Sunny, breezy Aruba is truly a delight to visit! On our first full day, we snorkeled a mangrove-lined beach, took the mosaic Stairs into the Sea, relaxed at Baby Beach, explored the art and dining scene in San Nicolas, and drove on a quest to see the other side of the Seroe Colorado natural bridge, only to find wild, windy wave-polished ledges that felt like the edge of the world!

Octopus by Odeith, 2017, that apparently represents Tito Bolivar, with Paul Wong’s ‘Mi Forsa’ in background.

Southeastern coastline just north of the Seroe Colorado Natural Bridge

We had selected the small boutique hotel Serene by the Sea so we could stay on the quieter side of the island, populated more by local residents than tourists. With that in mind, we spent our first day exploring the southern beaches, rugged coastlines and the artsy, historic town of San Nicolas.

Then, after showers and a break, we headed to the central part of the island for wonderful sunset views from the second highest point in Aruba, followed by dinner in the Oranjestad port area. 

Mangel Halto Beach

Our first stop was Mangel Halto. This is a lovely coarse yellow sand beach with lots of shade from the green mangroves lining the shore. The few thatched shelters were already claimed when we arrived around 10:20 am, so we picked a quiet alcove formed by mangroves. 

I had read that the current runs from the left to the right, when facing the sea, so we walked over the little wooden bridge to use the curved, sandy beach on the left to enter the water. 

Sandy beach to the left, with a few rocks to get past. Although it looks calm in this photo, there were some white caps that made it to shore.

The water stays shallow pretty far out, and the water was nice and clear. We planned to snorkel with the current and return to shore in the bay to the right with the wooden dock. 

Shallow, but dead reef against which the fish really stood out. Photo by TO.

Mangel Halto is considered by several bloggers to be the best snorkeling in Aruba. However, you do have to swim out a ways to get to living coral. On this day, the winds were running at 18-20 mph, and I was the only one with flippers. So we decided not to venture towards the sandy cuts through the reef.

We saw lots of large green stoplight parrotfish in their terminal phase coloration. There were also some more drab fish that reminded me of the Rainbow Fish after it had given away all of its scales. It turns out that these are younger stoplight parrotfish in their initial coloration phase.

Stoplight parrotfish in their colorful terminal phase, as well as more subtle grey initial phase parrotfish in the back. That orangey fish to the right might be a rainbow parrotfish.

We had identified an idyllic sandy passage through a mangrove tunnel, that seemed to be the perfect exit to aim for along the mangrove-lined shore.

Looking back out through our sandy-bottomed mangrove tunnel after coming back to shore

It proved harder than predicted to get to this site, as we had to go against the current once we turned the corner into the northern bay. I strongly recommend renting fins from a place like Aqua Windies.

We were able to hang our bags on the mangrove branches and heard some sort of bird. It turned out to be a bare-eyed pigeon. 

Bare-eyed pigeon, mistakenly referred to sometimes as a ring-eyed dove

Rodgers Beach

While I was mapping out the locations of possible restaurants, I noticed several intriguing landmarks along the southern coast of Aruba in addition to Baby Beach: Stairs into the Sea, Seroe Colorado lighthouse, Seroe Colorado Natural Bridge. We were able to work each of these into our day.

We typed Rodgers Beach into the navigator, but found that it led us to a road right along the coast that was closed for construction. We had great views of the closed oil refinery that played a major part in the economic history of the region. 

The Lago Oil & Transport Company transported crude oil found beneath a Venezuelan estuary called Lake Maracaibo to this refinery, which was active from 1928 to 1985. It was attacked by Axis powers during WWII, along with a Dutch oil refinery in Oranjestad (1938-1954), due to their strategic importance to the Allies. After a few periods of renewed activity, it has been unused since 2009. 

Now the old oil refinery structures serve a marked contrast to the rich blue-green waters and white sand of Rodgers Beach. Fortunately, the breeze brought only fresh sea air to our noses with no petroleum fumes to mark its history.

Stairs into the Sea

From our vantage on Rodgers Beach Road where it was closed, we could see a concrete staircase leading down from First Avenue to the beach. 

Photo by DM

So we re-traced our drive back to where we had made a left turn in front of a huge billboard sign for Rodgers Beach at the end of 5th Street. We parked along First Avenue just north of the billboard. 

We went down a brick pathway to the steps, which seemed to lead right to the beach with calm aqua waters beyond. 

Upon descending the steps, we looked back for our friends and got a pleasant surprise. The risers of each step were covered in colorful mosaic tiles stretching all the way up to the top. 

Here we found brightly colored fishes, sea turtles, seaweeds and coral.

Coral and sea turtle on the lower part of Stairs into the Sea. Photo by TO.

A shark, some jellyfish, and rays greeted us. And closer to the top, palm trees with flying seabirds.

This side of Rodgers beach was nicer than the other, with fine white sand and clear green-blue water. 

Photo by TO.

Floating in paradise. Photo by TO.

It was idyllic for floating and relaxing with closeup views of pelicans and seagulls sitting on the posts leftover from an erstwhile dock. 

Baby Beach

Baby Beach forms a beautiful crescent moon sliver of white sand with rolling waves and a few trees for shade.

On one side, there is the Rum Reef Bar and farther to that side, an area of rocky shore. But most of the bay consists of sandy beach.

Photo by PM.

Whereas most places I checked listed Baby Beach as a top snorkel spot, a few blogs indicated that the good stuff could only be seen if you venture out of the safe zone in the protected bay. Indeed, we saw very little besides sand and a bit of sea grass until we reached the zone where the waves were breaking.

The tiny dots to the center right are our heads just in front of the breaking waves where the brain coral was. Photo by PM.

Once out there, we saw a large brain coral. But it was really hard to get a photo as the waves would knock me back as soon as I saw it. I finally managed. 

After several tries getting knocked back by waves, I finally captured the brain coral.

Besides that coral and some rocks, I only saw 2-3 fish. One of them was a spotted Smooth Trunkfish.

There was a large log on shore, shaped a bit like an old green-brown bottle, which made for a comfortable seat to watch the waves come in. 

San Nicolas

After staying at Baby Beach for about 45 min, we decided it was time for lunch. So we headed to O'Niel, which I had learned about from a Reddit post.  We figured we would eat lunch and then wander around to view some of the famous murals of San Nicolas.

O'Niel Caribbean Restaurant

O'Niel is a colorful yellow building on the sharp angled corner formed by the intersection of Van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat, the main street through town, and Van Renselaerstraat.  

We had our choice of air conditioned inside seating, or a shaded outdoor table.  Being still a bit wet, we opted for the pleasant plant-lined patio.

She listed goat curry, jerk chicken and oxtails when we asked for suggestions of local dishes. We also tried the Balashi beer and quite enjoyed it.  

As we were not too hungry, the four of us decided to eat family style and share an appetizer and three entrées. This ended up being our favorite meal from the entire week.  Check back in a few days for a detailed review and photos.

The Murals of San Nicolas

After lunch we wandered several streets to view the murals of San Nicolas. 

In 2016, the first Aruba Art Fair invited both local and international artists to paint the first street murals. Each year more works are added, and colorful murals adorn the walls of buildings in any direction that you choose upon leaving O'Niel's. 

Here are some of my favorites. 

by ChemiS

Across the street from O'Niel's, our eyes kept being drawn to a pair of murals. The one on the left, by ChemiS, showed a boy with a straw hat "crown" sitting on a throne or sorts with lizard head armrests. But it was the dog that really caught the eye, with its paw dangling casually over the edge of the trompe l'oeil alcove.

As you walk down the alley to the north of the angled intersection, there are many cool works of art. The most eye-catching are the brilliant blues of the belted kingfisher painted by Fauna Graphics.

Belted kingfisher by Fauna Graphics, aka Sarah Yates

The use of corners in several of the works creates visual interest. For example, "Flamingos Madness" by Graff Mapping features two flamingo heads looking in opposite directions.

"Flamingos Madness" by Graff Mapping

And Building Eyes, a work by Francis Sling, where the entire rounded building appears to be watching you.

by Francis Sling

After walking down Main St, or Van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat, there is a parking lot on the left with a dramatic spread of vibrant Sea Turtles by Ice One. 

Sea Turtles by Ice One, 2017, restored 2022

This same area offers post-card perfect murals, also by Ice One. 

Greetings from Aruba by Ice One, 2023

The Tribal Mural by Lina Arias is eye catching.

"Tribal Mural" by Lina Arias, 2017

But I found that a good number of my favorite pieces were painted by ChemiS (Dmitrij Proškin) These include a fascinating set of murals on the public library building. Gulliver holds the key.

 

Gulliver on the side of Biblioteca Nacional San Nicolas

To what lock you might wonder?

Does his key unlock the mysteries of the tribal face around the corner?

And what's with the spider boy over the gates to the library? This evokes the folklore of Kompa Nanzi, a small spider that outwits everyone else.

Or free Kompa Nanzi from his chains?

The colorful buildings on many of these streets are beautiful even unadorned by mural art.

Arches and gateway on Stuyvesantstraat

And this metal owl wall sculpture caught our eye! If you look closely, the owl contains miniature scenes that evoke Aruba's history and scenery. From the little oil refinery to the couple holding hands beneath the windblown Divi-divi tree, which always point southwest.

"We Are Aruba" metal wall sculpture

This piece entitled We Are Aruba depicts a burrowing owl sitting on top of an invasive boa, and symbolizes the strength and unit of the multicultural Aruban people to rise above adversity.

As we returned to Van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat from Stuyvesantstraat, a striking mural of kids fishing makes good use of truly three-dimensional window frames with slats.

by ChemiS

Scroll down to the end of this post for photos of other murals that we saw on our trip.

Mosaic Benches

Along Van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat, there are at least two sets of mosaic benches.  As we waited for our friends to complete their mural exploration, we rested among a set of four mosaic benches surrounding a large tree. 

The theme of each mosaic bench was a bit different, ranging from bumblebees and iguanas with aloe vera plants to orioles, hibiscus and desert owls. 

Back in Pittsburgh, we enjoy exploring mosaic art while getting a great workout up and down the Pittsburgh city steps before enjoying a good meal. Click here for one of our Mosaic Steps & Dine hikes. 

"Carnival Nymph" by Isidora Paz López

Between the mosaic Stairs into the Sea, the Carnival Nymph mural that we parked in front of, and these benches, we felt quite at home. 

 

Gelato in the Historic Nicolaas Store

As we concluded our self-guided, wanderings in San Nicolas, we noticed a sign for Pico Bello Italian-style gelato, which is locally made in Aruba. This brought us to the attractive golden facade of the historic Nicolaas Store.

Built in 1940 as a traditional Aruban merchants house, this attractive building sports tall double doors to welcome in customers, with the merchant's personal residence in the upper story. 

In addition to Kulture Cafe, which serves breakfast, pastries and the best gelato (of the three places we tried) in Aruba, the building also houses the San Nicolas Community Museum. Admission was $5 up a large pneumatic vacuum elevator.

The rum + raisin was our favorite flavor, although the dulce de leche and chocolate were also delicious. 

Seroe Colorado - Under construction

The Seroe Colorado Lighthouse

While the lighthouse itself was initially disappointing, exploring this wild, beautiful area at the top of a cactus-laden hill in the southeast part of Aruba was my favorite activity of the day. 

When we got to the end of the narrow uphill road to the parking area, we did not see the lighthouse at first, thinking it had been torn down. Then we noticed a utilitarian black structure on a simple pole, which housed a light.

It was nothing like the square historical structure observed in the community museum. 

But we got out of the minivan to take a quick photo. All four of us quickly became so entranced by the beauty of the area that we split up and ran off to 

Dirt Road to the Wild Side of Aruba

Sunset from the top of Hooiberg

After showers and a rest, we drove to the base of Hooiberg mountain to climb the steps up to the top. This conical hill rises by itself from the flat plains of central Aruba, and provides magnificent views of the island.

Dinner in the Oranjested Port Area

Nusa Aruba

From Hooiberg in Santa Cruz, we drove to the port area of Oranjestad for dinner, thinking we would try to walk in to the Lima Cafe. However, they were full for the evening, so we made a reservation for later in the week. One or two doors down the street, we passed an Indonesian restaurant called Nusa, with inviting greenery and outdoor seating. 

Look for a blog post in a few days detailing and comparing all of our food and drink experiences. 

🐾 Aruba seems to have ample parking in most areas. Only in Palm Beach did we have to search a bit more for parking.

🍃 Be sure to use only reef-safe mineral sunscreen to avoid preserve these lovely reefs for future visiters. Also, try to avoid standing up for the same reason, unless you are over sand.

🐾 Nusa listed a 7% "Service tax". The waitress at Nusa insisted that the 7% service tax was just tax and not for service, but "they list it in a confusing way with the word service in it", so we gave her an additional 20%. Interestingly the taxes at the other 10 restaurants we enjoyed in Aruba were included in the menu

More San Nicolas Murals...

Portrait of local artist Mo Mohamed by ChemiS

Burrowing owl by Armando Goedgedrag, 2018

Infinity House of Cards by ChemiS

Sea Turtles by Ice One, 2017, restored 2022

Unknown artist

"She is Harmony"

Mural by @pausrr. Photo by TO.

Lionfish by dopie.dsk and "We Are Here to Stay" by unknown artist.

Sea turtle on right by Armando Goedgedrag

by Armando Goedgedrag

?Mucha Bonita? based on map location. Photo by PM.

by Fio Silva

"Caribbean King" by Insane51. Apparently you need 3D-goggles to properly view this and the nearby "Caribbean Queen". Photo by DM.

by Sebastian Jiménez aka SEPC

Paul Wong’s ‘Mi Forsa’  Photo by PM

Love Aruba, 2023 by Ice One

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