Aruba Travel Guide: One Happy Island!

In this Aruba Travel Guide, I’ll list the things to know, do and wear for your trip to Aruba. I’ll also recommend how to get there, how to get around and where to stay. But first, a little background info! Aruba is known as “One Happy Island!” It is a tiny island, only 20 miles long and 6 miles wide. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, just off of Venezuela. It is part of the ABC islands which consist of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

Things to know: Aruba Travel Guide

• Language: All of the islands are part of the Netherlands, Dutch being the official language, however most locals use Papiamentu amongst themselves and English with tourists.
• Currency: Aruban Florin AWG or USD
• Credit Cards & ATMs: Both are readily accepted and available.
• Safety: Totally safe, just don’t leave valuables visible in car for any temptations.
• Water: Is safe to drink (they actually have one of the best desalination plants in the world!)
• When to go: Fortunately, Aruba is located outside of the Hurricane belt, having very little rain throughout the year and a pretty consistent climate of being hot and windy. The average temperature ranges from 80-90 F. The landscape reflects this and is very dry and desert like throughout most of the island, especially on the North and East coasts, where you need a 4×4 to get to most places. However, the Western and Southern coasts are full of white sandy beaches and more protected.
• Local Beer: Balashi and Chill

How to Get There

There are plenty of direct flights, with most major cities and most major airlines having direct flights. There’s flights from JFK, PHL, Toronto, Amsterdam, etc. I took a 3 hour JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale.

**Note: When going back into the US from Aruba: travelers go through US Customs in the Aruba airport before boarding the plane! (This is common with a lot of islands frequently visited by US travelers, however it made me almost miss my flight by not factoring in that extra time needed at the airport!)

How to Get Around

There isn’t really a need to rent a car because your hotel will be able to provide transportation to and from the airport, your tour guides will pick you up and there’s plenty of restaurants within the hotels and within walking distance.

However, if you’re up to explore more on your own then renting a car is quick and easy! There is pretty much one road on the West side of the country that runs north and south. Most of the East side is only accessible by off-roading vehicles.

Where to Stay

Palm Beach: where you can find most common hotel chains you’re used to seeing around the world lining the beautiful beaches. Across from the hotels are plenty of shopping plazas with stores and restaurants.

Oranjestad: capital of Aruba. This is where the cruise terminal is and is more of the “downtown area” full of shops restaurants and places to go out.

Things to do

• Go for a sail- there’s so many beautiful things to see from the water
  • We went out on a sailboat with Pelican Adventures. We were greeted with mimosas and an open bar. Then we sailed down to De Palm Island where we stopped to snorkel around the reef. We were provided with lunch and more drinks and then sailed back to Palm Beach.

• Relax on the Beach- there’s so many beautiful beaches to explore
  • Palm Beach
  • Eagle Beach
  • Baby Beach

• Take a boat to De Palm Island
  • Feed flamingos
  • Go to the waterpark
  • Go Snorkeling
  • Eat lunch or grab a cocktail
  • Take a dance lesson!

• Take an ATV Tour-
  • 4 hour UTV tour with De Palm Tours. Go on an adventure and explore the Eastern part of the island. The terrain was very tough rock and desert like along the ocean. Ride over to a natural bridge that formed over the ocean!

• Kuku Kunukoo Party Bus
  • Bar Crawl on a party bus! We went to 3 local bars and had a lot of fun with some great people singing and dancing our way through town!

What to Wear

Beachy casual. Bring lots of bathing suits, coverups and flip flops because you’ll most likely be spending most of your time on the beach or in the water. You’ll need a pair of sneakers and some workout clothes if you choose to do the adventure activities. For dinners I wore beachy dresses with flats. I don’t think there’s any need for heels (unless you want to wear them!) For guys, shorts, a collared short sleeve shirt and flip flops are fine.

I hope this Aruba Travel Guide answers some of your initial questions about traveling to Aruba. Check out some of the other blog posts like this https://thesaltysuitcase.com/aruba-5-day-itinerary/ for more information!