The strong Aruban sun will make you want to find some shade when you’re at the beach.
Shade is complicated by the wind. Aruba is know for its strong trade winds that will blow away most sun umbrellas. We have seen the wind flip over plastic sun loungers and blow flimsy umbrellas into the ocean.
There are four options for shade on the beaches of Aruba: bring your own shelter, rent an umbrella or palapa from a concession or hotel, find a public palapa, or install yourself under some vegetation.
Can I rent a beach umbrella?
All the major beaches have a concession that rent large umbrellas and beach loungers. The attendant will dig a deep hole for the umbrella mast and tether the canopy to a spike or a large rock.
Some of the hotels might also rent a palapa to non-guests but most hotel palapas will have been reserved in advance by guests.
A rental umbrella with a couple sun loungers or chairs can easily go for $50-$75 per day. This can add up if you are spending a whole week on the beach.
What are the best sun shelters for Aruba?
Increasingly, people are bringing their own sun shelters to Aruba.
The three most popular are the Neso tent, the BeachBub Umbrella and the Shibumi. We own a Neso and BeachBub Umbrella.
Shibumi
The Shibumi Shade relies on a constant wind to keep the sail aloft. It’s very easy and quick to setup.
There are two problems with this product. The first is that it flaps in the wind and can make an unpleasant noise. The second problem is that the wind predominately blows from behind you on most Aruba beaches and so you will be sitting under the flapping part of the sail, not under the rod that holds it up. On the positive side, the Shibumi is lightweight and easy to pack in your suitcase.
Neso Tent
The Neso tents are made of a stretchy fabric that is help up by poles and weighed down by filling sacs that are attached to each corner with sand.
We’ve had mixed results with the Neso. On days where the wind is light or constant, it works really well. On more gusty days, the poles can lose tension and fall.
The trick to setting up the Neso is to put more sand than you think is possible in the ancho bags and to orient the tent so that the wind is blowing into it. We also like to lean our beach chairs up to the poles to give them some extra support.
The Neso packs down to a small size and can be easily be transported in a suitcase.
BeachBub Umbrella
The BeachBub is the only umbrella that we know of that is portable and that will hold up to the Aruba wind.
Setup is pretty quick, make a small hole in the sand for the mast, lay down a small triangular tarp, cover the tarp in sand, and then connect the corners of the tarp to the mast.
There are two disadvantages to the BeachBub. The firs is that it won’t fit in your suitcase. It comes in a cardboard box that is about 48 linear inches and can be checked as luggage. The other disadvantage is that it only provides enough shade for two people. A family of four would need two BeachBubs.
Do all beaches have public palapas?
The Aruban government has installed permanent palapas at most beaches. You’ll even find them at the very small beaches like Boca Catalina. The demand for these palapas is greater than the supply. You either have to get there early or get lucky and show up when someone else is leaving.
There are very few at Palm and Eagle beaches. At Palm beach, there are 3 or 4 of them at the very south end of the beach near the police station. At Eagle beach, they are across from the Oceania Residences.
The palapas setup by hotels on the beaches are technically on public property but the hotel staff will give you a hard time if you sit under one.
