Swim with Flamingos – Renaissance Aruba Private Island
For my 28th birthday I went to go see the flamingos in Aruba. I hadn’t seen flamingos before so it was a really cool experience to interact with them. They are some sassy birds. If you want to go visit flamingos, just note that you must stay at the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino and that there are only 6 flamingos total on the island.
How to Visit Flamingo Island
There’s two options to visit the flamingos:1. Stay at Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino2. Get a day pass
The Renaissance only gives out 30 day passes a day and you can’t reserve them in advance, so Option 1 is really the only realistic option if you want to see the flamingos. If you are willing to take your chances, you can call the Renaissance the day of to try to get passes.
The private island is open from 7am – 7pm. There are complimentary water taxis from the hotel that will take you to the island. The service runs every 15 minutes and it’s less than a 10 minute boat ride.
Mingling with the Flamingos
When you arrive, there’s an adult only beach on the right side, which is where the flamingos are, and then there’s a beach open to everyone on the left side, but there are no flamingos on that side. If you have kids that want to see the flamingos, I saw kids migrate over to the flamingo side around the closing hour when most people already left.
I walked onto the beach expecting to see a ton of flamingos, but in reality there were only 6 total flamingos on the island. It’s still really cool to see them in a beach setting though!
There are vending machines with flamingo food that you can get a handful for a quarter. You can find the flamingos wherever they are on the beach and feed them the food. Their becks are very soft so it’s not scary and you’ll feel a cute nibbling motion on your hand. A lot of people feed them so they aren’t really that eager for your food. It would be better to get there earlier in the day when they are still hungry if you want to feed them. Just note, some of the water is a bit dirty from the food and flamingo excretes.
The flamingos are pretty nice for the most part and don’t really bother you. They like to walk in straight lines, one after the other. It’s so cute. They came and joined me when I was showering, but when I went to join them at their bathing area, one of them bit my thigh. It’s beck was soft so the bite didn’t hurt too much, but it did leave a red mark for a few hours.
Other Things to Do on Flamingo Island
Relax in a Cabana
There are cabanas on the beach that you can rent for $250 a day. It’s pretty nice – you get your own bed over the water. There’s even one with it’s own swing bed.
Relax on a Hammock
If you don’t want to rent cabanas, or if they’re all already reserved, there are plenty of sun chairs on the beach as well as a few hammocks.
Do Outdoor Activities
There’s also a tennis court and you can rent kayaks.
Plane Watch
You can also watch the planes take off and land.
Enjoy a Sunset Dinner
There’s a restaurant and bar on the island that serves lunch and snacks. On Wednesdays, the restaurant has sunset dining on the beach that you can sign up for at the concierge of the hotel.
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