running down the dock and piled in. I guess this was their boat over.
The second ferry pulled up and the captain motioned us in. Woo Hoo! We are going over now.
There were a few more employees that came with us. As we headed out, a few more people showed up on the dock and we decided to turn around and get them. It is so hard to get this child to smile these days. So serious!
There we go.....(I had to threaten her...just saying)
It's a short ride over and then we were pulling up. We could see the new water park with the water slides. This is where they had the ziplining when we were here last and Sakari was all of a sudden having issues with extreme things and backed out once she got up there.
We picked our spot on the beach and then we decided to go look for the flamingo's. This was something new to DePalm since the last time we were there. I really had no idea if they were just wandering around the park on the beach or what. Then I seen a sign and headed over.
I headed over to the area and we would find that there was a small fence blocking off the flamingo's on the beach from the people coming into the fenced area. Hmmm, this is not what I had pictured.
There were some beach chairs over that way, but I guess they were for "special guests" that paid for it. I guess we weren't going to be able to swim with the flamingo's on the beach. Boo! I could, however, find a way to take pictures of them on the beach to show family and friends back home...without the fence in the picture, therefore looking like we were spending the day on the beach with them and making everyone jealous. :D #biggrin
Don't it just look like we are hanging out on the beach with flamingo's? It's all about the shot. hehe
Walking back to our non-important-people spot on the beach...which is the same as their spot just minus the pink animals.
At this point, I decided to walk around and take pictures of DePalm before it became overwhelmed with a lot of people.
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This area is where they have places to sit down and eat, the bar for drinks, a pop station, and the kitchen where you get lunch at.
They do have a pool table in this area too.
Back where the zipline used to be you'll find some chairs under palapa's, but there's a sign saying they are reserved for those on UTV tours only. You'll find a volleyball net and this is where the slides are located.