Aruba 2021
Bushiri Beach
Now I wasn't really sure what this area was (and wouldn't find out completely until getting back home and reading up on it) but this place/area was the location of the old Bushiri Hotel and Beach. This resort was a low rise hotel and opened over 36 years ago and was the only all inclusive resort in Aruba at the time. The resort had swimming pools, 3 hot tubs, a fitness center, tennis court, shopping, 3 restaurants and a few bars located outside the resort. It was the last resort before downtown Oranjestad. The lobby and halls were open air and the rooms and restaurants were air conditioned. Snorkeling gear was free and they gave scuba diving training in the pool for $55. You received 3 meals a day and drinks. They also gave a 3 hour sightseeing tour of Aruba.
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Here's a few pictures of it when it was still alive and working:
(These are not my pictures and they are what I pulled off the internet)
Now I couldn't find the story as to why this hotel closed, but it stood there for many years decaying and falling apart. (Again, not my pictures)
As the place stood for over a decade abandoned, rumors of plans to invest and renovate the property, create a new hotel, put in a mall were all talked about but never happened.
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In 2017, demolition started on the hotel. (not my picture)
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The place was cleaned up and it was now a wide open space of sand and beach opened to the public. It was a perfect place to watch the sunset, watch the cruise ships since they were really close by and the local fishermen also use this area. They say the intention was to create a beach for the cruise ship people but the water was not suitable for swimming yet. It does have a bit of a rocky shoreline and the sand had a lot of pebbles in it.
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Here is what it became after the demolition: (not my picture)
So our experience at this beach....
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We ended up back at the beach beside the cruise ships. I wanted to see if there might be anything around there to snorkel at...but there wasn't. There wasn't anyone around the area but a few people and families fishing.
As you can see from the picture above and the third picture down on the far left of it by the palm tree, they did not keep up the "beach" and there was stuff growing all over it. Some was grass and other places there were thorns. You really had to watch your step.
We decided to walk all the way out to the rocks at the shoreline.
Now this lady had it made...she put her hammock under the divi divi trees in the shade and living the life.
We ended up strolling way down this beach area and found an area with a lot of rocks. Of course we immediately started looking for sea glass. There doesn't seem to be a lot here but I did hear that you can find pleanty of it on the other side the island (the wild side). We had decided that we weren't going to go over on that side of the island this time around. Well, I was planning on renting a buggy for the day and exploring that side, but I was just unsure about it and I just couldn't pick a day and secure it. I just don't know why.
So it was time to head back to the car and move on to another place. We had a nice time walking around here and exploring while looking for sea glass (not much in the area but did find a few pieces)
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