Aruba Beyond the Beaches: Desert, Cliffs & Donkeys

If your mental picture of Aruba is white sand, turquoise water, palm trees, and a frozen drink sweating faster than you are, you’re not wrong.

You’re just missing a surprisingly large part of the island.

We learned this while house sitting in Aruba.

And our house sit was NOT near the white sand or turquoise water.

It was inland, dry, rocky, and surrounded by cactus. There were times it felt like we weren’t in Aruba anymore.

Fortunately, the homeowners were kind enough to let us use their car, so we did what we tend to do when somebody gives us wheels in a place we’ve never explored.

We went exploring.

No grand itinerary. No laminated checklist. Just the occasional, “Let’s go see what’s over there.”

And Aruba got weird almost immediately.

Cactus. Rocks. Wind that means business. Giant piles of sand. Rugged coastline. Cliffs.

Then beautiful Caribbean water.

Then roadside animals.

At one point, we looked around and realized we had apparently crossed over the rainbow and arrived on a desert island.

Not a deserted island.

A desert island.

Turns out, that’s not just us being dramatic. Aruba really does have a dry landscape across much of the island, especially away from the resort areas.

And discovering that side of Aruba became one of our favorite parts of the trip.

*Desert in front. Ocean in back. Aruba in a nutshell.*

Aruba Is Much More Than a Beach Destination

The beaches deserve their reputation.

Let’s establish that right now.

But if you spend your entire Aruba vacation moving between the resort pool and the beach, you’re seeing only one version of the island.

We found something entirely different once we started driving away from the familiar postcard scenery.

There were stretches where cactus seemed to cover everything. Then we’d turn a corner and discover enormous expanses of sand. Another road would take us toward rugged cliffs and a coastline that looked nothing like the calm Caribbean beaches we’d been expecting.

The landscape could change dramatically within a short distance.

We kept looking around and saying some variation of, “What the hell is this now?”

In the best possible way.

And that’s when Aruba became much more interesting to us.

We weren’t just visiting another beautiful Caribbean island. We were discovering a place that seemed to have several completely different personalities.

What We’d Tell You: Don’t Stop at the Beaches

Aruba’s beaches are beautiful, but there’s so much more to the island.

Rent a car and explore beyond the resort areas. The cactus-covered interior, rugged coastline, and constantly changing scenery surprised us as much as anything else.

Give yourself time to discover the Aruba you weren’t expecting.

Cactus-covered hillside in Aruba with the ocean and coastline in the background — Aruba refuses to pick a personality.

Cactus, cliffs, wind, mules, ocean. Aruba, in order of appearance.

Sometimes the Best Aruba Plan Is Just to Drive

When we house sit in a more remote area, transportation is one of the first things we try to figure out.

Can we use a car?

Because being temporarily adopted by somebody’s pets on a desert island is fun.

Being stranded there is less charming.

Having access to the homeowners’ car gave us the freedom to explore Aruba at our own pace.

We weren’t trying to collect landmarks or race from Attraction A to Attraction B. We wanted to see what the island actually looked like.

And we had a great time doing it.

We found driving around Aruba pleasant. Even around the resort areas, traffic wasn’t an issue for us.

We mostly stayed on the main roads.

And the streets.

And the almost streets.

There is a distinction.

That freedom gave us some of our favorite memories.

We drove through San Nicolas. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at a remote beach Airbnb. And we came across places and scenery we never would have experienced if we’d spent the entire visit planted in the resort zone.

Those Christmas memories deserve their own story.

But they’re part of why I’d want a car in Aruba again.

And there’s one more reason I’m glad we weren’t rushing from one scheduled attraction to another.

The donkeys.

And Then There Were the Donkeys

Yes.

Donkeys.

Standing beside the road.

Hanging around yards.

Halfway inside bushes like hiding munchkins, looking like they’d made several questionable life choices and were comfortable with every one of them.

No explanation.

Just Aruba casually adding another character to the story.

And yes, they really are donkeys.

We initially called them mules, but Aruba has a long history with donkeys, which once played an important role in transportation on the island.

There’s even a sanctuary dedicated to caring for them.

Apparently, the donkeys knew they belonged there.

We were the confused ones.

That’s what made exploring Aruba so much fun. It was never just one thing. You could be admiring the Caribbean water one minute and trying to figure out why a donkey was standing halfway inside a bush the next.

And somewhere between those two experiences, the island started feeling less like a vacation brochure and more like a place we were actually getting to know.

What We’d Tell You: Rent a Car and Download the Map

Aruba was easy for us to explore by car. We had no trouble navigating the roads, including the resort areas and getting to Adventure Aruba. Having a car gave us the freedom to discover the island on our own schedule.

Before you arrive, download Aruba in Google Maps for offline use. That way, you’ll have driving directions available even if your phone loses its internet connection.

The regular roads were no problem. The sand dunes and rugged off-road terrain were another story. That’s where a UTV adventure comes in!

The UTVs Were Basically Advertising Themselves

On one of our drives, a group of UTVs went buzzing past us.

Naturally, we followed them.

As far as we could, anyway.

They headed toward what we had immediately started calling the sand mountains.

Linda and I watched them disappear into the distance.

Then we looked at each other.

You know where this is going.

HELL YEAH. WE’RE DOING THAT.

And that was that.

We booked a tour.

Apparently, watching other people blast across Aruba’s desert landscape is an extremely effective form of advertising.

We went with Around Aruba Tours, and we’d use them again.

Their guided UTV excursions take travelers into Aruba’s rugged landscape, with sightseeing stops along the way. Our tour included places such as Alto Vista Chapel, the Bushiribana Ruins, and Natural Bridge.

The stops had their own charm, and they were well timed for getting a break from the ride.

But honestly?

The stops were only part of why we booked it.

We wanted to go where our house-sit car had already made it perfectly clear it had no intention of going.

And the UTV was very happy to oblige.

Remember those roads, streets, and almost streets?

Well, this was something else entirely.

The whole excursion deserves its own story.

Trust me.

What We’d Tell You: Consider a UTV Adventure

If Aruba’s rugged coast and desert terrain interest you, a guided UTV excursion can take you places you wouldn’t attempt in a regular car. We used Around Aruba Tours and enjoyed the experience enough to recommend considering them. Compare current routes, stops, driver requirements, and what’s included before booking. Different tours don’t necessarily visit the same places.

Explore Around Aruba Tours’ current UTV excursions

Affiliate note: We may earn a commission if you book through one of our links, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tours and experiences we’d actually consider using ourselves.

Don’t Go to Aruba and See Only the Aruba You Expected

This was the biggest surprise for us.

We expected beautiful water.

Got it.

We expected beaches.

Definitely got those.

We did not expect cactus-covered hills, huge stretches of sand, rugged cliffs, wild coastline, donkeys staring at us from bushes, or Christmas morning on a remote beach.

That part of Aruba made the island much more interesting.

So if you’re headed there, enjoy the resort.

Claim your beach chair.

Order something frozen that has absolutely no business being consumed before noon.

But give at least part of your trip to the other Aruba.

Get away from the hotel zone. See the desert. Find the cliffs. Explore the coastline. Consider Arikok. Say hello to a donkey.

And every once in a while, leave room to explore something simply because you don’t know what’s at the end of the road.

That’s where Aruba surprised us.

And that’s the Aruba we’d go looking for again.

More About How We Travel

House sitting is a big part of how we’ve been able to spend more time in places like Aruba instead of just passing through.

If you’re curious about how house sitting works, how we find sits, what we’ve learned, and the good, bad, and occasionally bizarre parts of living in other people’s homes, start with our House Sitting Hub.

And if you’re wondering why we built a life that lets us do things like house sit in Aruba in the first place, that’s the bigger story over at our sister site, No 2 The Quo.

Read Aruba Has Commitment Issues at No 2 The Quo

Thanks for coming along for the ride.
With love and laughter,
Matt & Linda

More Caribbean wandering: Jamaica: Locals, Muddy Trails, and One Perfect Resort Day