Recently we had the experience of feeding the flamingos in Aruba. You have probably seen those photos on Instagram or a travel site of pretty girls in bathing suits, kneeling on a tropical beach feeding a flamingo. The photos make it look amazing but what is it really like and how do you do it?

I hate to disappoint you, since flamingos are not native to Aruba you won't find them anywhere on the main island. Don't expect to drive around and see flamingos on every beach. The flamingos are on one specific island just off Aruba. No one really seems to know how they got there originally, at least not that I could find.

The flamingos live on Renaissance Island, a small cay just off the coast of Aruba. The island is privately owned by Renaissance Hotels. This also means there are only two ways to get yourself to the island.

So How Do You Get There?

Renaissance Island is accessed via a water taxi that leaves every 15 minutes from either the Renaissance Aruba Resort or the Renaissance Ocean Suites. As I mentioned, since the island is privately owned there are two ways to get access to the island.

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The first is to buy a day pass to the island. They were $125 per person at the time of our visit, but I believe young kids are free. This may seem a bit steep, but it does include full access to the entire island and all it's amenities for the entire day.

There is a caveat though, since the resort will only sell day passes based on the current hotel occupancy. This means that day passes might be impossible to get if the hotels are at or near their maximum occupancy. Also remember that right now hotels are limiting capacity greatly due to government restrictions related to the pandemic.

The island is a free amenity provided to hotel guests, so by staying in either the Renaissance Aruba Resort or the Renaissance Ocean Suites you can get to the island for free. As a bonus, you are allowed to use the island on the day you check in AND the day you check out.

This is how we gained access; we booked a single night stay at the Renaissance Aruba Resort which was actually cheaper than buying day passes.

What is on the Island

The island itself is split into two halves. Iguana Beach is the family side. The beach is quite large, both wide and deep with lots and lots of shade. The primary restaurant is on this side as well, and it is open for breakfast.

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On the other side is Flamingo Beach, which is adults only. The beach here is smaller and less deep, and shade is much harder to come by. There is also a small bar that sells a variety of adult beverages. Honestly, Iguana Beach is much nicer, but here you don't have any kids. 😃

As you can probably tell by the name, this is where the flamingos are. Kids are allowed to visit the flamingos from 9am to 10am every day. Kids are kids, so the resort has this rule in place so the flamingos don't get over stressed.

We did see a couple of whitish flamingos in the Iguana Beach lagoon, but never saw them interacting with guests. I am not sure if they came over from the other side of the island or they just live on the family side and are just antisocial.

Both beaches have cabanas with overwater hammocks available for daily rental. They start at $375 per day, which in our opinion is way too steep.

What it is Really Like On the Island

So those pictures I mentioned earlier, the ones that show a deserted beach of just you and the Flamingos. Yeah those pictures are an example of judicious picture framing, luck, or simply the right time of year.

Based on research, we discovered the best time was to go early, so we did. There were only a handful of people already on Flamingo beach when we got there, so we were able to feed the flamingos and get some pictures fairly easily. Flamingo food is available via a dispenser for one American quarter and you can get change at the restaurant.

Hand feeding a flamingo is a once in a lifetime type of experience. They are beautiful and graceful creatures. They seem a bit awkward with their beaks, and have to turn their head sideways to pick up the food you offer them. I will say they do sound anything but graceful. When they squawk they sound like an cross between and angry goose and a irate seagull.

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By mid morning, the beach was fairly packed and everyone was trying to get their perfect Instagram shot. By that time we had already had breakfast at the restaurant and were firmly planted in a pair of lounge chairs sipping piña colada's. It was kinda fun though watching all the girls mildly jousting trying to take the exact same shot... Literally, the exact same shot everyone takes.

The lagoon was very calm and we did a bit of swimming. The water is very shallow throughout, but in the middle was around 6 or 7 feet deep. I did a little snorkeling, but I only found fish near the rocks that form the breakwater. There were a lot of fish, but didn't see any other sea life.

So is it Really Worth Feeding the Flamingos in Aruba?

For us, it was totally worth the visit to Renaissance Island. If you have never done it before we would recommend doing it at least once. We'd also recommend going early. We were on the 8 am water taxi and were able to interact with the flamingos with only a couple of other people. We were able to get some great shots, although none of them were of me kneeling in the sand in a bikini!

Day passes could be a bit pricy if you have a large family. If you are staying somewhere other than the resort you can try booking the cheapest room for a single night and stay at the resort like we did.

If you do want to go to Aruba, we'd love to help you find the best deal. Plus we will work with you to find the resort that would be the best fit, which is not always the cheapest option. In the meantime, check out our other articles on Aruba.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek

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