San Nicolas, Aruba: The Painted Town at the Other End
An old refinery town turned mural gallery, forty minutes from the resorts.
Why Go
San Nicolas is Aruba's second town, down at the south-eastern end of the island, and it has had two lives. The first was oil: the refinery here drew workers from across the Caribbean for most of the twentieth century and gave the town an accent and a food culture that the resort strip does not have. The second started when the murals arrived — the walls are now covered with large-scale work, and the town has become the island's art destination. It is a forty-minute drive from Palm Beach and it is the most interesting hour you will spend away from the sand.
The Experience
The main street runs through the middle with the murals on the buildings either side, and the scale of them is the surprise — these are full gable walls, not decoration. Around them the town is working and a little worn: shops, small kitchens, a museum or two, and the residue of the refinery at the edge of everything. The mix of people is different from the north of the island, because the oil years brought families from across the region and their food is still what you eat here. There is an adult-entertainment strip along part of the main road, which is long-standing, well-known locally and worth mentioning simply because it surprises visitors who arrived expecting only murals. Carnival is when the town is genuinely at its best, and it takes it more seriously than anywhere else on Aruba.
What to Try
Eat here, because this is the best food on the island outside the restaurant strip and it costs a fraction as much. Kamini's Kitchen is the name people travel down for, O'Niel Caribbean Kitchen and D-Roti Spot cover the Caribbean and roti end, Wendy's Cura Cabai is the local kitchen and Snacks Solution Aruba and Pizza Samba fill in the rest. For the art, Aruba Mural Tours walks you round the work with the context that makes the difference, and ARTISA Gallery and SPACE21.art are the indoor end of the same scene. The Museum of Industry tells the refinery story from inside the old water tower, the Community Museum covers the town itself, and the Aruba Model Train Museum is the unexpected one. San Nicolas is also the practical gateway to the wild side: the Vader Piet entrance to Arikok National Park is close by, and Divers of Poseidon runs its main operation from here.
Insider Tip
Take a mural tour rather than wandering. The paintings are spread across the town and a good number of them have a specific local story behind them — who is depicted, which festival it came out of, what stood on that corner before — and none of that is written on the wall. Then eat before you drive back, because the resort strip has nothing at these prices, and go on a weekday when the town is working rather than a Sunday when it is shut.
The Practical Stuff
San Nicolas is about thirty to forty minutes from Palm Beach and roughly twenty-five from Queen Beatrix airport, at the opposite end of the island from the hotels. You need a car or the Arubus, which runs down from Oranjestad regularly and cheaply and takes about an hour. Parking in town is free and easy. Baby Beach and the southern coast are a further ten minutes on, which makes a natural loop: murals, lunch, beach, home. The town keeps ordinary working hours and closes on Sundays, so a weekday visit sees it alive rather than shuttered. Driving is on the right. Aruba lies outside the main hurricane belt, and this end of the island is hotter and drier than the north-west, with less breeze in the streets than on the coast.
Common Questions
Is San Nicolas worth visiting?
Yes — the murals are substantial, the museums are good and the food is the best on the island outside the restaurant strip. Give it half a day, ideally on a weekday when the town is open.
How far is San Nicolas from Palm Beach?
Thirty to forty minutes by car at the opposite end of the island, or about an hour on the Arubus from Oranjestad. Parking in town is free, unlike anywhere near the beaches.
Why does San Nicolas have so many murals?
A street-art programme and annual art events have covered the town's walls with large-scale work over the last decade, turning a former refinery town into the island's art destination.
Is San Nicolas safe?
It is an ordinary working town and visitors walk it during the day without difficulty. There is a long-standing adult-entertainment strip along part of the main road, which surprises some visitors but is not a safety issue in itself.
What is there to eat in San Nicolas?
Caribbean, Indian and local cooking, drawn from the communities the refinery years brought here — roti, curries and local plates, at prices well below the resort strip.
Can you get to Arikok National Park from San Nicolas?
Yes, the Vader Piet entrance is close to the town, which makes San Nicolas a sensible base for a day combining the murals, lunch and the park's wild eastern coast.
Pair It With
- Aruba Mural Tours — The murals, with the context that makes them land.
- Kamini's Kitchen — Lunch, and the reason people make the drive.
- Museum of Industry — The refinery years that built the town.
