Aruba Vacation 2020
Ahhh beautiful Aruba! During the last week of September, we decided to take a week long vacation to this amazing island and oh what an experience it was. Known for its consistent year-round warm weather and rare rain falls, we decided to explore this Caribbean island for ourselves. After being cooped up during quarantine, we wanted to travel somewhere close to the states but also have guaranteed warm sunshine. After a bit of research, we decided that Aruba had safe covid testing and protocols in place. It is nicknamed “one happy island” and it surely lives up to just that!
This photo was taken of my boyfriend during our snorkeling excursion- read more on our itinerary and recommendations here!
After doing some research, we learned about the tight restrictions placed in Aruba in order to control Covid-19. If you are interested in traveling here, I would advise visiting their website and calling ahead to make sure you are being compliant with their local guidelines. We had to complete information online to obtain an ED card which we used at every stop while traveling- this was essential and would prohibit entry if we did not have it. We were tested 72 hours before the trip, uploaded our PCR results, received approval from Aruba to travel, and then got retested once we landed onto the island. We also had to buy mandatory Aruba insurance which cost $75 to protect visitors incase a positive covid test occurred during the stay. Scary but necessary in case something were to happen and then we would have been covered for medical and non-medical care/expenses. Masks were also required but there were not many people visiting the time we went so we had a lot of space and excursions to ourselves.
This photo was taken at the California Lighthouse on the Caribbean island. It only cost us $5 to go up and experience the incredible view. We had the entire lighthouse to ourselves so we took the opportunity to take a few photos and enjoyed the time together. Something to note about Aruba is that it is extremely windy so I would advise keeping your hair up and be cautious with hats- with many knots in my hair later… I learned the hard way!
Aruba is a Dutch colony so Papiamento and English are widely spoken. The US currency is accepted everywhere so we had no problem paying in cash or with a credit card. We felt very safe traveling here and can’t say enough great things about the locals. Everyone we met along the way was welcoming and kind!
The coolest part of the trip was renting out this cabana for the day at Flamingo Island. Aruba has warm weather year around, clear beaches, amazing food, and endless ways to social distance while relaxing. These cabanas are on a private island owned by the Renaissance Hotel and are available on a first come first serve basis. From what we were told, these cabanas are normally sold out and hard to reserve so we were lucky to have the opportunity to grab one!
We rented a Jeep for the entire trip and explored a lot of the Aruba Island. One of our favorite stops was the Bushiribana Ruins. The waters are rough and dangerous on this side of the island so I would be veryyy cautious and not get too close. We brought an extra pair of shoes, swimsuits, and clothing in the car just in case we needed a spare change of clothes. This came in handy since the New Small Natural Pool (pictured below) was a hidden gem right by the ruins. I would say that this is a can’t miss adventure if you are planning to travel here!
