I’m not sure if OP is still reading, but there is going to be a pretty big difference in terms of types of hotels/amounts of restaurants/things to do at some place like Aruba vs St.John, etc. Both have lovely beaches. It just depends what you are looking for. St. John is a little sleepy and rugged for some, and exactly what others want.

We want to Aruba a couple of years ago. It was nice. I didn’t see any beggars. We chartered a catamaran and went out snorkeling. The beach and water are great and lots f hotels at every budget level. Agree that being out of the hurricane zone is an enormous plus.
The island is a little boring outside of the water activities but there are n decent restaurants near the hotel area. And the grocery stores have awesome cheese and cookies (best strroopwafle I’ve ever had).

Anonymous wrote:Is Aruba a nice place to visit or is it more run down, old, sort of like a Myrtle Beach?

This would be something we save for, I’m looking for a nice island to visit - safe, scenic, not run of the mill run down beach sort of situation.

I’ve heard Antigua is far better but I am only a day or two into researching both.

I would suggest St. John in the USVI. We also enjoyed St. Croix but not sure what the safety level is like nowadays.

One of my favorite beach places I’ve ever visited was the Exumas. Those beaches are like real life postcards, just stunning. Very safe too.

One big plus to Aruba is ABC islands are out of the hurricane paths. So think about the time of your trip.

Grand cayman or Barbados over Aruba any day

Anonymous wrote:I hated Aruba.

Without any context or explanation this doesn't add any value to the discussion.

I hated Aruba.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman is better. You get to drive on the opposite side of the road. You have the gorgeous seven mile beach. You can scuba or snorkel. The island doesn’t have beggars all over it. No Natalie Holloway incident.

Harsh truth..
Everytime Aruba is discussed.. This is what comes to mind. UGH!
My in laws adore Aruba though..

Aruba is super nice and safe. Much safer than a lot of the Caribbean. I don’t recall seeing any beggars so not sure what that comment is about. The Natalie Holloway incident was a pretty big outlier.

Anonymous wrote:If you're willing to go as far as Aruba, look into Curacao. It's got pretty diverse features, nice beaches and off the beach snorkeling, and isn't nearly as touristy as Aruba, with its own culture and and cuisine. The local artists are fantastic.

It’s actually not too hard to do all the ABC islands if you don’t mind those small planes. Agree that Curaçao has a bit more cultural type things to do. But both are great and snorkeling/scuba can’t be beat because of the disability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman is better. You get to drive on the opposite side of the road. You have the gorgeous seven mile beach. You can scuba or snorkel. The island doesn’t have beggars all over it. No Natalie Holloway incident.

Harsh truth..
Everytime Aruba is discussed.. This is what comes to mind. UGH!
My in laws adore Aruba though..

One murder 20 years ago and the perp is in jail for life (for a different murder). I wouldn’t recommend using that as a destination disqualifier.

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman is better. You get to drive on the opposite side of the road. You have the gorgeous seven mile beach. You can scuba or snorkel. The island doesn’t have beggars all over it. No Natalie Holloway incident.

Harsh truth..
Everytime Aruba is discussed.. This is what comes to mind. UGH!
My in laws adore Aruba though..

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman is better. You get to drive on the opposite side of the road. You have the gorgeous seven mile beach. You can scuba or snorkel. The island doesn’t have beggars all over it. No Natalie Holloway incident.

I went to Aruba last October and don’t recall any beggars. Where was this?

Grand Cayman is better. You get to drive on the opposite side of the road. You have the gorgeous seven mile beach. You can scuba or snorkel. The island doesn’t have beggars all over it. No Natalie Holloway incident.

I didn’t think Aruba was run down at all, at least not near the beach and hotels. Maybe certain parts closer to the airport but I think that is any island. We stayed at a full service Marriott and it definitely seemed like an upper middle class crowd. It was great to be able to walk to dinner either in the little downtown area or to one of the restaurants along the beach. Overall, we found Aruba to be just an easy place. If you want warm sunny weather and relaxation. To me the Bahamas feels more likethat Myrtle Beach type of cheesy and touristy. I did not get that vibe from Aruba. A lot of people Fromm New York/New Jersey and New England vacation in Aruba. I was actually surprised at how dressed up some of them got for dinner.

I’ve been to Antigua and Aruba. To me, Aruba feels safer and more developed. But both have stunning beaches so you can’t go wrong with either one (if turquoise beaches are your thing).