Aruba is a small, dry, sun-washed island in the southern Caribbean, about 15 miles (24 km) north of Venezuela’s Paraguaná Peninsula. It is famous for wide white beaches and steady trade winds, but there is much more to discover: a desert-like national park, Dutch colonial history, a gold-rush past and a language of its own.

Aruba coastal landscape with sand and Caribbean water

Aruba at a glance

  • Status: a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1 January 1986, when it separated from the Netherlands Antilles. The Netherlands handles defence and foreign affairs.
  • Size: about 32 km long and 10 km wide at its widest, roughly 69 square miles in all.
  • Population: around 110,000; the capital is Oranjestad.
  • Languages: Dutch and Papiamento are official, and English and Spanish are widely spoken.
  • Currency: the Aruban florin (AWG), with US dollars widely accepted.
  • Neighbours: with Bonaire and Curaçao it forms the ABC islands.
A wind-shaped fofoti tree on the sand at Eagle Beach in Aruba
A wind-shaped fofoti tree on the sand at Eagle Beach in Aruba.

Eagle Beach and the fofoti trees

Eagle Beach is the widest beach on Aruba, with soft white sand, shade huts, parking and low-rise hotels just across the road. In 2026 it was voted the third-best beach in the Caribbean in the Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards.

Its stars are two fofoti trees whose wind-bent silhouettes lean towards the sea. They are the most photographed trees on the island and appear in much of Aruba’s advertising; travel captions often confuse them with divi-divi trees. Eagle Beach also matters to wildlife: four species of sea turtle nest on Aruba, and most of the island’s nests are found here, so keep away from marked nesting areas.

Pale sand and a line of palms beside clear coastal water in Aruba – photograph by Stefen Ross
Pale sand and a line of palms beside clear coastal water. Photo: Stefen Ross.
Aruba seaside view – photograph by Philippe Lalonde
Photo: Philippe Lalonde

Aruba history, from the Caquetío to the gold rush

The first known inhabitants were the Caquetío, Arawakan-speaking people who arrived from western Venezuela around 850–1000 AD. The island came under Spanish rule around 1500, and in 1636 the Dutch, based on neighbouring Curaçao, occupied Aruba and Bonaire.

In 1824 a 12-year-old herder named Willem Rasmijn found gold, setting off the Aruban Gold Rush. Today Aruba’s mixed heritage lives on in Papiamento, one of its two official languages.

Aruba beach scene – photograph by Alyssa Paraggio
Photo: Alyssa Paraggio
Aruba shoreline and turquoise sea

Beyond the beach: Arikok National Park

Aruba’s climate is tropical and semi-arid, warm and sunny all year with only brief showers, and its interior is dry and open. Arikok National Park, formally protected since 2000, covers about 20 per cent of the island, and the island’s dry hills are home to drought-tolerant trees. The conical Hooiberg hill rises in the north-west, and the capital, Oranjestad, makes a good half-day break from the sand.

Aruba coastal view under a clear sky
Caribbean water along the Aruba coast

When to visit Aruba

Aruba lies south of the main hurricane development zone and usually escapes direct hits, which makes it a reliable choice even in the Caribbean storm season. The weather is warm year-round, so any month works for a beach holiday. Bring sun protection and drinking water for days out in the dry interior, and expect a constant breeze on the beaches.

For more Caribbean islands, see Harbour Island’s pink-sand setting or Saint Lucia’s Jade Mountain.

Sunlit beach in Aruba, southern Caribbean
Aruba seascape – photograph by Paolo Pucci
Photo: Paolo Pucci
Aruba island view – photograph by Rick Seidel
Photo: Rick Seidel

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