Aruba

Oranjestad — the capital of Aruba (a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 32km², 107,000 people, 27km north of Venezuela — one of the ABC islands with Bonaire and Curaçao) with the colourful Dutch Colonial architecture along the waterfront boulevard (the L.G. Smith Boulevard with ochre, terracotta and royal blue Dutch gable buildings) and the Archaeological Museum of Aruba (the finest collection of pre-Columbian Arawak artefacts in the southern Caribbean).

💡 The ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao — the Dutch Caribbean islands off the Venezuelan coast) lie entirely outside the Caribbean hurricane belt — they are at 12–14°N latitude, below the main hurricane track. In the 500 years since European settlement, only one hurricane has directly struck Aruba (in 1877). This extraordinary weather security, combined with the constant Trade Winds, makes Aruba one of the most reliable sun destinations in the world.

Eagle Beach (the most celebrated beach in Aruba — a 1.5km sweep of white sand on the west coast, calm, clear water, the distinctive divi-divi trees (Caesalpinia coriaria — the national symbol of Aruba, permanently bent southwest by the constant northeast Trade Wind, all growing at the same angle like natural compasses) and the low-rise resort zone with excellent access).

💡 The divi-divi tree (Caesalpinia coriaria — a thorny tree native to the dry Caribbean coast, growing to about 10m) is the national symbol of Aruba. Every divi-divi tree on the island bends at the same angle (35–45 degrees from vertical, leaning southwest) due to the constant northeast Trade Wind. They function as a natural compass; early navigators could determine direction on the island simply by observing the trees.

Arikok National Park (18% of Aruba’s total land area — a lunar landscape of prickly pear cactus, kunuku (thorny scrub), natural pools (conchi) in the limestone terraces and the famous Fontein Cave with 500-year-old Arawak petroglyphs) — Aruba’s interior is one of the driest and most unexpected landscapes in the Caribbean, bearing more resemblance to the Sonoran Desert than a tropical island.

💡 The Arawak petroglyphs in the Fontein Cave (abstract geometric symbols and animal figures painted or carved onto the cave walls approximately 500 years ago by the Caquetio Arawak people — the pre-Columbian inhabitants of Aruba) are the finest surviving example of indigenous Caribbean art in the Dutch Caribbean. The Caquetio were relocated to Hispaniola by the Spanish in 1515 and largely wiped out; the cave paintings are almost all that remains of their presence.

The California Lighthouse (the northern tip of Aruba, a 30m lighthouse built in 1916 and named after the SS California — a passenger ship wrecked on the nearby reef in 1891, not the same California that failed to respond to the Titanic’s distress signals in 1912 — with the finest 360-degree view of the island and the rough Atlantic coast contrasting with the calm Caribbean leeward shore) and the Tierra del Sol Golf Course (the finest golf course in the southern Caribbean).

💡 The northern coast of Aruba (the windward Atlantic side) is completely different from the calm leeward Caribbean side — the full force of the northeast Trade Wind creates a rough sea with strong currents and dramatic wave-carved limestone formations (the Natural Pool, the Natural Bridge before its collapse in 2005, and the Ayo and Casibari rock formations). Swimming is impossible on the Atlantic shore; all beach activity is on the protected western coast.

The HMNS Antilla (a German merchant vessel of 400 feet, scuttled by her own crew on 10 May 1940 when the Netherlands declared war on Germany — the largest Caribbean shipwreck in the shallows, lying on her side in 18–27m off Malmok Beach, completely overgrown with coral and sponge, the most dived wreck in the southern Caribbean, accessible from shore at low water) and the Malmok reef snorkel.

💡 The Antilla (scuttled by her German captain and crew to prevent capture by Dutch authorities on the same day Germany invaded the Netherlands — 10 May 1940) is the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean accessible by snorkel from shore. The 400-foot steel hull lies on her port side at 18–27m; the shallowest part of the hull is at 3m depth, making portions accessible to snorkellers. In 80 years underwater, she has become the most densely colonised artificial reef in the southern Caribbean.

Savaneta (the oldest settlement in Aruba, a fishing village on the southeast coast with the original Dutch Colonial houses and the finest fresh fish restaurants — the Zeerovers fish shack, a fishermen’s cooperative that fries the morning catch in a corrugated iron shack on the waterfront, the most authentic food experience on the island) and San Nicolas (the “Sunrise City” — a former oil refinery town with a thriving street art scene).

💡 The Zeerovers (Zeerovers — Sea Robbers in Dutch — a fishermen’s cooperative fish shack at Savaneta that fries the fresh catch of the day for US$1–3 per piece — barracuda, snapper, shrimp — and serves it with a squeeze of lime, hot sauce and a cold Balashi beer) is the most authentic food in Aruba and the most extreme contrast to the resort restaurants of Palm Beach. It opens at 11am and closes when the fish is sold out.

Palm Beach (the main resort strip — 3km of high-rise hotels and beach bars on the northwestern coast, the social centre of Aruba tourism, with the sunset at the California Lighthouse and the last Balashi beer of the trip) and the Aruban pastechi (a fried pastry filled with cheese, tuna or beef — the most popular street food in Aruba, available at bakeries for AWG 2–5) before departure. Fly from Aruba (AUA).

💡 Balashi beer (the national beer of Aruba, brewed since 1999 at the only brewery on the island — a lager brewed with desalinated seawater, the water that makes up approximately 60% of the beer coming from Aruba’s own seawater desalination plant, one of the largest in the western hemisphere) is the definitive Aruban drink at AWG 4–8 at beach bars.