I am in Aruba currently. Your first post said something about cost. Aruba is fairly expensive in my opinion and you can go through cash pretty quickly. I imagine it would be on par with Bonaire and Curacao, but I can't say for sure seeing how I have not been there yet. $6/beer, $40-50/single tank dive, $50-55/night dive, dinner has ran about $20-30 on average for a decent meal.
The Arubans have treated me very well and have been very open. Seems like about half of the Arubans I meet have moved here from somewhere else. Beside the wreck dive I made this week, the other two dives reminded me a lot of Paradise Shallows in Cozumel but with a lot more growth. One was teaming with life while the other seemed to have been picked over possible by illegal spearfishing. Although the local currency is about 1.75 to a $1USD all the prices seem to be in USD for the most part, but you would expect not based on the prices. $6-7 per beet at the resorts, most restaraunts charge for drink refills inlcuding tea at ~$2.25 per glass. Decent dinner is $20-30 per person and lunch anywhere from $8-15 per person. As far as dinners go I did see some reasonable prices posted by an operator for an evening dinner cruise for not much more than a restaurant.
They do have a lot of casinos if you like to play the games, the food and water are safe to consume, lots of shopping.
The last three nights there have been two guys hanging out between the Renaissance Hotel and Carlos~n~Charlies trying to sell dope. I know this because the first night I saw them they asked me if I wanted some coke. A couple of nights later I watched them for an hour one night while eating dinner at Iguana Joes. At the same time a police officer or security guard stood nearby oblivious for half an hour, or possibly they were trying to run a sting operation. Otherwise I did not see any drug issues. Also, I covered a lot of ground this week and often just followed a few roads to see where they went. The island is easy to navigate although a lot of minor roads are not well marked. I never ended up in any areas that caused me any concern from crime; however, did have a moment of awkwardness when I accidentally made a wrong turn down a street in the red light district of San Nicolas.
There are some interesting sites to see such as the ruins, wild donkeys, caves, butterfly exhibit, ostrich farm, natural bridge, beautiful beaches which you could probably knock off in a couple of days.
Well it's late and I am rambling so I am stopping here. Good luck in finalizing your plans.
