Travel to Aruba

Aruba has one of the highest rates of repeat visitors anywhere in the Caribbean. What continues to draw people back over and over again is the great pride and care that Arubans take to ensure that tourists have everything they could possibly need to make their stay both enjoyable and exciting.

Arubans are famous for their friendliness and hospitality. The climate is perpetually sunny and welcoming, and great care has been taken to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the environment.

The tourist industry here is extremely well-organized, developed, and diversified, catering to a wide variety of different interests. Those who prefer privacy can find a secluded stretch of beach or go exploring through the countryside on their own, while those who are more outgoing can take advantage of Aruba's vibrant nightlife, the casinos, the discotheques, the different theme parties, the music and folkloric festivals. Those interested in another kind of wildlife can go bird-watching in a protected sanctuary or take a tour of a coconut plantation or hike through the Arikok National Park tracking the island's exotic flora and fauna.

Sports enthusiasts can go scuba-diving in any of the 42 different diving sites, engage the incredible island winds by windsurfing, rent water-skis or parasails, or charter a boat and go deep-sea fishing. The island offers two golf courses, one of which is professional caliber, an ATP sanctioned tennis center, racquetball courts, trails to go horseback riding, even several bowling alleys. The different hotels provide a whole range of activities for singles, honeymoon couples, and families with children. Whatever kind of vacation you are looking for, the odds are you will be able to find it in Aruba.

Aruba History and Culture
The first people to inhabit the island were a nation of Arawak Indians called the Caiquetios who migrated north from the Orinoco Basin in South America and settled here approximately 2,000 years ago. Remnants of their culture can still be found at a number of different sites around the island: pottery, earthenware, and other artefacts at the Archeological Museum in Oranjestad and at the Historical Museum of Aruba at Fort Zoutman and William III Tower; and cave drawings and petroglyphs in the Fontein and Guadiriki Caves and at Arikok National Park.

In 1499, the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda made his way to this remote corner of the Caribbean Basin and laid claim to the territory for Queen Isabella. According to one tradition, he christened the place Oro Hubo meaning there was gold there, but the name Aruba seems to have derived instead from the Arawak Indian word oibubai which means guide. In any event, the Spanish made little use of the island, finding the climate too arid for cultivation and discovering little evidence of the gold they were eagerly searching for.

For the most part, they abandoned Aruba to the Caiquetios for the next 150 years and devoted themselves to other more lucrative conquests. Before long, however, the island became a clandestine hide-away for pirates and buccaneers who preyed on ships transporting Indian treasures back to the Old World. At Bushiribana on the northeast coast, the ruins of an old pirate castle still remain standing.

In 1636, Aruba once again came to the attention of Europeans. The Dutch, who had recently been expelled by the Spanish from their base in St.Maarten, set out looking for another place to establish a colonial presence. They soon captured the islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire from the Spanish who, in truth, put up very little resistance. Curacao became the administrative capital for the Dutch West India Company in the Netherlands Antilles, with Aruba operating as one of its chief satellites. From this early period dates the construction of the historic fortress Fort Zoutman and William III Tower, which is the oldest building in the country. Except for a short period from 1805 to 1815 when the island fell to the British during the Napoleonic Wars, Aruba has remained under Dutch control ever since.

The year 1824 saw the discovery of gold near Bushiribana. The ruins of a nineteenth-century smelting plant still survive in Balashi northwest of the Spanish Lagoon near the center of the island. The gold rush continued until 1916 when the mines finally became so unprofitable that they had to be shut down. Not long afterwards, however, in 1924, another valuable commodity replaced it, black gold --oil. Aruba became home to one of the world's largest refineries. The strength of the economic boom that followed made San Nicholas into a major commercial center and the island's second largest city. To this day, Aruba's two main industries have been oil and tourism, and when the refineries were closed down in 1985 due to the worldwide glut in petroleum, the emphasis on tourism became especially important. Even after oil refining was resumed in 1991, the island continued to invest heavily in tourist development, and new projects are still going on all the time.

Aruba's People
The population of Aruba is of mixed descent and can trace its ancestry back to 40 different ethnic backgrounds from around the world. The native language is a creole dialect called Papiamento which is made up of elements of Dutch, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, a number of different African languages, and Arawak Indian. Nearly everyone on the island is able to speak English and Spanish, in addition to Dutch, which is the official language of Aruba.

Aruba's Language
Papiamento is a unique language which is only spoken on the Dutch Caribbean islands. It was considered a local dialect and of no significant interest until the year 1995. Three years later the Government decided to teach Papiamento officially in the schools as a new language subject. Papiamento books can be found in bookstores and the language is quite easy to learn.

Aruba: Activities
Aruba's Beaches
The southern, leeward coast is lined with beautiful, sparkling white sand and is commonly known as the Turquoise Coast for the colorful tint of the water. There are many secluded sections of private beach or more popular strips by the hotels. Baby Beach down at the eastern tip is a natural wading pool that is perfect for families with small children. The northern coast is more rugged and windswept and can be dangerous for swimming.

Aruba's Deep-Sea Fishing
Boats can be chartered to fish for sailfish, marlin, tuna, bonito and wahoo or just to go out watching for dolphins off the coast of Savaneta. The international White Marlin Competition is held in Aruba each October.

Aruba's Water Sports
Most of the hotels, in addition to the sporting shops, offer equipment and instruction in water-skiing, parasailing, windsurfing, jet-skiing, and sailing.

Scuba-Diving & Snorkeling The offshore waters offer great visibility of up to 100 feet and the 42 major dive sites provide an amazing variety of underwater activity: numerous shipwrecks from 25 to 400 feet deep are waiting to be explored, and the waters are teeming with sea life including manta rays, barracuda, and the rare green moray. All levels of diving from beginning to advanced are available, and instruction and equipment can be arranged for at any of the major hotels. For the less adventurous, glass-bottomed boats and submarines make trips out to view many of the aquatic sites.