After a few very busy years with work, having a baby, my husband’s 40th birthday, and more, my family and I were looking to get away and just relax. Pre-baby, we were giant travelers, and we tried to cram as much as humanly possible into our getaways. Twelve different historial locations in 36 hours in Zurich? Sign us up. But with a two year old and crazy careers, our priorities had changed. So we sought a vacation with a few big criteria: Sun, sand, short direct flights, safe and toddler friendly. After years of hearing friends and family rave about Aruba, I booked a trip doing basically zero research and oh my God and I thrilled we bit the bullet and just booked it. Aruba has become my happy place, and for good reason. Turn out, it’s the perfect toddler vacation.
Aruba is called “one happy island” and for good reason. It is seriously idyllic: easy to get to, perfect weather year-round being outside of the hurricane belt and it has white sand beach with turquoise waters with NO waves — basically perfect for toddlers.
We booked eight blissful nights at the Hyatt Regency. It was between here and the Marriott Surf Club, which also came highly recommended, but having now seen both, I would 100% go back to the Hyatt. It is centrally located, luxe, has wonderful restaurants, pools and a beach front with free, rentable palapas, which we took advantage of every single day. We walked everywhere — bars and restaurants through the beachfront path that winds between all of the hotels, making it a super lowkey beachy vacation.
Each day we woke up without an agenda, and that was amazing. No elaborate itineraries, just exploring at our leisure. We’d get up and walk down the beach path to grab breakfast somewhere — La Vista restaurant at the Marriott became our go-to spot. Then, we’d leisurely walk balk and alternate between the pool and beach palapas. The big pool had a toddler area, which was incredible and very shallow for playing. You could reserve beach chairs and cabanas or your palapa ahead of time, or just walk up and reserve like we did. One caveat, we went during a not busy time of year, so it may be different during peak. There was also a super luxurious adult pool that felt like it was out of Soho House, but with toddler by our side we hardly utilized it.
For lunch, we typically ordered food to the pool or beach to keep it easy. We’d stay in the sun until around 4:30 or 5 before heading up for showers and changing. Aruba has the most incredible sunsets, so we alway tried to walk to dinner during them to soak them in.
The food in Aruba is incredible. It’s about as pricey as New York, but the scenery is great. We ate with our toes in the sand nearly every night. Some of our favorite restaurants included: Hardicurari, Gianni’s, and Moomba Beach bar. For more causal fare, we liked Salt and Pepper restaurant (great for breakfast, too) and every day we did $5 happy hour at The Beach Bar from noon to 7pm.
During our eigth days in Aruba we met so many people that go every single year. That’s something I couldn’t fathom pre-kids, but I get it now. We’re already looking to book our Aruba trip for next year. And, we’ll be staying at the Hyatt.
Read Our Other Travel Guides:
The Ultimate London Travel Guide
Amalfi Coast Travel Guide
The Ultimate Amsterdam Travel Guide
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Travel Guide: London’s Notting Hill
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Zurich, Switzerland Travel Guide