Aruba is home to some of the most beautiful beaches of the world: long stretches of white sand, crystalline sea with shades from aquamarine to deep blue, palm trees and a constant breeze that keeps you cool.
In Aruba, each beach offers a different experience.
Some are better for snorkelling, some are secluded and (almost) frequented only by locals, and some offer a wealth of experiences and adventures that are spoiled for choice.
Just to give you an example of what you will find, among the most beautiful beaches in Aruba one cannot fail to mention Eagle beach, rated as the number one Caribbean beach by USA Today and listed in National Geographic's 24 Best Places to See!
If you are looking for the best beaches in Aruba don't miss the list of my favorites below.
So, grab your swimsuit, snorkel gear, lots of sunscreen and start exploring!
The most beautiful beaches in Aruba
Below you will find one map showing the most beautiful beaches in Aruba. For each a little further below I have put a description and some useful advice to enjoy them to the fullest!
Map of the most beautiful beaches in Aruba
Palm Beach
- How to get there: by car, by taxi, by bus n 10.
- Sea: transparent and calm.
- Beach: white sand, soft as cotton, services available.
Palm Beach is the beach of entertainment by definition: in the evening the center comes alive with clubs, restaurants, music and the nightlife of Aruba
Among the most beautiful beaches of Aruba certainly among the first one cannot fail to mention
one of the coolest places on the island: Palm Beach.
Palm Beach is a thick stretch of soft white cotton sand that faces a calm sea and is perfect for water sports, such as paddle boarding, banana boating and flyboarding.
Palm Beach is where entertainment is concentrated during the day and nightlife at night: the whole area is full of bars and restaurants where you can dine or simply drink a chill or a balashi (the two local beers).
In short, this is the place to be if you want to be in the center of the action!
Do not miss the Palm Pier, a place located on a pier at the entrance to the beach where happy hour is held every evening from 5 to 6 with cocktails and live music.
The other side of the coin of this beautiful beach is that being very popular it is also very crowded: even if you will find deckchairs and umbrellas of the resorts overlooking a few meters from the sea, remember that all beaches in Aruba are public and no one will be able to prevent you from placing your towel where it suits you best.
If you want to rent only the umbrella (as we did) hold on tight: you will pay $ 35 per day. You will pay more if you add deck chairs.
Palm Beach is also located in what is called the area of ââhigh-rise hotels, that is huge hotels and resorts that certainly do not go unnoticed (including the famous and very luxurious Riu Palace) all equipped with a swimming pool (but what do you do with a sea like this?) and a casino where you can try your luck in the evening!
Despite this, even in Palm Beach you can find choices of welcoming family hotels: this is the case of the very nice Boardwalk Small hotel Aruba with an exceptional setting, colorful rooms, a swimming pool and located just 200 meters from the beach.
A great choice for someone like me who loves small cozy guesthouses.
Eagle beach
- How to get there: by car, by taxi, a short 10 minute walk from the last bus stop in Malmok
- Sea: transparent and calm
- Beach: white and fine, services available
Eagle Beach is defined among the most beautiful beaches in the world. Here is the Fofoti Tree, the symbolic tree of the island
Eagle beach it is located just south of Palm Beach.
Some say Eagle Beach is the best beach on the island and in 2017, TripAdvisor rated Eagle Beach as the third best beach not just the Caribbean, but of the whole world!
Surely, even if you don't know it yet, you have already seen Eagle Beach because it is here are the two iconic Divi-Divi trees (or fofoti) that appear regularly in Aruba's tourist brochures.
Thatched palapas dot the soft white sands, while low rise condos and restaurants are across the street from the beach (hence the area being called low-rise hotels as opposed to Palm Beach's high-rise hotel zone. ).
The water is beautiful, the jade-colored shallows quickly fall into the deep blue waters and the sea ââis relatively calm and safe to swim even on windy days. Jet skis whiz by virtually from morning to night along the northern end of the beach.
Eagle Beach is also one of the beaches where turtles nest (I have not seen them). Hatching usually takes place around sunset and during the night.
Built right on the sand, here is one of the Aruba's best luxury resorts,
il Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort, eco-friendly and adults-only, with a romantic oceanfront restaurant.
If you want to eat pizza I recommend Mimma's restaurant / pizzeria, la Terrace, who has lived and worked in Aruba for more than 10 years now: the terrace is very romantic and the cuisine exquisite.
Arashi Beach
- Sea: calm waters, perfect for swimming
- Beach: white sand, there are no services, but lately palapas and huts have been added to get shade.
- How to get there: by car (there is parking) or by taxi, or with a short 10 minute walk from the last bus stop 10a, Malmok.
North of Boca Catalina, the Arashi beach is the last stretch of sand before California lighthouse. With its calm waters and clear sea, it is a lovely place for a swim and due to the seabed and currents it also offers some of the best snorkelling spots in Aruba.
Palapas are limited so keep in mind that if you don't bring your own umbrella you may not find shade. There are no restaurants nearby so if you want to stay there all day bring plenty of water and maybe a packed lunch.
North from here, the shore transforms into a wild and rugged lunar landscape dotted with cacti (I love Aruba cacti!).
Baby Beach
- Sea: practically a natural swimming pool.
- Beach: white sand, there are palapas, services available.
- How to get there: by car (there is a large car park) follow the signs for San Nicolas. From the San Nicolas bus station, Baby Beach is at the last stop on line 900.
At Baby Beach the seabed is so shallow and its waters so calm that even children can swim alone
At the other end of Aruba from Arashi Beach there is Baby Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in my opinion.
Much loved by the locals (everyone will recommend it), Baby Beach is so called because its crescent shape and the coral reef that closes it form a kind of natural swimming pool with very shallow water and so calm waters that even children can swim alone.
On Baby Beach you find a restaurant, but it is expensive and the quality quite questionable (for me the worst found in the whole trip).
If you are not a customer of the restaurant, theonly bathroom available is for a fee and it costs 2 dollars !!!
From the restaurant it is also possible to book deckchairs and tents to have shade, but on the beach, which is generally not so crowded, you can find a place under the straw huts for free.
Here the sea has extraordinary colors and the water is so warm that you can soak for hours.
Unfortunately, as often happens, since it is not a beach that hosts many tourists and is therefore poorly maintained, I found some dirt and it hurts my heart to say it.
A dirty nappy rolled up and abandoned on a rock, rusty beer bottle caps in the sand, the plastic of packed food packages.
Not because I'm obsessed (no maybe you give yourself a little obsessed I am) but I can't really understand what it takes for a person to throw dirt into a paradise like this and ruin it.
I mean, doesn't it suck to them when they see the garbage left by others (besides the obviously most important fact which is that they kill the environment)?
Hadicurari Beach (Fishermenâs Huts)
- Sea: thanks to the strong wind that blows more or less always Hadicurari is perfect for windsurfing and kitesurfing.
- Beach: sand with pebbles and rocks
- How to get there: bus, car and taxi
La Hadicurari beach, also known as Fishermen's Huts that is the fishermen's huts because it was once their home, is a beach with a rocky bottom very popular with windsurfing and kitesurfing fanatics.
The beach is also famous for the numerous sporting events who organize themselves
throughout the year, as well as the numerous Wind & Kite Surf schools that are
find here.
Il Torneo Aruba Hi-Winds, the largest windsurfing event in the Caribbean, is held every June or July on this beach.
Hadicurari beach is located between the Ritz-Carlton Resort and Malmok beach.
Mangel Stop
- Sea: calm, not deep, excellent for snorkelling
- Beach: white sand between the mangroves
- How to get there: car or taxi, not reachable by bus
My favorite beach, Mangel Halto is a small beach in the mangroves and is one of the best snorkelling spots in Aruba
I was looking forward to writing about Mangel Stop simply because it's my favorite beach in all of Aruba.
The white beach is accessed through a small mangrove forest (from which there are other exits to the sea) and is undoubtedly one of the best places to snorkel all over Aruba.
The water is calm and transparent, colorful fish can be found on the coral reef and among the roots of the mangroves, there is also a wreck of a boat (if you can find it).
Malmok Beach
- Sea: calm, not deep, good for swimming
- Beach: white sand with pebbles
- How to get there: on foot, by car or taxi
North of the long tourist strip along Palm Beach, Mills it's more of a series of rocky ledges and hard sand than a beach, with a row of expensive villas across the street.
The feature it is famous for is the rusty hull of the Baboo shipwreck: This sunken ship once lay offshore and was a famous dive spot, but in 1999 a storm lifted the boat and carried it closer to shore.
North of the wreck lies one of the most famous spots for it snorkelling of the island,
with shallow water and schools of small fish.
Malmok Beach has no restaurants or large hotels, yet the luxurious and intimate Ocean Z Boutique Hotel Aruba, with elegant and bright suites, is a four-minute walk away, and Palm Beach, with its many amenities, is only a few minutes away by car.
Renaissance Beach (Pink Flamingo Beach)
- Calm sea
- Beach: white sand, hotel services are available
- How to get there: by boat, the service is offered by the Renaissance Hotel.
Aruba's famous pink flamingo beach -
La pink flamingo beach (Renaissance Beach) is definitely worth mentioning.
Il Renaissance Hotel and Resort in fact it has a small private island with several beaches and a wellness center. Flamingo Beach is arguably the most popular for the pink flamingos living here.
The Island of the Renaissance Hotel and Resort is free for resor guestst.
If you are not a guest though, the cost is a whopping $ 99 per person for one day and there is a limit to the number of people allowed on the island.
Get there early if you want to visit the island because you risk not finding more places available.
The price of the experience also includes boat transport on the island, but given the cost, if you really want to see it, I think you should stay there directly.
Personally I haven't been there, but all the Arubans I met told me that if you have the budget it is truly a great experience.
Andicuri Beach
- Sea: rough with strong wind not suitable for swimming, better for windsurfing
- Beach: white sand, no services available
- How to get there: by car, on foot
Close to the Natural Bridge is this white sand beach, Andicuri Beach, a hidden and solitary refuge, frequented mostly by locals.
Loved by surfers for its wind and waves, Andicuri Beach not very suitable for those who just want to swim, even for very strong currents that still require you to be good swimmers.
Manchebo Beach
- Sea: calm and perfect for swimming
- Beach: white sand, services available
- How to get there: by car, taxi or bus
A few steps south of Eagle Beach, Manchebo Beach offers a little more solitude and fewer crowds than the beaches in this northwestern part of Aruba.
Surrounded by a few resorts and hotels, this beautiful stretch of white sand and turquoise water dotted with palapas is one of the widest beaches on the island.
Manchebo Beach is also a bit quieter than Palm Beach and Eagle Beach due to the fact that here and also in Grape Beach a little below, motorized water vehicles are prohibited.
Food and drinks are available at the resorts along the beach, such as the tranquil Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa, with an ocean-view dining terrace and thatched palapas sprinkled along the sand.
These are the most beautiful beaches in Aruba in my opinion, but if you have others to recommend leave it in the comments!
