Palm Beach, Aruba
The hotel shore of Aruba, where the casinos, restaurants and resorts gather along calm water, with a lighthouse, a hilltop chapel and the snorkelling coves of the north a short drive up the road.
- Arrival
- Queen Beatrix International · AUA
- To Palm Beach
- About 11 km from the airport
- Private jets
- GA terminal with US preclearance
- Best time
- All year
The city
The island’s busiest mile of sand.
Palm Beach is where Aruba goes out in the evening. The tourism board calls it the epicentre of the island’s visitors: the larger resorts stand on the sand, with restaurants, bars, casinos and shops on the other side of the road. Behind them lies Noord, the most populous district, where many of the people who staff the hotels make their homes.
North of the strip the buildings thin out. Malmok, Arashi and Boca Catalina are coves for snorkelling, the huts at Fisherman’s Huts launch windsurfers and kiteboarders, and the land ends at a lighthouse on the island’s northern tip.
- California Lighthouse Finished in 1916 on the northern point and named after the ship California, which sank off this coast; recently restored.
- Alto Vista Chapel Aruba’s first chapel, built in 1750 on a rise above the north shore, left to ruin and later rebuilt.
- Bubali Bird Sanctuary A former salt pan on J.E. Irausquin Boulevard, now two lakes visited by more than eighty species, open at no charge and best at dawn.
Arriving
Eleven kilometres from the runway.
Queen Beatrix International is about eleven kilometres from the Palm Beach hotels. Its single runway runs 2,808 metres, and travellers bound for the United States clear American border control on the island.
- St Maarten 1 h 35
- Panama City 1 h 45
- Washington 4 h 15
- Dallas 4 h 55
- San Francisco 7 h 55 long-range jet
When to go
All year round.
The trade wind blows steadily and rain is scarce: from February to June each month averages under twenty millimetres. Highs move only between 30 and 33 °C through the year. October to December are the wettest months, and even they stay below eighty millimetres.
- 30° J 37 26°
- 30° F 19 26°
- 31° M 8 26°
- 31° A 13 26°
- 32° M 14 27°
- 32° J 18 27°
- 32° J 31 27°
- 32° A 25 28°
- 33° S 35 28°
- 32° O 65 28°
- 32° N 78 28°
- 30° D 66 27°
Where to stay
On the strip, and in a garden behind it.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
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The St. Regis Aruba Resort The newest of the three, opened in 2025, with Akira Back cooking on the roof and a casino carrying the St. Regis name for the first time.
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The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba Three hundred and twenty rooms, fifty-five of them suites, open on the beach since late 2013.
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Boardwalk Boutique Hotel Aruba Casitas among the palms of a former coconut plantation, adults only, and the island’s only hotel with two MICHELIN Keys.
Where to dine
The best tables on the island.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Aruba. These are tasting menus and upscale tables picked by The Infatuation, and a chef’s table with a Travellers’ Choice award on Tripadvisor.
- Infini by Urvin Croes The Infatuation Caribbean tasting menu $$$$ Blue Residence, Eagle Beach
- Ever The Infatuation Caribbean tasting menu $$$$ Weststraat, Oranjestad
- Terra by Jeremy Ford The Infatuation Contemporary $$$$ Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort, Eagle Beach
- Papiamento The Infatuation Aruban, seafood Washington, Noord
- Fred Royal Chef’s Table Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice 2026 Chef’s table $$$$ Wilhelminastraat, Oranjestad
Flying to Palm Beach, Aruba?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.