best things to do in aruba

From the natural pools, to hiking Hooiberg Mountain, Aruba is filled with a lot more than just gorgeous beaches and sun. Below, i’m rounding up a list of the best things to do in Aruba!

Rent a car

Not really a thing to do but renting a car is the best thing we could have done! As with every other Caribbean Island, renting a car gets expensive. After being there for 3 days, we decided to bite the bullet and rent a car. In fact, we had a rental place at our hotel, so we ended up renting from there. We were able to visit so many different places and not have to be on the taxi drivers schedule. Aruba isn’t super difficult to get around (it feels like o go everywhere you go straight, but there are a TON of rotaries! Tip: download maps.me and you can use it as GPS to travel around the island without internet.

outfit details: romper // sandals

The natural pools

The natural pools were gorgeous. This is something I wish I had brought water shoes to because they were slippery af. It was also kind of crowded (we did it as part of our UTV excursion) so if you’re going there alone, I would go early in the morning.

outfit details: poka dot one piece bathing suit // sunglasses

Baby Beach + Rodgers Beach

Hands down our favorite thing to do in Aruba was spend some time at Baby Beach. While you’re there, visit the Rum Reef Bar/ Infinity Pool (around the corner) and Rodgers Beach (around the bend). Rodgers Beach is super peaceful.. there were only 4-5 people there besides us! Baby Beach is just stunning, they also even have waitresses from the bar nearby come over and ask if you want anything to drink. It’s cool because you can go feet in the water but it’s still like a sandbar.

outfit details: snakeskin one piece bathing suit // sunglasses

Eagle Beach

Our hotel was right across from Eagle Beach, so we could walk to it, which I loved! Eagle Beach is ranked as one of the top beaches in the world by Trip Advisor, and I can see why. STUNNING. It’s also way less-crowded and more peaceful than Palm Beach (where all the high-rise hotels are). There’s a beach bar where we got a couple drinks from. We decided to get take-out one night and champagne and watch the sunset on Eagle Beach, it was so pretty.

outfit details: high waisted bikini // coverup // sunglasses

Palm Beach

Palm Beach is where all the high-rise hotels are. It’s more where all the people and action is, opposed to Eagle Beach. I loved going to some restaurants on Palm Beach, read more here. My favorite was Pelicun Pier, because the view was amazing, and it’s right on the beach.

outfit details: sunglasses // high waisted bikini

Zeerovers

The best restaurant EVER. You can read more about it on my where to eat & drink in Aruba blog.

outfit details: amazon coverup // sandals

Arashi Beach + California Lighthouse

Staying at Eagle Beach, Arashi Beach was on the way to the California Lighthouse. We stopped at Arashi Beach before heading to the Lighthouse. You can pay $5 to go all the way up (the views are supposed to be amazing), but I didn’t end up going up. They also have coconuts and a couple food trucks right outside the lighthouse. I still wish I got to try coconut ice cream while I was there!

outfit details: sandals // one piece bathing suit // coverup

Rum Reef Infinity Pool

The infinity pool at Rum Reef is SO cool. It overlooks Baby Beach and has yummy drinks. You can read more on my blog post here.

UTVs

We ended up doing the ABC Tours UTV 4.5 hour tour. We are so glad we did! We were considering doing the 8.5 hour jeep tour, but after spending 4.5 hours in the UTVs, we thought that would have been way too long to be out there! We visited the Caves, highest point (name?), and the Natural Pools. All these were located in the National Park. It was really fun to go off roading! Tip: rent or bring googles and a dust mask! We were SO GLAD we did! It ended up being super dusty so sunglasses wouldn’t have been enough. Also do not wear anything nice on this trip! I ended up wearing a white coverup (not sure what I was thinking there) and it’s to a point beyond recovery, lol. It is extremely dusty!

outfit details: pom pom coverup // sandals // sunglasses

Caves

When we arrived at the caves (part of the UTV tour), we were given a lesson on the history of the markings.

outfit details: pom pom coverup // sandals // sunglasses

Jamanota Hill

We stopped at Jamanota Hill, the highest point in Aruba during our UTV tour and took some pictures.

outfit details: pom pom coverup // sandals // sunglasses

Hooiberg Lookout

The boyfriend came up with this idea and it was actually really nice! Tip: go during the early morning. You’re also going to want to wear sneakers and bring water. We went around 11am, and it was HOT. You walk up 600ish steps, and back down them, but the views are worth it! It’s either the 2nd or 3rd highest point in Aruba. It turned out to be a lot harder to walk up than we thought it was going to be! It’s also cool because I don’t think a lot of people know about it, so it wasn’t super crowded. Be sure to follow the signs for the waterpark to get there.

Arikok National Park

The caves and the Natural pools are both within the National Park. We visited these all during our UTV tour with ABC Tours!

Jolly Pirate

Such a touristy excursion activity, but we loved it. Basically, you go on a pirate ship drink a ton of unlimited drinks “pirate poison”, snorkel at three spots and get to jump off the ship. It was really fun but be careful because those drinks are really “poison” lol and get you really drunk! The crew was really awesome and took a ton of pictures / videos of us.

outfit details: coverup // sunglasses

Boca Catalina Beach

This beach was so different than the rest! The water was more dark blue than bright blue, and the beach was EMPTY. It was so nice to take a walk down and enjoy the ocean.