My friends and I went to Aruba for a wedding (Congratulations Amber and Wanya!!). I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about Aruba besides Flamingo Beach. This ended up being one of my favorite trips because of the people that surrounded me. My friends were a perfect balance of fun, adventure, photoshoots, food indulging, dancing- yet chill, relaxing and lots of tanning.
Aruba is a small Caribbean island located north of Venezuela. It sits outside of the hurricane belt, so hurricanes aren’t very common and weather is pretty good year-round.
I love how ethnically diverse Aruba is! It’s home to over 90 nationalities and ethnicities. Native Arubans speak four languages: English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento. Dutch and Papiamento are the official languages of Aruba.
We did a private ATV tour around the island, and then we jumped into a tide pool.
Fun Fact: A taxi driver told me Aruba’s tap water is pure and safe to drink. Since Aruba lacks natural sources of fresh-water, water is distilled in a saltwater desalination plant, and electricity is a by-product of the water desalination process.
Flamingo Beach
Flamingo Beach is a private island owned by The Renaissance Hotel. If you are a guest at this hotel, you can access the beach for free. We were staying at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and getting here was kind of a mission, but we refused to give up. We were quoted $120 each for day-passes that were limited per day, and we had to call at 7am the morning before to reserve. They were sold out each day that we called. We tried to book a room at The Renaissance Hotel, but they require a two-day minimum stay in order to access Flamingo Beach. Then, FINALLY we were told we could book massages on Flamingo Beach to grant us access for $180 per person… and that’s what we did. A small boat picked us up from The Renaissance Hotel and took us to the private island.
The island is no doubt beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. However, I will say, I only counted six flamingos. I was expecting them to be everywhere.
The last boat back to the main land was at 6:45pm, and we ran out of time to explore the rest of the island. (I spotted a slide I wish I would have gone down on lol).
Sunset
The Wedding
The wedding was an all-white attire beach wedding. Sooo beautiful and sooo fun! The first part of the ceremony was on the beach, and the dinner reception was inside the Ritz-Carlton’s ballroom.
We love you Amber!
Here is a little recap video, enjoy!
XOXO,
Laura Saucedo