Aruba
sbmeaper1 · CC0
Aruba, Beach and Desert
Flat turquoise water on one coast, cactus and crashing surf on the other, and no hurricane season to plan around.
- days
- 5
- bases
- 3
- places to eat
- 4
- budget
- mid
Aruba sits below the hurricane belt, which makes it the rare Caribbean island you can book with confidence in September. It's also two islands in one: a sheltered west coast of calm, pale water, and a wild windward side of cactus, sea caves and surf where almost nobody goes. Five days does both properly.
What you get
The whole trip, decided.
Not a list of sights. A route someone has already walked, with the bookings that need doing early flagged, the transfers timed, and the costs written as real ranges instead of a fantasy number.
- 5 days
- written out morning, afternoon and evening
- 3 bases
- where to sleep each night, and why there
- 4 places to eat
- with what to order and which base it is near
- 5 local tips
- the things a guidebook does not tell you
- A route map
- showing how the whole trip fits together
- Full costs
- stay, food, activities and transport, broken out
- 6 pre-trip checks
- what to confirm yourself before you book
- A printable PDF
- works offline, yours to keep
Why this one
Worth the flight.
- Eagle Beach and its wind-bent fofoti trees, the most photographed on the island
- Bouncing across Arikok National Park by 4x4 to the Natural Pool
- Snorkelling the Antilla, one of the largest shipwrecks in the Caribbean
- San Nicolas, a former refinery town turned open-air mural gallery
- Fried fish eaten off a paper plate at a dock where the boats land it
Best months are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Expect around $1,500–2,900 per person, excluding flights for the whole 5 days, excluding flights. The guide breaks that into stay, food, activities and transport so you can see where it goes.
How this stays honest
Checked August 2026
Prices, opening days and entry rules drift, and no written guide can outrun that. So costs are always ranges rather than quotes, every plan carries the date it was last checked, and the last page is six things to confirm yourself before you book anything.
I take no commission from any hotel or operator. You book everything yourself, in your own name, at the price you can see.