What You Need to Know Before Traveling to Aruba – Complete Travel Guide

Best Beaches:

The beaches in Aruba are beautiful! We visited a few different ones during our stay. We mainly went to the one in our resort in Oranjestad. The beaches are made of perfect white sand and turquoise waters.

Baby Beach – great for families. No/little waves, very warm and clean water.

Palm Beach – better for adults. Very big waves – great for snorkeling, so many different fish.

Oranjestad – better for adults. Very big waves and sand banks.

The only downside is that most of the beaches are not combed. We stepped on a lot of rocks and swam with lots of sea plants.

 

 

Activities:

If you’re looking for somethings to do besides laying in the sand, baking all day… The most popular things to do in Aruba are:

Guided UTV tours – You drive your own UTV/ATV to see some of the hidden gems of Aruba. They take you to see the natural pool – which is only accessible by all-terrain vehicle. I was so disappointed that our tour got cancelled.

Snorkeling

Surfing – both wave surfing and paddle boarding.

Check out my post on our paddle boarding excursion HERE.

Guided bus tours – They have some fun ones that take you on a bar hopping tour. You go from bar to bar and check out some of the attractions in Aruba. They also have the regular vanilla bus tours that take you on a sober tour.

Beach hopping – there are so many amazing beaches around the island. Many that are secluded and untouched. So beautiful and worth the trip.

Places to Stay:

We stayed at the Divi Resort in Aruba. It’s the biggest resort in Aruba. They have 4 different sections: All Inclusive, Golf Village, Tamarjn, and Dutch Village. Our stay in the Golf Village was great. We were steps away from the beach, the pool, lobby and from one of their restaurants. Our room was very nice – it came with a little kitchen, equipped with a stove, microwave, fridge/freezer and sink. We had a dining table, couch, king sized bed and a crib for Logan. Overall, we enjoyed our stay – especially the pool with the water slide.

Some hotels/resorts that looked more accommodating were:

• Rio
• Holiday Inn
• Ritz-Carleton
• Hilton

The most popular and high-end resort is The Renaissance. The hotel is very luxurious and most of it is adults only. They also have their coveted private island that is a boat ride away from the main part of the hotel. The island is known as Flamingo Island. Many tourists – like myself – travel to Aruba just to visit the private Flamingo Island. The island is private to guests of the hotel only; However, tickets may be purchased to visit the flamingos for $100 USD / per person for the day. If you are not staying at their hotel – you must arrive at the concierge at 6:30 am to see if tickets are available – they do not pre-book. If you can get a ticket for the day, the boat travels every 15 minutes from the main part of the hotel. Children are not allowed on Flamingo Island – they have exceptions from 10am-12pm for children to visit. But, once you leave the island you are not allowed to go back. Overall, there are a lot of rules for the Flamingo Island…

Dining:

Aruba is very Americanized – meaning many of the restaurants and food styles have been brought over. Meals were not included in our stay at the resort – so we had to travel around a bit to find eats.

Some of the American restaurants that we found were:

• Pizza Hut
• Dunkin Donuts
• McDonald’s
• Wendy’s
• Hooters
• KFC
• Starbucks

They were great! Just like home. They were always a safe bet when we weren’t sure what we wanted.

My absolute favorite restaurant that we went to was Twist of Flavors. One of the few restaurants that I’ve been to any where in the world that had more than 1 vegetarian/vegan option that wasn’t a salad. Their portions were HUGE, and their prices were fair. Their atmosphere is also adorable. They have a beautiful patio that it perfect for drinking wine on a warm Aruba night.

We also visited the Taco Bell a few times. It’s much different in the sense that the food isn’t tossed together in a rush. The employees take their time and make everything well – that goes for all dining in Aruba.

A great breakfast/brunch spot is Taste of Belgium. Their atmosphere is Instagram perfect!

They have a great grocery store close to where we stayed near the capital. It was called Ling & Sons and was plastered with American flags. We shopped here 3 times during our vacation. We were able to buy pretty much the same foods as we do at home. Many of the same brands purchased in America were available in Aruba. They even had my favorite vegetarian/vegan brand, Morning Star. It was priced slightly higher than our grocery store at home. We spent about $500 during our 2-week trip, which is what we usually spend for 4 weeks in Canada.

Shopping:

The shopping was not what I expected. Most Caribbean islands that I’ve been to only have small markets with handmade goods by the locals. Around the major hotel resorts there were bigger shopping centers. We visited 2 – one in Oranjestad and the other at the North side of the island.

In the capital, they have many America stores – Zara, Ralph Lauren, Nike, etc. They also had many high-end designers – Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton. Beside this shopping hub is a loading dock for cruise ships, hence the high-end stores for travelers.

The second shopping center we visited, Palm Beach Shopping Mall had more local brands mixed in with some American brands.

We also took a trip to the flea market. This flea market is located right beside the Oranjestad shopping hub. Here we found the handmade items by locals. Their prices were reasonable for small souvenirs and clothing.

Stores in Aruba accept USD – they often return change in their own currency.

Tourist Attractions:

In the capital, Oranjestad, you will find the most shops, restaurants and links to excursions. There is only one road traveling in and out of the capital. Around 3-5 everyday, the traffic is crazy – It’s best to avoid driving at that time.

The most popular excursion company is ABC tours. They do great work and are very popular among the tourists.

We did a stand-up paddle boarding class. Check out my post on it HERE.

On my birthday, we rented a car (for about $60USD for the day) and decided to visit all the tourist attractions. We first went to the Palm Beach Shopping Mall and had breakfast at Taste of Belgium.

We then went to the California Lighthouse.

Then the Natural Bridge. Which was impossible to get to by car. It’s only accessible by ATV/UTV tour because of the insane terrane. We got close and what we did see was beautiful.

We then went to Baby Beach. By far one of the best beaches we’ve been to. The shore creates a crescent moon shape – and there are added boulders in the ocean to just barely complete the circle. This keeps the water clean from seaweed and debris. It also keeps the water very warm and the waves still – so perfect for babies and kids; hence, the name baby beach.

How did we like Aruba?

Its was a magical time as our first vacation as a family. We were traveling with Logan who was just over a year old at the time. Traveling with a baby is great – we got to cut a bunch of lines and were given extra attention by staff everywhere!

We stayed in Aruba for 2 weeks in December – just before Christmas. The overall feel of Aruba is great. The locals are very friendly – I left the resort a couple times just myself and the baby and I felt safe walking to the Downtown.

The trip was a surprise birthday present from my husband. A few months ago, I showed him a video of the Flamingo Island and said I wanted to go there. For my 22^nd, birthday we were going to see them! Unfortunately, we didn’t end up going to see them because of the number of rules surrounding the Flamingo Islands (read above).

Traveling with a baby we were pretty much unable to do any activities/excursions. Our hotel claimed they had a daycare center – but, after we arrived we learned that it was only for children 5+. As a back-up the hotel has a babysitting service, which we did use once. The babysitter was very kind and professional – Logan didn’t mind staying with her. Their prices are exceptionally high – $18/hour for 1 child. For the 1 excursion we did (Paddle Boarding) we paid $100 USD for the babysitter for 4 hours (including room service/tip).

All hiccups aside, we had a fun trip! I can’t wait to explore more of the world with my family.

 

Check out my vlog of the trip HERE!

Check out MORE pictures from the trip HERE!

 

Where should we go next?