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Aruba ArubaLesser AntillesIsland

Aruba

180 km² of land in the Caribbean Sea.

When to go

Aruba seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
OranjestadNoordTanki LeendertSanta CruzSan NicolasButucuSavaneta
N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

180km²

Area

98km

Coastline

188m

Highest point

Mount Jamanota

106,739

People

29°C

Warmest sea

September

25km

To the mainland

When to go to Aruba

Best for the beach from February to June.

The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Main island in Aruba

Aruba is an island in Aruba. It belongs to Lesser Antilles. It covers 180 km², with 98 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Jamanota, rises to 188 m. About 106,739 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 25 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Aruba.

  • 55beachesTres Trapi, Hadicurari Beach, Manchebo Beach and 52 more
  • 13viewpointsSero Jamanota, Sero Arikok, Sero Cabai and 10 more
  • 2lighthousesCalifornia Lighthouse, Seroe Colorado Lighthouse
  • 5ferry terminalsDe Palm Island Ferry Teminal, Palm Island Ferry Port, Atlantis Submarines and 2 more
  • 4marinasYacht Club Aruba, Cruise Ship Dock, Aruba Nautical Club and 1 more
  • 26named peaksSero Jamanota, Sero Arikok, Sero Cabai and 23 more
  • 1castles and fortsFort Zoutman
  • 29ruins and archaeological sitesGeschutsopstelling, Dynamite storage and 27 more
  • 3dive centresFly and Dive, JADS Dive Center, Aqua Windies
  • 3campsites
  • 1,066hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 535restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Aruba in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Aruba, each with its own numbers.

  • 26beaches and covesCoastya
  • Beach with the warmest sea

    28.7°C

    Daimari

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

26 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Rodgers Beach28.6°C
  2. Manchebo Beach28.6°C
  3. Iguana Beach28.6°C
  4. Druif28.6°C
  5. Uriramacove28.6°C
  6. Boca di Pos di Noordcove28.6°C
  7. Arashicove28.6°C
  8. Daimaricove28.7°C

18 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 34 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 78 %0–50 m
  • 22 %50–200 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Aruba180 km²
Malta247 km²
Madeira Island742 km²

20 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Oranjestad29,998 people
  • Noord24,193 people
  • Tanki Leendert21,500 people
  • Santa Cruz15,236 people
  • San Nicolas14,175 people
  • Butucu14,175 people
  • Paradera13,834 people
  • Savaneta11,955 people
  • Palm Beach5,637 people
  • Malmok5,637 people
  • Pos Chiquito5,259 people
  • Alto Vista5,146 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)272727282828282929292928
Night low (°C)262626262727272828282827
Sea (°C)262626262727272829292827
Rain (mm)291510112121262751949060
Wet days7323557813181612
Sun h/day8.28.88.78.48.28.78.99.28.77.57.27.7
Wind (km/h)323332323234323026242630

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.7+0.2+0.9+0.8+0.3+0.4+1.2+0.6+1.0+0.5+0.6+0.7
2021+0.7+0.2+0.5±0.0+0.4+0.1+0.1+0.1+0.3+0.4−0.1+0.3
2022+0.6+0.5+0.3+0.2+0.3+0.1−0.2+0.1+0.8+0.6+0.4+0.1
2023+0.4+0.1−0.1+0.3+0.5+0.8+0.8+0.6+0.9+1.7+1.3+0.8
2024+1.4+1.0+0.9+1.0+1.5+1.3+1.2+1.0+0.9+1.8+1.6+1.4
2025+1.3+1.0+0.9+0.9+0.8−0.4+0.6+0.5+0.5+1.0+0.3+0.7

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

RIU Palace Antillas - Aruba
Exceptionalimages · CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-03-30 CARNIVAL VISTA - IMO 9692569, off Oranjestad, Aruba
Gordon Leggett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aruba-Hooiberg-2013
Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 3.0
Aruban-pot-AKw-541
Kallmemel · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q31884901) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit