I Now Know Why There is No Pool Chair Issue at Aruba OC

dioxide45 · Sep 11, 2011

I have always read about the pool chair issues in Aruba, especially at the Surf Club, by contrast people said they rarely had issues at the Ocean Club.

Now I know why! The Ocean Club pool is crawling with lizards, EVERYWHERE. Of course the Surf Club could be the same way but we didn't go over there so we don't know. We are staying at the Stellaris Hotel and Casino (hotel guests can use the OC pool and OC guests can use the hotel pool) and while there are plenty of small lizards at the hotel, we have only seen what appears to be two resident large ones. They stick around over by the pool bar/restaurant.

By comparison there are lots of them at the Ocean Club and they are not small. Quite the opposite. My wife was not a fan of them crawling under the pool chair she was laying on. A couple sitting a few chairs away from us had ordered lunch and was going to eat it at their pool chair. That was not an option as not long after they opened up their food, there were at least 4 to 5 large lizards converging from all directions. The guy had to quickly pack everything up while the woman stood in the pool. They then took their food back to their room to eat. It seems that eating poolside isn't an option at the Ocean Club.

I suspect that that they are much more prevalent at the Ocean Club because they feed them every morning between the Ocean Club and Surf Club buildings. My suggestion is to stop feeding them and they will slowly find other places to find food instead of sticking around for the guaranteed meal every morning.

Of course this made finding a pool chair, even one in the shade, at 11:00am very easy at the Ocean Club. If we were to return to Aruba we would likely try to book the Ocean Club, use the beach at the Ocean Club (it looks great), but go over and use the pool at the hotel. Even though the hotel pool was busier and much smaller, the place wasn't crawling with huge lizards!

gblotter · Sep 11, 2011

Although I am very critical of the pool chair problem at Maui Ocean Club, I'm not going to recommend that they implement the giant lizard solution there.

ada903 · Sep 11, 2011

Ihhhhh I got goose bumps from that description.

dioxide45 said:
I have always read about the pool chair issues in Aruba, especially at the Surf Club, by contrast people said they rarely had issues at the Ocean Club.

Now I know why! The Ocean Club pool is crawling with lizards, EVERYWHERE. Of course the Surf Club could be the same way but we didn't go over there so we don't know. We are staying at the Stellaris Hotel and Casino (hotel guests can use the OC pool and OC guests can use the hotel pool) and while there are plenty of small lizards at the hotel, we have only seen what appears to be two resident large ones. They stick around over by the pool bar/restaurant.

By comparison there are lots of them at the Ocean Club and they are not small. Quite the opposite. My wife was not a fan of them crawling under the pool chair she was laying on. A couple sitting a few chairs away from us had ordered lunch and was going to eat it at their pool chair. That was not an option as not long after they opened up their food, there were at least 4 to 5 large lizards converging from all directions. The guy had to quickly pack everything up while the woman stood in the pool. They then took their food back to their room to eat. It seems that eating poolside isn't an option at the Ocean Club.

I suspect that that they are much more prevalent at the Ocean Club because they feed them every morning between the Ocean Club and Surf Club buildings. My suggestion is to stop feeding them and they will slowly find other places to find food instead of sticking around for the guaranteed meal every morning.

Of course this made finding a pool chair, even one in the shade, at 11:00am very easy at the Ocean Club. If we were to return to Aruba we would likely try to book the Ocean Club, use the beach at the Ocean Club (it looks great), but go over and use the pool at the hotel. Even though the hotel pool was busier and much smaller, the place wasn't crawling with huge lizards!

siesta · Sep 11, 2011

My favorite thing to do as a child in Maui was to catch the lizards and geckos, a local showed me how to snag them off the branch when i was 5 or 6, and every year id go id be obsessed. Id have a hole dug with about 20 lizards in there, and id release them at the end of the day and start over again in the morning. I used to let the bigger ones bite on my finger then id let go and theyd hang there from my finger. My mom was once laying on a hammock enjoying the maui breeze, when i dropped one in her lap, she almost killed me. Then there was the time i lost a gecko in our room, i nearly survived that one too. Memories.

Because of your description, i am looking forward to going to Aruba Ocean Club

JanT · Sep 11, 2011

Those "lizards" are actually iguanas and yes, they are big.

We were just at the OC for two weeks at the end of July/beginning of August. We hardly saw any iguanas at all and actually commented to one another about it. We were out and about quite a bit there and I think we maybe saw one or two. But, we didn't hang out by the pool so maybe that's why we didn't see many.

Personally, they don't bother us but I know they are disconcerting for some people. They will hover about when there is food around and while we have never had a problem with one of them "attacking" for food, I know when we were at Frenchman's Cove in St. Thomas in June iguanas were everywhere. A lady told us that one jumped up on the adjacent lawn chair while they were eating and waited patiently for some food. Awwwww....I thought that was sweet.

Here is a picture of one of the many, big iguanas that lurked in the trees outside our unit at FC. They're so ugly they are cute!!

sail27bill · Sep 11, 2011

dioxide45--Thanks for the heads up. I will be there in June and I have to admit I would not be happy if a couple of them came up to visit. I don't mind the "little" lizards...they are cute. However, if I saw iguanas around me I would not be happy (and people around me might hear a little screaming to say the least). At least I know now not to eat at the pool.

Anita

ScubaKat · Sep 11, 2011

This post brought back memories..

We lived in Grenada for a couple of years due to my dad's job.. the house has a open court yard in the middle of the house.. in the afternoon our resident iguana would come and hang out in the sun by the pond while my mom knitted and we read out there.. they are ugly but totally harmless.. kept the bug population in control too..

Carolyn · Sep 11, 2011

In a way, aren't we invading their environment instead of vice-versa? They have been around a lot longer than the all the mega resorts.

DebBrown · Sep 11, 2011

I would love having the iguanas hanging around the pool! Many years ago in Costa Rica, there were some huge iguanas that sunned themselves beside our pool. We all enjoyed their company.

Deb

stmartinfan · Sep 11, 2011

We saw several of those large iguanas when staying at another resort in Aruba, too. They didn't bother people and our kids thought they were cool, but I was surprised at how big they were. Occasionally a couple of them would get into a fight about something- territory, I suppose - and that would be interesting! It wasn't really scary, I just didn't enjoy sharing my pool space with them because of their size....little geckos and lizzards, fine, but these were cat sized!

loafingcactus · Sep 11, 2011

I wasn't sure if I should be scared of them or not, so I googled "do iguanas bite.". Apparently, if do the iguana version of puffing out there chest and waving a gun in your face, you should take it seriously. They make some nasty bites.

ilene13 · Sep 11, 2011

We have owned at the OC since 1999. We spend weeks 51 and 52 there annually. We always see iguanas but they are not over abundant. The weeks we are there are very crowded and the pool and beach are full! The iguanas often walk around the Pavilion restaurant because people feed them..

GregT · Sep 11, 2011

One of my little tourist books on the Virgin Islands indicated that these iguanas love maraschino cherries -- and that it is a bad idea to hold a cherry in your hand or up in the air, or the iguana will climb you to get to the cherry. Yuck.

californiagirl · Sep 11, 2011

At Magen's bay a few years ago, while our husbands were golfing, two girlfriends and I were sitting at a table waiting for our lunch. There was a tree shading our table. Without warning, suddenly a huge iguana dropped out of the tree and onto our table.

I thought one of my friends was going to jump up into the tree!:rofl: I didn't know until then how afraid she was of iguanas. I found at FC that if you didn't feed them, they would move on to someone else.

DCBoy · Sep 11, 2011

No one's really serious about this non-issue, are they? If so, I've never seen an Iguana around a Holiday Inn Express in any city. Maybe that would be a better option for some.

suzannesimon · Sep 11, 2011

My son had a baby iguana and left for school. I ended up raising it while he was gone. It was 3 inches and grew to 6 ft so they don't bother me. Kinda like running into a long-lost foster child!

ada903 · Sep 11, 2011

So I had a pretty boring childhood in Romania catching flies and baby frogs in a jar

siesta said:
My favorite thing to do as a child in Maui was to catch the lizards and geckos, a local showed me how to snag them off the branch when i was 5 or 6, and every year id go id be obsessed. Id have a hole dug with about 20 lizards in there, and id release them at the end of the day and start over again in the morning. I used to let the bigger ones bite on my finger then id let go and theyd hang there from my finger. My mom was once laying on a hammock enjoying the maui breeze, when i dropped one in her lap, she almost killed me. Then there was the time i lost a gecko in our room, i nearly survived that one too. Memories.

Because of your description, i am looking forward to going to Aruba Ocean Club

rosepointe · Sep 12, 2011

We too love to see them around the area as this is their island and not ours. Several years ago we commented to the staff at the Raddiosn that the Iguanas were gone and they told us they had been catching them and moving them to the other side of the island. We thought that was terrible as this is their home which we have invaded for our pleasure.

I certainly understand why some would be frightened or annoyed by them but we took over their spot and they are beautiful creatures to watch.

Just my thoughts.
Sue

mlfrancis · Sep 12, 2011

you can find them anywhere

we go to the ASC every year and the iguanas don't bother us at all. I do agree they seem to be more prevalent at the Ocean Club, especially near the restaurant.

I did have quite an experience a few years ago, tho ... when getting ready to leave the Surf Club, I checked all the bureau drawers (as I always do) ... there was a baby iguana in a nightstand drawer of the lockout unit ... we had never used that drawer, so it had to have been there for a full week. My guess is that some child from a previous visit put it there ... I couldn't believe it had lived with no food that long. I called housekeeping to alert them, they didn't seem too concerned.

Just have to wonder why housekeeping didn't find it when they cleaned before our arrival....or did it arrive with our mid-week tidy????

MRSFUSSY · Sep 12, 2011

Iguana saga

We've been going to Aruba for 25+ years, at least 1 time each year and more if our vaction time off permitted.

I've never met an iguana that I couldn't deal with.

Will33 · Sep 12, 2011

A couple of years ago when floating in the SC lazy river a big iguana jumped in the water right behind us and swam across the lazy river

IngridN · Sep 12, 2011

We love 'em too and actually go looking for them. They are sooooo cute. It helps that they are vegetarians

.

I remember the first year I was at the hotel pool (or OC?) under the waterfall and a big one jumped in the water right beside me. I guess he/she needed a cooling off.

Ingrid

dioxide45 · Sep 12, 2011

IngridN said:
We love 'em too and actually go looking for them. They are sooooo cute. It helps that they are vegetarians .

I remember the first year I was at the hotel pool (or OC?) under the waterfall and a big one jumped in the water right beside me. I guess he/she needed a cooling off.

Ingrid

Must have been at the OC, there is no waterfall that we saw at the hotel. Though there is several large ones at the OC.

mcm21078 · Sep 12, 2011

At the Surf Club in August we were at our chairs by the Lazy River, right where the shallow end is on the side opposite where the water slide is - an iguana walked by and pooped about 4-5 feet away from where the entrance to the pool is. Some nutjob called security and wanted the whole pool evacuated and cleaned!!! I couldn't believe how out of touch with reality this guy was. While I suppose its a little bit gross...it was cleaned up right away and you never would have known it happened. I don't know if this guy was angling for a free night or something but he was a wacko...he made quite a scene.

And I have to agree with DCBoy about the iguanas...they are harmless

Nickfromct · Sep 12, 2011

GregT said:
One of my little tourist books on the Virgin Islands indicated that these iguanas love maraschino cherries -- and that it is a bad idea to hold a cherry in your hand or up in the air, or the iguana will climb you to get to the cherry. Yuck.

Its also not a good idea to wear red nail polish on your toe nails.

I Now Know Why There is No Pool Chair Issue at Aruba OC

dioxide45

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ilene13

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