Packing can be a daunting task – it is always for me. My husband is less concerned with packing and usually does this last minute. My OCD mind prepares a month and a half in advance for trips. And when you’re traveling to an island such as Aruba, there is even more to consider when packing. Which brings me to the topic of this blog post – how should you pack for Aruba?

The amount of clothing you bring to Aruba depends entirely of course on how many days you will be staying, but also which restaurants you plan to go to – are they fancy restaurants? Will it be a mix of casual and high-end? Will you be going clubbing? Adventure-seeking? Hiking? Will you need sneakers too and not just flip-flops and sandals? These are all things that should be considered when traveling to Aruba.

Another point we would like to make relates to activities – will you need snorkel gear? Is the snorkel gear you will buy cheaper online than renting the snorkel gear in Aruba? All important things to consider.

This picture was taken in our hotel room – we were upgraded (yay!) to a three-bedroom suite. More on that in another post. As you can see, we traveled with one small suitcase and two backpacks.

Please DO NOT repeat the mistake we made – I recommend bringing either a large suitcase, or two smaller ones if you are traveling with someone. Trying to fit our snorkel gear, clothes, water bottles, and a bunch of other things we needed was very challenging. Also, our suitcase ended up ripping. Moral of the story: bring a big suitcase with you. This time around, we are bringing a (new) large suitcase with two backpacks. I also planned all of my outfits – 10 dresses, 5 swimsuits (a bit overboard, I know), snorkel gear, sandals and a pair of flip flops, along with other important things we will need. My husband is a light packer and will be bringing some button down shirts, t-shirts, shorts, swim trunks with his sun protection shirt, and his snorkel gear. We’ll also have enough space to bring back souvenirs and other fun knickknacks. It was worth paying the extra cost of bringing a suitcase with us (this is a personal decision. Sometimes it’s just easier for someone to pack everything into a piece of hand-luggage.) Because of the limit on liquids that you can have in your hand-luggage, we prefer to bring a suitcase for shampoo, conditioner, etc.,

What questions do you have about packing for Aruba? Should I make a packing checklist? Let me know below!

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