The top 3 sites to see in Oranjestad, Aruba
Want to know the top 3 sites to see in Oranjestad, Aruba? Last December I was on a Celebrity cruise of the Southern Caribbean. After a day at sea which included time spent at the gym and a massage, we arrived in Oranjestad on Christmas Eve. In most of the ports we arrived at 7am and were able to disembark at 8am with an all aboard time of 5:30pm. In Aruba we were able to stay on land until 6pm and we took full advantage of the extra half hour.
Aruba is the most visited island in southern Caribbean by tourists and the beaches are an obvious draw. It’s easy to see the top three sites in one day, we did it in about 8 hours. We started the day with a walking tour of historic Oranjestad. We visited Fort Zoutman, an 18th century fort built to defend the port against pirates. The attached Willem III Tower served as both the lighthouse and clock tower and now houses the Aruba Historical Museum. Next, it was off to see the Dr. Eloy Arends House a 1922 era emerald green, white trim house that is now part of the council complex. We wanted to see more of the island so we rented a car for $75 and took off to explore the Western coast.
Top sites to see:
Our first stop was at the California Lighthouse. After driving through the low rise and high rise resort areas we reached Arashi Beach, and shortly after we stopped at the lighthouse named for an old shipwreck called California. We also stopped at Alto Vista Chapel in Noord before heading to the beach and to San Nicolas. Alto Vista Chapel was built in 1952 on the site of the original and first Catholic Church built in Aruba in 1750 by a Spanish missionary. The church is reached by taking a winding road lined with white crosses marking the stations of the cross. There’s also a peace labyrinth built based on the Chartres Labyrinth.
Eagle beach- Eagle Beach regularly makes the list of the top beaches in the world. The day we went it was particularly windy so we didn’t stay for a long time but the water is absolutely beautiful. We grabbed drinks from Oasis, a family run tiki hut in the middle of the beach and pulled up to a parking spot in an uncrowded part of the beach. The water was calm and the beach is wide and long enough that there is plenty of space to spread out.
San Nicolas- From Eagle Beach we headed to almost the southernmost tip of the island to visit the murals in San Nicolas. San Nicolas is a small town that is home to the Valero oil refinery and Baby Beach. Since we were there on Christmas Eve, it was a bit sleepy but luckily it didn’t stop us from viewing all of the beautiful murals that are all over the city. We stopped in for lunch at O’Neil Caribbean Kitchen and enjoyed coconut shrimp, jerk wings, and plantains surrounded by locals.
The hubs was recovering from knee surgery so we didn’t make it to Arikok National Wildlife Park (and because we rented a sedan and not a Jeep we were advised not to venture into the park) but when we return we’ll definitely spend a day visiting the park that covers 20% of the island’s total area. High on my list are seeing the Natural Pool, Dos Playa, and Fontein Cave. We also didn’t make it to the Butterfly Farm or the Donkey Sanctuary so those will also be high on our list to see next time. The most surprising part of Aruba was the landscape, the desert plants and dry air reminded me more of Las Vegas than a Caribbean island. It’s a big enough island that there’s something for everyone to do, but easy enough to navigate that you can rent a car and venture out on your own!
Have you been to Aruba? What was your favorite place to visit?
Read more about the top three sites in St. Kitts, Curacao, and Bonaire.