Aruba

Aruba: Windsurfing and the Cunucu

Trade winds among the steadiest in the Caribbean that have made Aruba a world windsurfing capital, then the rural interior of colourful houses

Aruba

Aruba: Windsurfing and the Cunucu

A journey between wind and inland Aruba, far from Oranjestad and Arikok National Park: the beaches of Fisherman's Huts and the airport strip, where trade winds of a rare steadiness in the Caribbean have made Aruba one of the world's windsurfing and kitesurfing capitals since the 1980s, then the cunucu, rural hamlets of the interior with traditional houses painted in bright colours, where a way of life far removed from the coastal resort complexes carries on.

When

Year-round

Price

From 2 000€ excl. flights

(based on 2 people sharing)

How long

5 nights

Ideal length

Fisherman's Huts, the Windsurf Spot

Days 1-2

The first chapter unfolds at Fisherman's Huts, a beach in northern Aruba where trade winds blow with remarkable steadiness and strength almost year-round, a direct consequence of the island's position outside the Caribbean cyclone belt, which guarantees stable conditions rarely matched in the region. This meteorological reliability made Aruba, from the 1980s onward, one of the world's most renowned windsurfing and kitesurfing spots, regularly hosting international competitions.

Day 1

A windsurfing lesson in the steady trade winds

A windsurfing lesson with a local instructor at Fisherman's Huts, a spot renowned for its steady trade winds, in shallow waters ideal for learning.

Day 2

Kitesurfing facing the sand dunes

A kitesurfing session facing the sand dunes of Aruba's north coast, supervised by an instructor, in wind conditions considered among the most reliable in the Caribbean.

1 / 3

The Cunucu, the Colourful Interior

Days 1-2

The road into Aruba's interior, where the cunucu, traditional rural hamlets, retain low houses with facades painted yellow, blue, or bright pink, an architectural style inherited from the Dutch colonial era and adapted to the island's arid, windy climate. This rural way of life, structured around small aloe vera and cactus holdings, contrasts radically with the dense urbanisation of the tourist coast and offers a glimpse of authentic Aruba far from the resort complexes.

Day 1

A cunucu village and its colourful houses

A stroll through a traditional cunucu village, discovering the low houses with brightly painted facades and the local crafts still practised by residents.

Day 2

The aloe vera plantations and the interior desert

A visit to an aloe vera plantation, a historic crop of Aruba's arid interior since the 19th century, then a drive through the desert landscape dotted with giant cacti.