Aruba, for families, in one page
Aruba sits about eighteen miles (29 km) off the coast of Venezuela, outside the hurricane belt, which is why it is dry, sunny and reliably calm when the rest of the Caribbean is not. The west coast is the postcard: flat, white, shallow, sheltered. The north and east coasts are the opposite: raw limestone, huge surf, and nowhere you want a small child near the water. Knowing which coast you are on explains most of what a parent needs to know about safety here.
It is a Dutch island with its own language. Papiamento is a creole built from Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English and West African languages, and it is what people actually speak at home. Most Arubans move between four languages without thinking about it. Every find on this page comes with its Papiamento word, because handing a child three real words (bon bini, danki, ayó) changes how they are treated by everyone they meet.
Distances are short and a rental car opens up almost everything. Arikok National Park covers close to a fifth of the island and holds the caves and the natural pool. The middle of the island has the boulder fields and the haystack hill. The southeast end has the calmest beach and the mural town. You can see a great deal of it in a week without ever rushing.
Practical notes worth knowing before you land
- Shade is the scarce resource, not sand. Beach umbrellas, hats, and a plan for the middle of the day matter more here than on a greener island.
- Reef-safe sunscreen is the right call: Aruba's reefs are close to shore and heavily swum. Apply it well before anyone gets in the water.
- Check the beach flag before swimming, and don't assume a lifeguard. Calm-looking water on the north or east coast is not calm.
- Sea turtles nest from around March to November. Roped-off squares on the sand are nests. Fill in holes and clear chairs off the beach at night.
- Look, photograph, leave it. Shells, sea stars, hermit crabs, and nesting birds all do better if they stay where you found them.
Planning the trip itself? Start with our Aruba with kids trip guides:
is Aruba good for kids,
free things to do,
toddlers,
cruise days, and
rainy days.
Start here
