Everything You Need to Know About Renaissance Island, Aruba

Kenny and I traveled with a few friends to the island of Aruba for an extended weekend trip to celebrate my 25th birthday!

SO, during these quick five days, we packed a lot of activities in. However, we all came to the conclusion that our favorite adventure of the vacation was the day trip to Renaissance Island! 

Check out some videos on our Tiktok @just.travel.now for more on the vacation! 

Here's everything we learned from our experience that will help you have the BEST day possible:

You will need to take a boat to this island off the coast of Aruba, but don't worry, everything is included in your day pass. The cost for the day was $125 each. BUT WAIT... Before that price scares anyone away, let me tell you what is included... The round-trip water taxi ride to the island is included. A $25 food voucher for their restaurant or beach service (which I will talk about later) is also included. Included at no extra charge were non-motorized water sports such as kayaking, paddle boarding, and the use of snorkeling equipment. Make sure you grab a bottle of reef safe sunscreen to help preserve this beautiful place. (Amazon Affiliate Program-AAP) You will have access to explore the entire island and use any of its facilities. You will also have the freedom to lounge on either of the two beaches: 

Flamingo Beach and/or Iguana Beach 

One upside for us was that Flamingo Beach is an adult only beach, and trust me... this was extremely relaxing. 

However, if you are bringing your kids along, that is great too! There's plenty of space for them to explore on Iguana Beach. If your kids would like to visit Flamingo beach, they have before 10AM to do so. 

But in reality, the flamingos roam about between both beaches anyway! 

There really is so much to explore on this island including relaxing hammocks over the water, wildlife in the channel, and conch shells everywhere you look. You can literally swim with lemon sharks (don't worry, they're harmless!) or hike through the mangrove forest. 

Side notes: 

The channel where the hammocks and lemon sharks are located have all types of living creatures like colorful fish and small eels, but they won't bother you. If you rather avoid these creatures, hammock earlier in the day. The tiny lemon sharks come out in the afternoon! 

AND

On the far side of the island, the walking trail goes through the mangroves. You will see plenty of colorful lizards along the way. Make sure you bring comfortable walking shoes because the path can get a lot of debris. I always enjoy wearing my Birkenstocks for island walks like this. You can also get more affordable options that serve the same purpose! (AAP)

Some info you will need for your trip to run smoothly:

The first boat out to the island is at 7AM, and they run about every 15 minutes. This dock was a bit tricky to find at first. If you would prefer guided directions when you are there, you can walk through the Renaissance Hotel located at L.G. Smith Blvd 82, Oranjestad, Aruba and someone will show you the way. However, there is a large parking lot right next to the dock which is directly in front of the cruise ship docking area. You will see a small dock along a walkway labeled "Renaissance Island". 

A small boat transports you for the ten-minute ride to the island dock. We highly recommend being on one of the first boats out and one of the last boats back at sunset. I will explain why... 

The flamingos on the island (YES, real flamingos that walk up to you) wake up in the morning ready to eat and see all the new people for the day! 

We got to the island on the second boat of the morning, and we had the flamingos (and entire island) all to ourselves. PSA: Bring quarters because they have food machines for feeding the birds. One quarter was enough food to go around.  

We were able to get beautiful pictures with no one in the background and all the flamingos were eating from our hands. 

Another reason I suggest getting there early is because the morning on the island is so relaxing, and the water is so calm. It is truly breathtaking! 

Arriving early also lets you pick your lounge chairs first, and enjoy any amenities before others come. Don’t worry it does NOT get crazy crowded though because they always have a limited number of passes per day. 

Now, the reason I recommend taking the last boat back is because who wouldn’t want to experience the sunset on the island?! Low tide comes in and the flamingos even go out on the sand bars in the ocean. We recommend getting a cheap disposable film camera to capture this.(AAP) SO dreamy!!

Okay, we obviously need to talk food! There is a restaurant on the island called Papagayo Bar & Grill that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is open concept with pretty views, but also covered in case it starts to rain. The huge bar in the restaurant overlooks the water. The food was incredibly fresh, and they had plenty of options. 

We had a sit-down breakfast at the restaurant. They brought out a huge plate of fruits and baked goods for the table. They also brought each person a traditional breakfast dish with eggs, meat, and potatoes. This held us over for most of the day. 

Later in the afternoon, we were lying on the beach, and the waiter was coming around asking if we would like to order any food. We decided to take advantage of this complimentary service, and enjoy a meal on our lounge chairs. We recommend ordering the burger, fries, and buffalo chicken wings. Our honest opinion: Do not get the pizza! 

The waiter also brought us our frozen Pina Coladas. We were in paradise!

IMPORTANT INFO: 

The most difficult part of this excursion was actually getting the tickets. 

This is everything I wish I knew before about the process... 

There are three ways to get to this island: 

1. Buy a day pass (online only) 

2. Stay in the Renaissance Hotel on the main island

3. Book a spa appointment on Renaissance Island 

Next time, we would actually stay in the hotel for unlimited access all week. For this trip, we opted into getting day passes. These are hard to come by! 

You need to plan ahead. 

Each Saturday at 9AM the tickets go live on this website for the following Monday to Sunday. You MUST be ready with your credit card info and continue refreshing the page around 9AM to get tickets. They sell out super fast, especially for weekend tickets. I am not kidding... The tickets were sold out by 9:05AM when I was purchasing them.

I actually missed the first round the Saturday prior to my departure, and I was devastated. I tried to make a spa appointment, but they were booked for the whole next month out. Thankfully, I was able to go on the following Saturday while literally in Aruba to get passes for that Monday! 

There are individual ticket options for $125 each and cabanas to add on if you want. As long as you know this information, you will be good though! 

It is all so worth it when you get there! I cannot stress enough to you how much we all enjoyed this excursion and cannot wait to go back!

Thanks for reading along! If you want more information on our trip to Aruba try visiting our Tiktok @just.travel.now !