Top 5 Best Things to Do in Aruba with Kids!

Things to Do in Aruba for Families

Wondering what to do in Aruba with kids?

Aruba’s slogan is “one happy island” and let me tell you it lived up to its name!

We originally wanted to go to Hawaii over Christmas, but decided it was just too expensive. Honestly, Aruba came onto our radar as an alternative because of two reasons: it was fairly inexpensive to fly there and we could use our Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino.

I didn’t know anything about Aruba other than it was a tropical island in the Caribbean. That was it. But we quickly found that there were a bunch of fun things to do in Aruba with kids on vacation. First thing to note is that Aruba is a very tiny island. You can drive from one end to the other in about 30 minutes. So instead of looking for things to do in Oranjestad specifically, just look into any and all things on the island. We did rent a car, but I wouldn’t say that is necessary. De Palm Tours pretty much runs all the major tours on the island and provides transportation from many of the resorts.

5 Things to Do in Aruba with Kids!

Go to the Beach in Aruba!

I know…you’re thinking this is not a very original idea. But, wait! One of our favorite Christmas gifts each year is some sort of trip or experience gift. My children had never been to anywhere tropical or with clear Caribbean waters and it was high on their bucket list. Therefore, Aruba was a perfect destination vacation/ Christmas gift!

The beaches in Aruba are incredible! All beaches are public beaches in Aruba and many had these cute palapas to provide some shade. Of course, each resort has chairs and palapas and different reservation systems for them. The soft white sand and clear calm waters were a dream but the sun is strong so it’s very important to use liberal sun protection! If you’re looking for some rest and relaxation in the sun…the beaches in Aruba are where it’s at! We even rented these beach floats for $5…for the entire day! Sounded like a good deal to me!

WHY WE LOVED GOING TO THE BEACH IN ARUBA:

When we’re on vacation we often like to go, go, go. We like to see and do as much as we can. But we also value relaxation. And the beaches in Aruba provided us with family time at a much slower pace, and it was beautiful!

If you love an off the beaten path beach vacation but don’t have a passport, you should check out Patillas, Puerto Rico!

Atlantis Submarine in Aruba

To be honest, we didn’t know what to expect with the Atlantis Submarine Expedition in Aruba. It is a fairly expensive tour, but we thought it wasn’t likely we’d do it again, and we’re usually up for anything once! It didn’t disappoint. My daughter was a little nervous while we were waiting for the water taxi to take us out to the submarine and she was the first to say that it was not scary one bit!

Total trip time including the water taxi out to the submarine was about an hour and a half. You of course are asked to arrive super early and sit around waiting for what seems like forever. But, ok, no big deal. You do have to climb down a short ladder to get into the submarine and once inside it is comfortable in your seat but there is no room to move around. There is a window for every two people so we never felt as though we couldn’t see. You go down 130 feet and actually land on the bottom passing the Barcadera reef and two “ship wrecks”. But to be honest our favorite thing was watching all the fish!

OUR FAVORITE MEMORY FROM THIS EXCURSION TO THE ATLANTIS SUBMARINE IN ARUBA:

They provide a little laminated information sheet at each seat with names of fish with a picture. Next thing you know, our children break out into uncontrollable laughter. One of the very top photos is a fish called the “slippery dick”. Do you want to know how many times my ten year old said slippery dick the rest of the day…at least a hundred. And it still makes me smile to this day.

Aruba’s De Palm Island

This excursion is not for everyone. If my husband and I were traveling without kids, I wouldn’t recommend it. But it was perfect for our family. De Palm island is like a mini all inclusive resort without accommodations. They pick you up in a nice bus followed by a water taxi to get to the island. They provide all you can eat breakfast, lunch, and drinks…and unlimited activities. You can swim, snorkel, zip line, waterslide, jump, and banana boat ride until your heart is content.

WHY WE LOVED DE PALM ISLAND IN ARUBA:

This was the equivalent of Disney World in Aruba. Our lovely hotel concierge suggested we go on a day the cruise ships weren’t in port so that it wouldn’t be as busy. What a lifesaver. We had zero lines for activities. The kids could go down the slides and zip lines over and over and over…you get the point. They were happy as could be!

Snorkeling in Aruba with Kids

Snorkeling was a huge hit with our entire family…but not at first. There are several different options for snorkeling in Aruba, but one of the reasons we chose to spend the money on the day excursion to De Palm Island was that snorkeling was included!!

And this turned out to be the best decision we could have ever made! Why? If you have a child who is at all hesitant about new things, this is a wonderful way to ease them in slowly. When he first got in the water, he panicked. He couldn’t breathe through the mouthpiece properly and immediately gave up. With a little convincing, he got back in the water with just his own goggles, so that he could at least see all the amazing fish literally right off the platform! An hour later, he tried using their facemask, and two hours later he tried again with the mouthpiece. He was swimming like a fish with the fish by the end of the day.

Moral of the story: snorkeling at De Palm Island was the best thing ever! You could go in and out as many times as you liked and at your own pace. And the fish were incredible!!

WHY WE LOVED SNORKELING IN ARUBA:

Obviously, we loved this activity because of our child’s hesitant personality. But as a family, we value adventure and fun. And this absolutely fit the bill!

Arikok National Park & California Lighthouse

Again, there are off roading tours to take you to the California Lighthouse and Arikok National Park. You can choose options like the Natural Pool, Natural Bridge, ostrich farm, donkey sanctuary, the caves, Baby Beach, and other landmarks. You can also try out kite surfing which is very popular on the island since there are almost constant trade winds perfect for the sport.

We had a car, so we decided to create our own tour. Literally we drove from one end of the island to the other on our day out! We started at the California Lighthouse which was five dollars to go up in a very tight stairwell. The photo opp was fun and we enjoyed the ability to see for miles in all directions.

Next stop was Arikok National Park. Our goal: to see the cave hieroglyphics. While they have closed off the section of the caves where the ancient carvings are…we did see some grafitti from the 1800’s. This was still pretty cool in our eyes.

SIDE NOTE:

Almost all the roads through the National Park are unpaved. This was a bit sketchy to us in our little itty bitty rental car that they tell you is not meant for off roading and you will be fined and sentenced to death if you do. Ok, maybe that’s a tad bit dramatic. But they do tell you that you will be fined if you go off road. And technically we were on a road, it just wasn’t paved. I can see why it might just be worth paying for the tour next time. Oh well, gotta pick and choose, right?

THE BEST PART OF THE DAY:

After the sightseeing at Baby Beach, we ended up at a super cute local restaurant. We tried a few regional favorites and pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone. After eating mostly resort food, it was a lovely change of pace.

Biba Dushi

Do you see those smiles??

That’s Biba Dushi.

Or “living the good life”, a popular Aruban saying in their native language Papiamento. We learned this from the local girl who worked at the Atlantis Submarine. We originally thought we might just be settling with a trip to Aruba since our original Hawaii plans didn’t work out. But in reality we found the perfect vacation for our family in Aruba. It really is One Happy Island.

Know Before You Go to Aruba with Kids:

If you’ve searched for Aruba on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve seen all the photos of people posing with flamingos. If seeing the flamingos is on your bucket list, make sure to read this very thorough guide to Aruba’s Flamingo Beach.

If you have older children, read more about trying this Seabob Aruba experience! And as always, in preparation for your trip with kids, check out our family’s Travel Pledge!

I hope this post gave you some ideas of what to do in Aruba with kids. Have you ever been to Aruba? What else would you recommend doing? Let me know what y’all think in the comments below! And if you liked this post, please consider sharing it with a friend…it is oh so appreciated!

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