Written by Cory Lee, Curb Free With Cory Lee, October 2020
The last port of call on my recent cruise through the southern Caribbean with Carnival Cruise Lines was a destination that I have wanted to visit for years. I am a complete sucker for anywhere with a beach, so naturally Aruba has been on my mind for quite a while. It was the last port of call for my cruise and the one that I was most looking forward to. I’m happy to say that it surpassed my high expectations.
Even though I was only in Aruba for about eight hours, it was plenty of time for me to get a feel for the island and discover why Aruba’s slogan is “one happy island.” From drinking fresh coconut water out of an actual coconut to getting in the Caribbean Sea with an awesome beach wheelchair, my six hour shore excursion in Aruba with Accessible Caribbean Vacations was an absolute dream. Here’s how my phenomenal day in Aruba went and why I fell in love with one happy island.
After getting off the Carnival Horizon ship, my mom and I quickly met up with our driver and guide for the day, Carlos. I booked our excursion a couple months before the cruise through Accessible Caribbean Vacations (ACV). ACV offers several different accessible tour options at a variety of price points in Aruba, but we chose the “Deluxe Accessible Aruba Shore Excursion”.
It’s a six hour tour that combines the best sights of the island on a four hour driving tour with a couple hours at a wheelchair accessible beach afterwards. You can opt for just the driving tour or just the beach, but I wanted the full experience, as this was my first time in Aruba. After meeting Carlos, I rolled into the adapted minivan, Carlos secured my wheelchair with tie-downs (safety first!), and we then began our excursion.
The first stop on our tour was one of Aruba’s most popular landmarks, the California Lighthouse, which was built back in 1910 to warn ships of Aruba’s coastline. While the lighthouse wasn’t accessible to go inside and to the top, the area surrounding the lighthouse was enough of a reason to visit. We saw 360 degree views of the island and it was stunningly beautiful.
