Aruba or Curaçao?
The practical differences, drawn from our own write-ups rather than from a brochure. We are not going to tell you which is better - they are different trips. What follows is what actually changes between them.
Places written up here 57 43
UNESCO listings among them 0 1
Cost level High High
Busiest month in our write-ups January January
Currency Aruban florin (AWG) Caribbean guilder (XCG)
Plugs and voltage A, B, F - 127 V A, B - 127 V
Everyday languages Dutch, Papiamento Dutch, Papiamentu, English
Driving side right hand side right hand side
Region Caribbean Caribbean
Capital Oranjestad Willemstad
Aruba
One happy island is the licence-plate motto and the service style - warm, multilingual and unhurried.
What we have written up
- Alto Vista Chapel church
- Andicuri and Dos Playa beach
- Arashi Beach beach
- Arikok National Park national park
- Aruba Aloe tradition
- Aruba Carnival festival
Worth knowing before you go
- US dollars are accepted everywhere alongside the Aruban florin at a fixed rate
- Many restaurants add a 10-15% service charge - when it appears, a small extra 5% for your server is generous
- Tap water is desalinated seawater and excellent - skip the bottled stuff
Curaçao
Easygoing and multilingual - Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish flow through a single chat.
What we have written up
- Blue Room Cave sea cave
- Boka Sami fishing village
- Caracas Bay peninsula and bay
- Cas Abao Beach beach
- Christoffel and Shete Boka Parks national park
- Curaçao Cuisine dish
Worth knowing before you go
- The Caribbean guilder replaced the old Antillean guilder in 2025, pegged at 1.79 to the US dollar - dollars are accepted nearly everywhere
- The Queen Emma pontoon bridge swings open for ships - a free ferry crosses while it is open
- Papiamentu is the street language, Dutch is official, and English works fine in tourist areas
Counts describe this site, not the countries: "places written up here" means how many pages we have finished, and it keeps growing. Currency, plugs and languages are practical facts and change rarely; check anything visa-related with the relevant official source before you book.