Palm Beach, Aruba: The High-Rise Strip

Why Go

Palm Beach is the mile of high-rise hotels, casinos, malls and beach bars that most people picture when they picture Aruba. The water is calm, the sand is broad and groomed, and everything you might want is within walking distance of everything else, which is the whole appeal. It is also dense, expensive and busy from breakfast onwards, and the palapa on the sand you were hoping to sit under was claimed at six in the morning by someone with a towel and a plan. Stay here if you want the beach, the bars and the nightlife on one street; stay at Eagle Beach next door if you want the same sea with half the noise.

The Experience

The strip runs along J.E. Irausquin Boulevard with the hotels on the sea side and the malls, restaurants and casinos on the other. It is walkable in the way a resort strip is walkable — flat, well lit, busy with pedestrians and golf carts, and thick with traffic at the change of the day. The beach itself is genuinely good: wide, sheltered and consistently calm, with the pier out into the water and the trade wind that makes Aruba bearable in the afternoon. Behind the hotels the land turns immediately residential and unglamorous, and the Bubali wetland sits just inland, which is why you see herons over the rooftops at dusk. Evenings are the busiest part of the day here, with the malls, the casinos and the bars all running late — this is the one part of Aruba with a real night to it.

What to Try

Eat across the range: Akira Back at the top end, Benihana for the theatre of it, La Zoccola Aruba for pizza, Waffles Beach House for the morning and Coconuts Aruba and The Market for the everyday. Bugaloe sits out on the pier and is the one that ends up in everybody's photographs, deservedly. Bingo Cafe & Restaurant is the unpretentious alternative to the hotel dining rooms. For the water, Ocean Faith Water Sports covers the rentals off the beach and Happy Divers Aruba runs the PADI side; Modo Caribe Aruba Tours and Birdwatching and Nature Tours Aruba get you off the strip and into the interior and the Bubali wetland respectively. The Butterfly Farm Aruba is a short walk south toward Eagle Beach and works well with children. Evenings run to the casinos — Orchid Casino and The Casino Aruba at Hilton — and the shopping to the jewellers along the strip, Lotus Jewels and The Diamond Lab among them.

Insider Tip

The palapa system is real and it decides your day. The shade huts on the beach are first come and people put towels out at dawn, so either accept that you will be on open sand from mid-morning, or walk ten minutes south to Eagle Beach where there are more of them and less competition. The other thing worth knowing: you will be approached about timeshare presentations more here than anywhere else on the island, and a flat no is the entire negotiation.

The Practical Stuff

Palm Beach is about twenty minutes from Queen Beatrix airport and ten from Oranjestad, and the Arubus route along the strip runs frequently and cheaply between the two, so a car is optional if you are staying put. Parking at the malls is straightforward; parking near the beach at midday is not. Everything on the strip is walkable, which is the point of choosing it, but reaching the north coast, the national park or San Nicolas needs a car or a tour. It is busy year-round with a clear peak from December to April, and it does not empty out at night the way the rest of the island does. Aruba lies outside the main hurricane belt, so the season matters less here than in the eastern Caribbean, and the trade wind blows steadily most of the year — pleasant on the sand, less so if you were hoping for a still afternoon on a paddleboard.

Common Questions

Palm Beach or Eagle Beach — which should you stay at?

Palm Beach for high-rise hotels, casinos, nightlife and everything within walking distance. Eagle Beach for a wider, quieter beach, low-rise hotels and more shade, at the cost of a shorter list of places to walk to at night.

Do you need a car in Palm Beach?

Not to stay there. The strip is walkable and the Arubus runs frequently to Oranjestad. You will want one to reach Arikok, the north coast or San Nicolas, or you can book those as tours instead.

How do you get a palapa on Palm Beach?

Early, or not at all. The shade huts are first come and are claimed around dawn. Eagle Beach has more of them and less competition if shade matters to you.

Is Palm Beach good for families?

Yes — the water is calm and shallow a long way out, the beach is groomed, and there is food and shopping in every direction. The trade-off is that it is busy and noisy, which suits some families and not others.

How far is Palm Beach from the airport?

About twenty minutes by road from Queen Beatrix, passing through or around Oranjestad. Taxis are metered by zone rather than distance and the bus along the strip is the cheap alternative.

Is Palm Beach expensive?

It is the most expensive part of the island for food and drink. Eating a mile inland in Oranjestad or Noord costs noticeably less for the same meal, and the supermarkets off the strip are priced for residents.

Pair It With

Bugaloe — Out on the pier, and the strip at its best.
Happy Divers Aruba Padi Dive Center — Diving without leaving the beach you are staying on.
The Butterfly Farm Aruba — A short walk south, and an easy hour with children.