Trip to Aruba: A guide to The Happy Island

Who doesn’t like travel to spend some days at the beach having drinks and listening to the sound of waves, right!?!

But COVID forced us to stay in for a long while, and the few of our outings throughout the pandemic were short road trips inside our home state of WA. Nothing against our beautiful PNW, but we were craving some real beach time 🙂

With people (us included) getting vaccinated, cases going down, restrictions getting lift, we thought it was time we got on a plane to go to some place warm, where we could enjoy the sun, just lay on the beach and also celebrate Abmar‘s b-day (Yay!).

Why did we pick Aruba? We’ve always had Aruba in our list (among other Caribbean islands) and by the time we were researching, Aruba had < 15 new cases per day, no recent deaths, 53% of the population vaccinated with at least one dose and they were testing (or asking for a negative test result from) everyone in and out of the island. That made a lot of sense to us 🙂

Aruba is a Caribbean Island just north of Venezuela with 116K habitants.

Their official language is papiamento: a creole language based on Portuguese but heavily influenced by Spanish and Dutch. Also mostly everybody in the island also speaks English, so, no worries: you’ll get yourself around.

One Happy Island is how the locals call Aruba, and we’re living proof that the name fits 🙂

Visa: American citizens and permanent residents do not need a visa to go to Aruba. However, you do need to go through the ED card process. As part of this process, you will:
1) provide your basic information;
2) submit a personal health assessment;
3) upload a negative COVID-19 test result and
4) purchase Aruba Visitors insurance. Once the process is done, you’ll receive a code to show the immigration officer at time of entry.

Flights: We looked for flights from Seattle (SEA) to Aruba (AUA) with minimum flight time and the least stops. The one that made most sense to us with American Airlines, with a stop in Miami (MIA). That flight costs $920 per person in average.

TIP: To keep track of all our reservations and tickets we use a website called Inspirock. This is an amazing place to plan and keep track of everything relate to your trip! We use it for all of our trips and have recommended for all our friends!

Day 1

We got there in the early afternoon and then headed to Budget to get our rental car – a good option if you want to explore the whole island – and then we drove to the Hyatt Regency Aruba, located at Palm Beach, 20 minutes from the airport.

Palm beach is the most widely known beach in Aruba, with its clear & calm waters. It’s also where the main resorts, bars and restaurants are. Once we checked-in, we received welcome drinks (Yay!) and enjoyed the pool for a bit.

Then we headed to the Elements restaurant for dinner.

We loved our time there! We had the island’s most famous drink Aruba Ariba and the local Balashi beer, plus a gorgeous sunset and live music. You can make a reservation here.

Day 2

This was my favorite day of the trip! One of the reasons why I had Aruba in my list was because of a beach with special residents: FLAMINGOS!

The Flamingo beach is located in the Renaissance Island – a private island owned by Hotel Renaissance. If you’re staying at the hotel you have free access to the island, but if you don’t, you can buy a day pass for $125 per person. This pass gives you a boat ride, a drink and a meal.

The island is open from 7am to 7pm, and boats leave from a dock behind the hotel’s convention center every 15min.

Tip: try and reserve your day pass in advance here, because they do sell out. Passes become available at 7 A.M. for the following day and usually sell out in minutes.

We spent the whole day at the island. It’s gorgeous, and besides the Flamingo Beach, you can also hang out at the Iguana Beach. Both are beautiful and have clear and calm waters with plenty of chairs e cabanas so you can enjoy your drinks and food very comfortably.

And how about the flamingos? 🦩 They are let loose at the beach and you can easily take pictures with them. They are sweet and calm but aren’t really fans of touching, so keep your hands to yourself! You can feed them though. There’s a coin operated food dispenser right at the beach entrance, so don’t forget your quarters!

Tip: Some people spend so much time taking pictures with the flamingos, over and over again, that it’s noticeable that the animals become overwhelmed. I recommend that you find a good angle and just go for it, this way you let others have their turns, and, most importantly, give some space to these gorgeous birds.

Later on, back in the main island, we headed to Atardi, a wonderful restaurant with tables on the beach (we reserved the one that was almost under water already hahahah). It’s a perfect place for a romantic dinner. Food and service were amazing. You can make a reservation here.

Day 3

Early in the morning we headed to Oranjestad Downtown to explore. The architecture and the colors of the old buildings are amazing. Although buildings have been modernized for current needs (read shopping), the blend of Spanish and Dutch influence from the 19th and 20th centuries is evident.

The Archaeological Museum is also a must. It gives an insight into the origin and culture of Aruba. It showcases artwork from the prehistoric and early historic times.

After exploring downtown, we were starving! So we had breakfast at the famous Diana’s Pancakes. The place was right across the street from our hotel. We had to wait about 20 minutes to get our table because the place was packed!

After that, we headed out to explore the island. The highlights of this day were the 3 trapi beach , the California Lighthouse, the Baby beach and the Arikok National Park, which reminded us a lot of the region in Brazil where we are both from because of its fauna and flora.

For dinner we went to Quinta Del Carmen! It’s located in a monumental building from 1916. We made a reservation for the garden and spent quite some time there trying their tapas and drinks.

Day 4

We went back to downtown next morning because we had to try the famous pastechi from the Pastechi House. Besides being of the most famous Aruban delicacies, they very much resemble Brazilian pasteis, triggering some childhood memories 🙂

Right after we headed to Kini Kini tours where we had an ATV tour scheduled: a guided tour with several stops throughout the island on an all terrain four-wheeler. Adrenaline was pumping! Most of the tour is pretty easy but you do have to go fast and follow the guides, especially close to the ruins and around the more arid spots, and that’s where things get interesting!

We stopped at the Alto Vista Chapel, Baby Natural Bridge, and the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins. We also stopped at the Andicuri Beach for a quick (~20 min) swim. I didn’t enjoy the beach so much because the water was choppy, full of sea weed and taken by bodyboarders 🙂

The tour costs $78 per person, and it’s worth it! The views were amazing and the guides are super energetic!

At the end of our tour we went to MooMba Beach. A beach bar perfect for having great cocktails and appetizers.

After that we went to Eagle Beach: one of my favorite beach in the island with its white sand – whiter than the others 😉 – and beautiful trees. It has been consistently rated one of the best beaches in the world by Trip Advisor.

At the end of the day we had the Sunset Cruise with Octopus Tours: a 2 hour boat ride into the sunset, super romantic and peaceful. It costs $50 per person, is open bar, light appetizers are offered and the crew is very friendly. The view is the most beautiful – watching the sunset from the boat was soothing.

That night we had dinner at Papiamento: we sat outside in the garden, around the pool and surrounded by trees decorated with hanging lights (cute!). They have an 126-year-old Aruban “cunucu” house next to the pool filled with gorgeous antiques from Europe, the oldest dating back to the early 1800’s. The ladies bathroom has a unique decoration! Loved it!

Day 5

We started our day with a delicious pineaple açai bowl and pitaya bowl from Eduardos’s Beach Shack. They also have juices & smoothies, raw treats, poke bowls, waffles, and more. It’s a great spot to grab a healthy, casual brunch that you can enjoy on the sand.

After that we went tube riding with Delphi Watersports, which was right next to our hotel, at the beach. And we had a lot of fun! The ride costs $25 per person and took about 20 ~ 30 minutes. Our captain was great and was always looking backwards to check on us. We agreed on a sign language: 👌 meant fast enough, 👎 go slower and 👍 go faster!

Right after, we had lunch at Pelican Nest: a waterfront restaurant with spectacular views hanging on the Pelican Pier. It’s a place to find locals and tourists.

Then we spent the rest of our day at the beach in one of our hotel palapas. Remember to reserve yours in advance (there’s a reservation fee).

It was really nice to break the routine and spend some days in paradise, relaxing and recharging. Can’t wait to start planning the next trip!

I hope you guys liked this post. If you have more tips, share below.

Have you traveled abroad since the pandemic started? Share your experience in the comment section!

Xoxo,
Day ❤