Aruba offers long gleaming beaches, many water sports activities, and is a favourite port for cruise ships, but visitors also lodge here to take advantage of upscale restaurants, lively nightclubs, and some of the best windsurfing in the world.

Oranjestad is the island's capital, and the bustling city has a distinct Dutch feel with colorful buildings painted in historical Antillean style. Shopping is abundant, with duty-free stores offering jewellery, perfume, linen, alcohol and designer clothing. Discos and nightclubs abound and gaming is on offer at 11 resort casinos.

Most of the beaches are found along Aruba's Northwest coast. There are two main resort areas; one with low-rise buildings, the other with high-rises with a series of glorious beaches: Druif, Eagle and Palm, with much of it fronted by a pedestrian walkway. The Palm Beach area offers parasailing, glass-bottom boat rides, excursions aboard the submarine Atlantis, and high-octane turbocharged jet boat rides. Just north of Palm Beach is a world-renowned windsurfing and kite-surfing mecca.

Scuba diving is popular, offering good visibility, coral reefs and wrecks - most notably the Antilla, a German freighter sunk during World War II, which is the largest in the Caribbean. For golfers there is Tierra del Sol, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, and the nine-hole Divi Links near Oranjestad. Half-day horseback tours take visitors along beaches and into the cunuku.

Aruba is noteworthy for its arid interior cunuku, or countryside. Casibari and Ayo boast curious rock formations. At the Fontein cave, visitors find natural stone pillars and Amerindian paintings. Nearby, the Guadirikiri caves are home to hundreds of bats.

Bus tours are popular but visitors can also tour the cunuku in a convoy of Range Rovers or ATV's. In addition to the geological scenery, there is the Chapel of Alto Vista, built in 1750 by Spanish missionaries, and the Bushiribana gold mine ruins. Also explore the summit of 541-foot Mount Hooiberg; Arikok National Park, a 13 square-mile preserve filled with iguanas, rabbits, migratory birds, goats and donkeys; and Jabaribari, home to parakeets.

AIRPORT/GATEWAYS:

Canadian Gateways: TBA
US Gateways: TBA
Other Gateways:
Airport: Queen Beatrix Int'l Airport, approximately 8 minutes from Oranjestad, the capital. Gateways/Flying Times: Miami - 2.5 hours. New York - 4.5 hours. Charlotte, NC - 3.5 hours. Philadelphia - 4 hours. Chicago - 5 hours. Atlanta - 3.5 hours. Boston - 6 hours. Canada - 5 hours.

There direct flights from the UK with First Choice from Gatwick from May-October. KLM and Martinair fly from Amsterdam, and there are scheduled flights from New York, Miami and Chicago. The Airport in Aruba is the Queen Beatrix International Airport, 3.5km south of the capital, Oranjestad, on the west coast.

CLIMATE:
Average annual temperature is 82 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is less than 20 inches per year and occurs in showers of short duration during the months of November & December. Aruba is outside the hurricane belt.

DINING:
Restaurants available - Local. Fast Food (International). Seafood. Brazilian. Mexican. Belgian. French. Italian. Spanish. Cantonese. Indonesian. Chinese. Japanese. Dutch. Argentinean. German. Cuban. Caribbean. Service charge is usually included on your bill. Otherwise tip at your own discretion. Dress code (varies depending on place) is jackets sometimes for men and the equivalent for ladies.

LANGUAGE:
Papiamento is the native language (a mixture of Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese with a sprinkling of Indian, English, French and African). Papiamento and Dutch are the official languages. English and Spanish are widely spoken and understood.

NIGHTLIFE:
Entertainment available includes - Discos. Nightclubs. Casinos. Cabarets. Dinner/dances. Live music. Local and international shows. Theatres. Cinemas.

SIGHTSEEING:
The old California lighthouse and sand dunes of California and Boca Prins. The gold mill ruins in Balashi and Bushiribana. Bubali Plas Bird Sanctuary. The Ostrich Farm. The Butterfly Farm. Guadirikiri. Fontein Caves. Arikok National Park. Alto Vista Chapel. Ayo and Casibari Rock formations. The historic Olde Molen. Historical buildings in Oranjestad. The Willem III tower and Fort Zoutman.

****** WEDDING REQUIREMENTS IN ARUBA ******

Civil Wedding Requirements:

1. Completed Letter of Intent to marry. 2. Birth Certificates of each with a Raised Seal. 3. Official Divorce Decree of previous spouse's), if divorced. 4. Official Death Certificate's) of previous spouse's), if widowed. 5. Negative Statement of Marriage (Declaration to prove couple is single/unmarried). 6. Copy of Valid Passport ID pages of couple entering marriage. 7. Copy of Valid Passport ID pages of Two Witnesses, when bringing own Witnesses (min. 18 years of age). 8. Document 2, 3,4 and 5 (in English, Dutch or Spanish) must be furnished with an Apostille-Seal from the Bureau of Vital Statistics (USA), or the Department of Foreign Affairs, or the Dutch Embassy (for Peru, Dominican Republic and Haiti), to state authenticy. 9. All documents must be faxed for review min. 8 weeks prior Wedding Date. 10. All documents must be submitted min. 6 weeks prior Wedding Date.

Religious Wedding Ceremony and Renewing Vows:

Ceremonies can be performed if the couple has a signed Marriage Certificate or when legally married in Aruba or Marriage is registered at the Department of Civil Registry at the Town Hall in Aruba.

Religious Blessings

Protestant/Episcopalian/Methodist/Inter- and Non-Denominational 1. Wedding ceremony can be affiliated in the local Protestant, Episcopalian or Methodist Church or anywhere else the couples desires. 2. If married outside of Aruba, copy of Marriage Certificate from their home country 3. Proper attire is required for all Religious Blessings (no bathing suits/wraps)

Jewish

1. Both partners must be Jewish and need to submit a verification of Judaism from the Rabbi of their hometown. 2. The Aruban Kantor accepts Jewish Status certificates from valid Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Liberal and Re-Constructionist Authorities 3. A formal petition needs to be submitted to the Aruba Jewish Community 4. The Synagogue of Aruba is an independent Conservative-Reform style congregation. 5. The Wedding ceremony may take place either in the Synagogue or any other venue of choice.

At Sea:

A Ship captain is not authorized to officiate a wedding according to Dutch laws. This applies for international waters as well as in port. The only exception to this rule is, if he has been given authority by the country under whose flag the ship is registered.

Please Note: Wedding requirements above are for information purposes only and may be out of date as of this print. Only use this information on this page as a guideline, and for more current and up to date information, please contact the countries Consular Affairs, Embassy, or the countries Tourism Bureau.