As I mentioned before, Aruba has a bit of a split personality. Like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or a Two Face from Batman. On one hand, you have calm tropical beaches with lounge chairs and umbrella drinks. On the other, you’ve got violent crashing waves, jagged rocks and a whole lot of cacti.
Well, before I got to Aruba, I had no idea the windward coast even existed because travel guides and resort pages wanna be all “come lay on our beautiful beaches” because, well, they are beautiful. But honestly, the windward coast is equally beautiful in a completely different way. Someone should tell you about them too! They should be all “our windward coast is really windy and a nice break from that lounge chair and it’s super fun when you go off-roading a 4×4!”
Here is a little peak into the darker side of Aruba…the windward side.
Hawaii is a bit like this too. We went to the West Coast of Oahu to see some turtles and otherwise wouldn’t have gone out there, but it was really good. Water a bit rough but ok for swimming if we stayed very close to the shore and the turtles were amazing!
thats true – it is. and places like this are definitely not great for swimming but they are a great way to see something different, do something fun, and see something unique – like turtles!
Beautiful shots of Aruba. You’ve really captured both the look and the feel of the island on the windward side. The colors are gorgeous. Wish we were there right now. Oh, how you’ve made us miss it. That side of the island is very much under-explored. We had a great time over there too, so rugged and natural.
glad to hear it! the windward side is a totally unique part of Aruba that I’m so glad I saw as well. Hope you get to visit again soon!
that dog looks like he’s in pleasuretown
haha yeah he totally is.
Stunning photos! Dominica in the Caribbean is a little like this too – on one side of the island is the calm Caribbean sea and on the other is the rough Atlantic.