Aruba

Having not been out of the country for quite some time, my honeymoon was the perfect opportunity to satisfy my wanderlust. We could not have chosen a better place for our honeymoon than Aruba!

Lodging
We stayed for a week at the Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive. After a short taxi ride ($25 standard taxi fare) from the airport, we were checked in quickly and all amenities were explained. All the rooms are located right on the water, we were on the second floor with a balcony. The room was nice, small but enough room to move about. The bathroom was nice, and the room was cleaned daily. The resort was quite, clean, and well, perfect! =)

Our balcony

The Tamarijn includes unlimited food and drinks at 9 restaurants and 7 bars. Our favorites were the Red Parrot, Paparazzi, and Pizza per Tutti. There were 2 bars at the pool and the Bunker Bar right outside our room. The staff were all very friendly.

Dinner at the Red Parrot.

View from Bunker Bar.

Honeymoon Package at Divi
The Divi resorts have a free package for honeymooners who bring along their marriage certificate. This includes a bottle of champagne, two t-shirts, and a dinner on the beach. The dinner was good, but the service here was our only negative experience. There is a section of tables set up for the honeymoon package, right in middle of dinner the servers decided that it would be okay to set up a table right in the middle for a party of 6. They had better seats than Nick and I. What is the purpose of promising us an "upgraded" dinner on the beach just for honeymooners if you are going to sit anybody there? The food was good and we got some good pictures, but seating that family there was rude.

Activities
Our activities outside the resort were:
 Aruba Aloe Factory and Museum. We had a wonderful tour guide who explained the history of the aloe industry in Aruba, the process of making their products, and took us on a tour of the factory. We enjoyed our visit and bought some amazing products!

Aloe fields next to the factory

Phillip's Animal Garden. This is a must-see! Phillip's is a nonprofit animal sanctuary. Visitors pay $10 and get a bag of animal food (carrots and food pellets). A staff member takes you around the garden and talks about all the animals. If you ask nicely, they even let you hold some of the animals.

Meet "empty bag", because he doesn't go away until your bag of food is empty! This little guy followed us around the entire time! So cute!

I got to hold a baby goat. <3

"Empty bag" eating plants

SNUBA through De Palm Tours. This was a bit more money than we planned to spend, but completely worth it! We paid $84 each for the Palm Pleasure Snorkel Adventure, and added the SNUBA for $41. The bus picked us up from our hotel and took us right to the De Palm pier. The boat takes you to 3 sites: Catalina Bay, Arashi Reef, and the Antilla shipwreck. Snorkeling is available at all three sites, and the SNUBA can be done at any one spot of your choice. The instructor was fantastic. I was a bit nervous, having never even snorkeled before SNUBA was a bit nerve wracking, but the instructor kept checking that I was okay and assured me that I could go to the surface at any time and he would make sure nothing happened. Lunch and an open bar are included on the boat. If you add the SNUBA package it includes a flash drive with pictures taken underwater by the SNUBA instructor.

I would highly recommend all of these activities and staying at the Divi Tamarijn.