Discover Aruba

Aruba is an island country of 179 square kilometres and 108,880 people in the southern Caribbean, 29 kilometres north of Venezuela's Paraguaná peninsula and 80 north-west of Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1986 and one of the ABC islands. It is 32 kilometres long and 10 across at its widest, flat limestone on the south and west with white beaches, rougher volcanic hills and battered cliffs on the north-east, and dry: a hot semi-arid climate with about 500 millimetres of rain a year, a constant north-east trade wind that bends the divi-divi trees, and a position south of the main hurricane track. Oranjestad, the capital, has some 28,700 people, an airport two and a half kilometres away with United States preclearance, and a tramway through its shopping street.

The Caquetío were here when Alonso de Ojeda arrived; the Dutch occupied the island from Curaçao in 1636; the British held it from 1806 to 1816; gold was worked after 1824 and aloe after that; the Lago refinery at San Nicolas, built in 1924, grew into one of the world's largest; the Charter of 1954 put the island in the Netherlands Antilles; and Betico Croes's Status Aparte movement took it out again on 1 January 1986 as a country of its own within the Kingdom. Dutch and Papiamento are official, Papiamento is what people speak, English and Spanish are everywhere, and about three-quarters of the population is Catholic.

For the visitor Aruba is a beach island with an unexpected interior: Eagle Beach, the widest on the island and public, and Palm Beach's high-rise strip six kilometres from the capital; the Arikok National Park, 34 square kilometres and about a fifth of the island since 2000, with the Conchi natural pool in its lava, the endemic rattlesnake, whiptail lizard, burrowing owl and parakeet, and the highest hill, Jamanota; the California Lighthouse of 1914–16 at the north-western tip; and Alto Vista's chapel above the north shore. The florin is pegged at 1.79 to the US dollar, the state buses charge US$2.60 a ride, an online embarkation card must be filed before flying, and 911 answers ambulance and fire, 100 police, 913 coastguard.

What do I need before I fly?

The online Embarkation/Disembarkation card, completed within seven days of travel and approved before the airline lets you board; no visa for up to three months.

What currency?

The Aruban florin, pegged at 1.79 to the US dollar, which is accepted almost everywhere; the buses quote both.

How much is the bus?

US$2.60 a ride, US$5 for a return card, US$15 for a day pass on Arubus.

Is Aruba in the hurricane zone?

Barely: it lies south of the main track and has no record of a recent major hurricane, though tropical storms happen from June to November.

What are the emergency numbers?

911 for ambulance and fire, 100 for police, 913 for the coastguard.

Can I drive?

Yes, on good roads on the right, with an international permit as well as your licence; rental firms may want two years' experience.