Traveling with a disability is seldom a piece of cake, and like most places, Aruba could do more to welcome vacationers with disabilities. Queen Beatrix International Airport was renovated in 2000, yet facilities compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) weren't part of the overhaul. Instead, the facility has a truck to transfer wheelchair passengers from the plane to the terminal using a special ramp and door.
Many resorts boast ADA-compliant facilities, including the Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hyatt Regency, Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club, Radisson, and Divi Phoenix. The Costa Linda even has a beach wheelchair. Many other hotels are equipped for wheelchairs, including the Aruba Grand, Wyndham, Renaissance, Allegro, Costa Linda, and Tamarijn.
If you need special equipment while you're on the island, Labco Medical and Home Heathcare Services (tel. 297/582-6651; fax 297/582-6567; www.labcomedical.com) specializes in oxygen-delivery systems, but it also sells and rents medical and home health care products such as oxygen concentrators, tanks, commodes, scooters, crutches, wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs, and lifts.
For more general information, a number of organizations and websites assist travelers with disabilities. Moss Rehab ResourceNet (www.mossresourcenet.org) has great information, tips, and resources about accessible travel, and travel agents who specialize in planning trips for travelers with disabilities. So does Access-Able Travel Source (www.access-able.com). Its user-friendly site lists relay and voice numbers for hotels, airlines, and car-rental companies, as well as links to accessible accommodations, attractions, transportation, tours, local medical resources, and equipment repairers.
When you become a member of the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality, 347 Fifth Ave., Suite 605, New York, NY 10016 (tel. 212/447-7284; www.sath.org), you gain access to a vast network of travel industry connections. The group provides destination information sheets and referrals to tour operators with a special expertise in travel for travelers with disabilities.
Survival Strategies for Going Abroad, a 225-plus-page resource book for travelers with disabilities, gives the lowdown on everything from biking trips to scuba outfitters. Available from Mobility International USA (tel. 541/343-1284 voice and TTY; www.miusa.org), the book costs $18 (10% discount for members).
Vision-impaired travelers should contact the American Foundation for the Blind, 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300, New York, NY 10001 (tel. 800/232-5463; www.afb.org), for information on traveling with Seeing Eye dogs.
