Aruba is synonymous with Flamingos. But it’s not actually Aruba that is known for iconic Pink Flamingos strolling along the beach, it’s Renaissance Island. Unless you are staying at the Renaissance Hotel or book a day pass to Renaissance Island you won’t see a Flamingo on your entire trip.
We debated between De Palm Island or Renaissance Island but decided to go with the classic Aruba, cliché, pink flamingos and booked a day pass to Renaissance Island. Tickets are limited and they are only available a week in advance starting on Saturdays. So if you’re planning to book a day pass, plan accordingly; tickets do sell out. Tickets are pricey and will cost you $150 USD per person but kids are free. Beware, if you look online, it says that lunch and a drink is included… that is no longer the case. The Renaissance Island Day Pass includes transportation to and from the island, towels, floaties and standing paddle boards. But if it’s too windy, which is often the case in Aruba, you won’t be able to use the paddle boards. It was quite pricey, but you’re paying for the experience of relaxing on a private/luxury island. Or if you want to visit the island without the day pass, you can book a spa treatment on the island. And if you’re staying at the Renaissance Hotel in Oranjestad you will get access to the island, although I wouldn’t really want to stay there, especially for the price.
What to Expect
Now to start the day, you will need to get to the Renaissance Hotel. The boat taxi’s begin service at 7:00 am and will pick you up from the canal inside the hotel. That’s right, you will wait beside the Starbucks and the boat drives into the hotel through the venetian style canal to pick up guests. It’s about a 15-minute boat ride to the island.
Renaissance Island is beautiful; it’s a privately owned by the Renaissance Hotel. There are two beaches, Flamingo Beach and Iguana Beach. There is a lagoon-like area separating the beaches. Throughout the island there are chairs, palm trees and docks to stroll around on. The island is beautiful and the Flamingos aren’t strictly located on Flamingo Beach; they wander the island. Along with the Iguanas. We were hesitant to book the day pass because kids are only allowed on Flamingo Beach from 9:00 am – 10:00 AM; but don’t worry Iguana Beach is very similar, and the Flamingos spend plenty of time there.
It is a bit of a cliché, but the Flamingos were pretty cool to see. There are the classical bright pink ones and the lighter-coloured ones. We enjoyed relaxing on the beach next to Flamingos and so did our daughter… she got pretty excited. The island has a limited number of day passes and there are lots of Flamingos so don’t worry about being able to snipe a photo with them… you’ll have plenty of opportunities. You can also buy food to feed the Flamingos if you’d like.
For me, the coolest part was relaxing under a tiki hut on a beautifully private beach and seeing a group of Flamingos casually stroll past. It was quite idyllic. The beaches themselves are nice and since it’s a private island you’re guaranteed a good spot right next to some palm trees, with a good view of the beach and underneath a tiki hut. And Aruba is a windy island, so most beaches can get windy, but Flamingo Beach and Iguana Beach are both protected by rock reefs. The water is a bright turquoise colour, but despite being protected by the reef, the wind stirs up the sand so the water wasn’t that clear when we were there.
The windy conditions were disappointing, but hey, that’s Aruba, it has great weather but strong winds. I’d have loved to try the standing paddle boards but we weren’t able to due to the wind. We grabbed some floaties and enjoyed the beach though.
Restaurants
There are also two restaurants on the island. There's the Mangrove Beach Bar & Fish Shack right on Flamingo Beach and there’s Papagayo Bar & Grill. I was disappointed that lunch wasn’t included, but some things truly are too good to be true. Although we ate at Papagayo Bar & Grill and the food was excellent. It was reasonably priced too. We had Calamari, fish tacos, Red Snapper and a Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wrap.
Honest Review
All in all, it was a nice day. The wind was a damper, but it’s expected in Aruba. The island was nice and felt luxurious, the Flamingos were plentiful and the beach was nice. The best part was being able to secure a great spot on the beach and seeing the Flamingos. But in my opinion, it was too expensive and isn’t worth the price if you’re trying to save money. If I’d have been able to paddle board that may have changed my opinion, but it just seemed too pricey. But, it was a nice day and one of those bucket list excursions while in Aruba. We had a great day, but to be honest, if you aren’t going to the spa or don’t care too much about photos and checking off a bucket-list, the Renaissance Island is something you can choose to skip if you’re short on time or money.
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