Aruba: American Mallorca

“Aruba, Jamaica, oooh, I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama…“ Take Jacob to the little Caribbean island of the famous name and find out what Aruba has to offer.

Af Jacob Gowland Jørgensen

Mallorca of the Americans

Aruba is also called the Mallorca of the Americans. But it's actually a bit unfair - especially towards Mallorca, who with its beautiful and lush mountains immediately beat flat and dry Aruba off the stick.

So why was it really that I had chosen to end a cool Caribbean trip off here? Because the name Aruba screamed out the dream of the Caribbean so clearly that it had to be seen and experienced.

Aruba was the raisin in the sausage end after a tour of a strip of eastern and southern Caribbean islands. Favorite favorite was at Grenada with Bonaire and St. Croix right on the heels, because now hold up, how is there a big difference in the small Caribbean islands.

They all have some sort of colonial history, but are surprisingly different in culture and nature. When you hear that the capital of Aruba is called Oranjestad, you can guess that it is the Dutch who have passed by. Aruba is today an autonomous country within the orange-happy Dutch Commonwealth.

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A tourist friendly place

There are still a number of colorful colonial buildings, which are now just filled with restaurants, casinos and more or less random shops with tourist junk and electronics. Ready to receive crowds of Americans and other tourists pouring in from planes, cruise ships and sailboats.

See Big city and paradise - experience New York, Aruba & Curacao

Because they do - roll in. Aruba has an offer that is so strong that the fewest solar destinations in the world can participate: Sun and 27 ° C all year round, a stable government and European colonial history in tourist-friendly Disney colors.

When you then add eminent beaches, a widespread lack of crime and the fact that Aruba is outside the hurricane belt, well, then the flow of tourists is secured.

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Because even if you think that beautiful and bathing-friendly beaches were the standard in the Caribbean, the reality is sometimes different. I experienced rocky beaches, beaches with strong currents, beaches with local gusts and everything else strange in the Caribbean in January.

But on Eden Beach in Aruba, the sand was white, the water warm and the wind a loving Caribbean breeze. What's not to like?

Here is a good offer on flights to Oranjestad - click on "see offer" to get the final price

Cacti and Aloe Vera

Before the tourist flow, the island was crammed with Aloe Vera cacti, which with their well-known healing juice was an export success, and the cacti are probably also the most interesting beyond the beaches.

For Aruba is a bit like a country that has turned into a relatively bland resort, where locals are guaranteed employment in hotels (reportedly regardless of skills), and where the sun always shines.

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Here are some great hotel deals in Noord, Aruba - click on "see offer" to get the final price

It is limited how interesting it is for a long time, but for a few days in the deck chair and a ride in the wave blue it holds to that degree. And I wonder if the head of tourism has The Beach Boys in his thank you speeches.

Without them, it was not certain that Aruba had quintupled its number of hotel rooms since the song "Kokomo" was released - nor was it certain that Aruba would today stand as an iconic sun destination in that part of the world.

Here are some good hotel deals in Oranjestad - click on "see offer" to get the final price

More options in the Caribbean

Aruba is located just north of Venezuela and west of Bonaire and Curacao (known as the "ABC Islands") and is the southwesternmost of the known Caribbean islands. If you want to visit more of the islands, check out www.caribjet.com for information about island hopping or take a cruise from Puerto Rico, for example.

Charter trips to Aruba from Denmark have also begun. If you are interested in a place with more culture and delicious Caribbean food, then Grenada and St. Croix is recommended.

Here are some more great deals on accommodation in Aruba - click on "see offer" to get the final price

See Big city and paradise - experience New York, Aruba & Curacao

If you are into nature, pristine Bonaire is a peaceful little paradise for snorkelers and divers, and you may be lucky enough to get a free stopover on Bonaire if you fly with KLM to northern South America.

St. Lucia and Dominica also have an interesting nature, and Dominica is the island closest to its Caribbean-Native American roots. At the other end of the list are Barbados and St. Kitts, which neither naturally nor culturally seemed particularly interesting.

But should one have landed in a sad place, then it is fortunate that it is never far to the next island in the Caribbean. Nice trip!

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About the author

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Jacob Jørgensen, editor

Jacob is a cheerful travel geek who has traveled in more than 100 countries from Rwanda and Romania to Samoa and Samsø.

Jacob is a member of De Berejstes Klub, where he has been a board member for five years, and he has extensive experience in the world of travel as a lecturer, magazine editor, adviser, writer and photographer. And, of course, most importantly: As a traveller. Jacob enjoys both traditional travel such as a car holiday to Norway, a cruise in the Caribbean and a city break in Vilnius, and more out-of-the-box trips such as a solo trip to the highlands of Ethiopia, a road trip to unknown national parks in Argentina and a friend trip to Iran.

Jacob is a country expert in Argentina, where he has been 10 times so far. He has spent almost a year in total traveling through the many diverse provinces, from the penguin land in the south to deserts, mountains and waterfalls in the north, and has also lived in Buenos Aires for a few months. In addition, he has special travel knowledge of such diverse places as East Africa, Malta and the countries around Argentina.

In addition to travelling, Jacob is an honorable badminton player, Malbec fan and always up for a board game. Jacob has also had a career in the communications industry for a number of years, most recently with the title of Communication Lead in one of Denmark's largest companies, and has also worked for several years with the Danish and international meeting industry as a consultant, e.g. for VisitDenmark and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Today, Jacob is also a senior lecturer at CBS.