Everything there is to know for your visit to the Arikok National Park in Aruba:
If you are ready for a journey of discovery unlike any other, your visit to the Arikok National Park will be a blast. This park is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna, amazing geological formations and cultural landmarks. In this article, I will tell you all the important things you need to know to help plan your visit to the national park. Let’s now dive into the information :
- How to get there
- Entry fees and opening hours (2024)
- Renting a car or a 4×4
- What you need to bring
- Best activities
How to get there
There are two entries for the site. One is called the San Fuego Entrance which is where the Visitor Center is. Unless you already have your tickets, this is where you’ll need to go. You can put “Visitor Center Parking” on Google Maps to get to the right place.
The second entry is the Vader Piet Entrance which is at the south extremity of the park in Sint Nicolaas but you can’t buy tickets there. You can keep this entry in mind if you purchase your tickets online. Otherwise, it might be more to exit the site.
Entry fees and opening hours (2024)
Visiting the park isn’t free. You have to pay conservation fees and the price for a day pass is $20.00 USD for adults (over 18 years old) and free for children (under 17 years old). You can get your tickets at the Visitor Center, and it closes at 3:30 PM.
The park is open 7 days a week from 8 AM until 4 PM. (Only closed on the 1st of January)
The Vader Piet Entrance is open from 8:30 AM to 3 PM.
Renting a car or a 4×4
Just like they say on their website arubanationalpark.org: “Please be informed that a high-clearance vehicle is recommended for visiting the park and a 4×4 for our off-road trails.”
The park is huge, and visiting it on foot will only allow you to reach a small part. We had a rental car and made it but in some places, it was very risky, and we wished we had a 4×4… You cannot go on all roads with your vehicle, but it is very well indicated if it’s a restricted area.
At the latest news, it is not possible to rent a 4×4 directly at the park. You need to rent it with one of the many private companies or book a tour that includes transport. If you plan on visiting the park and also renting a car for your whole vacation on the island, might as well rent a Jeep or simply make sure your car isn’t too low.
What you need to bring
You will easily spend your whole day at the park and you won’t have access to food or water. Make sure you bring a fulfilling lunch and a minimum of 1L of water per person. Also, make sure to wear some comfortable clothes and shoes since you will do a lot of walking around. Again, in the latest news, it is prohibited to swim at the beaches so you don’t need to bring a bathing suit.
Best activities
Now this is the fun part! There are so many things to see and do at the park but I will tell you about the ones I did and my experience at them. Since there’s a lot of information to cover, I wrote a separate article that you can check out right now: Best Things to Do and See, Arikok National Park, Aruba.
