Ten Reasons to Visit Aruba

I had the opportunity to visit Aruba at the end of September. To be honest, Aruba was never on my travel bucket list because it seemed so firmly on the beaten path. It’s also more of a family destination, which is not what I’m looking for since I don’t have children.

But after spending four days in Aruba, I can recommend it as an easy place for a low key beach getaway, especially during hurricane season when you may decide to avoid the rest of the Caribbean. If you are thinking of visiting Aruba anytime soon, these are my top ten reasons to visit Aruba.

Table of Contents

1. It’s the Caribbean’s Sunniest Island

There’s nothing worse than looking forward to a beach vacation and then having it rain the entire time you’re there! Luckily, Aruba has more sunny days than any other island in the Caribbean.

Thanks to its location that is closer to South America and outside of the Caribbean hurricane belt, Aruba has great weather pretty much all year round.

The weather is one of my top reasons to visit Aruba because you are practically guaranteed to enjoy sunshine during your trip!

2. Soft White Sand

I’ll admit it. I’m a snob. A beach snob, that is. I’ll always pick a white sand beach before any other beach. Sorry black sand beaches and regular brown sand beaches.

Aruba has some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen with the softest, silkiest, powdery white sand.

I stayed on Palm Beach in Aruba which has a stunning wide stretch of white sand. TripAdvisor has named the neighboring Eagle Beach one of the top 25 beaches in the world! If you needed more reasons to visit Aruba, this is a pretty good one!

Aruba’s beaches are a dream
Sand so soft you can sleep in it 😉

3. Crystal Clear Ocean

I love the beach but I get a bit nervous when I can’t see through the water. I think it’s because I grew up in a landlocked part of Canada so didn’t spend that much time at the beach growing up.

In Aruba, the water is the perfect temperature (aka not cold!) and I could see my feet on the ocean floor. The water is also a beautiful turquoise color. I only wish we had time for some snorkeling during our stay!

Crystal clear water
The beaches are a dream

4. Peaceful Sunrises

We stayed on Palm Beach, which is west facing. So although we didn’t have a view of the sunrise, the soft light in the mornings at sunrise was amazing. It had a beautiful purple and pink tint.

I’m not a morning person, but it was totally worth the 5 AM wakeup call to get up at sunrise! The beach by our hotel was also extremely peaceful early in the mornings, so perfect for a sunrise stroll (or in our case, Instagram photo sessions lol).

Sunrise goals
Every morning is a stunner

5. Dazzling Sunsets

The sunsets on the west side of the island are S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G. It was a treat to watch a beautiful sunset on the beach every night of our trip. Since the ocean in Aruba was warm during our visit, we enjoyed beautiful sunset swims too.

I’m a big sunset chaser, so this was my favorite part of my trip to Aruba and definitely one of my top reasons to visit Aruba!

Sunset chasing
Aruba at dusk

6. You Can Hang Out with Flamingos

Six flamingos (and their new babies) live on a private island in Aruba. If you have time to do this excursion and visit Flamingo Beach, it’s an unforgettable experience!

It will set you back about $125 USD per person (which includes transportation and lunch), and it was an unforgettable experience that I think was totally worth the money. Anna Everywhere has a great blog post about how to visit Flamingo Beach, which you can find here.

I went to Flamingo Beach right when it opened and am glad I did. After a couple of hours, the flamingos get bored of all of the tourists and aren’t interested in the bird feed you can buy onsite.

From late morning on, they were just huddled in a group near the shower and refused to go in the water. You will get more interaction with the flamingos and better pics with them if you arrive early!

7. Aruba has the Friendliest Locals

It was my first time in Aruba so I had no idea where to eat, where to go or how to get around. Every local that I met was so friendly and offered insider tips for activities and restaurants on the island. For example, our taxi driver from the airport gave us a list of all of her restaurant recommendations on the island.

8. Aruba is One Happy Island

Aruba’s tag line is “One Happy Island” and I can tell you from experience that it’s totally true! Everyone I met in Aruba seemed genuinely happy and in a positive mindset.

A lot of tourists come to Aruba to celebrate special events like weddings, anniversaries and birthdays, so people are generally in a happy mood across the island. I only wish I could bring some of those positive vibes back with me to NYC!

9. Safe Drinking Water

I didn’t know this until I arrived in Aruba, but Aruba has drinkable tap water that meets the high standards of quality of the World Health Organization. This means that you don’t need to spend money on bottled water during your trip. I

I’m used to avoiding tap water during my travels and even brushing my teeth with bottled water, so this was a pleasant surprise! Aruba doesn’t have any significant natural sources of fresh water, so its tap water is distilled in a saltwater desalination plant.

10. Direct Flights

Although Aruba is pretty far from NYC – it’s close to Venezuela – it’s easy to find a direct flight to get there. This makes it a perfect escape from New York City, whether you can take 4 days or an entire week for your trip. There are also direct flights from Miami, Boston and Atlanta and many other cities in North America are only a 1-stop flight away.

I hope this post has given you enough reasons to visit Aruba and maybe even inspires you to travel there someday. If you’ve been to Aruba before, I’d love to hear your favorite things about the One Happy Island!

Vicki