Renaissance Island

Renaissance Island: Flamingo Beach

Renaissance Island belongs to the well-known Renaissance Wind Creek Aruba Resort. It will enchant you with its unique beauty and luxury. During the day, the hotel takes its guests, as well as those who have purchased a day pass, to this magnificent island. The beauty cannot even be described in words. White sand, turquoise sea, pink flamingos and luxury all around you…

When you get off the boat, head to the right first. You will find yourself on the beautiful Flamingo Beach, where you can pay for a beach house. We opted for a free sun lounger and we did well, as we hardly ever were on one. This is an iconic beach and there was nothing it lacked.

That is, until the gorgeous pink creatures that normally spend their mornings here arrived. Although we arrived on the island at 10:00, there was almost no one here at that time. Everyone headed to the other side. The flamingos are used to people and will even let you pet them.

There is a small bar on this beach, the big restaurant is on the other side and that’s where the flamingos leave around noon.

Iguanas occupy the centre of the island

Between Flamingo Beach and the second beach, Iguana Beach, you pass through a narrow strip of sea where hammocks have been made and where you can stop and enjoy the beauty. You can often see small baby sharks here, but we didn’t meet them until later on the second beach. These harmless animals give this place a really unique charm. It’s like being part of a natural aquarium.

Iguanas are waiting for you on the bridge by the mangroves. They are also quite tame and if you sit down, they will come right up to you. You can also pet them and admire the thickness of their skin as well as their eternal smile. These ancient creatures are a symbol of the island and another piece of the puzzle as to why this island is Aruba’s best beach.

Walking around the island, you may come across various species of birds that have made their nests here. Their chirping and singing create a wonderful atmosphere. If you are lucky, you might even spot some of the exotic birds that are typical of the region.

Second beach and dozens of flamingos

However, the other beach on Renaissance Island, Iguana Beach, is more busy, but still not too busy. The island is careful to keep visitor numbers low. Ironically, the number of pink cuties here is higher than on Flamingo Beach, which is named after them 🙂

You can already find flamingo food here, which you can buy for a small price. While they’re hungry, they follow you around and eat the pellets right out of your hand.

When they are full, they fall asleep peacefully next to you and let you pet them.

They even rub themselves against you. But watch out for the glasses. They’re tempting them and trying to steal them from you.

But lunch here is not just for the birds, it’s for us too. Included in the price of the day pass is lunch, which you choose from the menu. If you are staying in a hotel and only have breakfast, you pay for your meal here. We had fantastic food and the view was incredible as well.

In the afternoon we admired the pink cuties and swam with them for a while. We didn’t get to the sun loungers all day because there were so many other sensations that we didn’t even think about relaxing with a book.

In the evening the sea belongs to the flamingos

Although the sea is incredibly warm, it is shallow. I love it, but swimmers may miss the opportunity to swim. You can actually walk around the whole time you’re here. And the level dropped even more as the day went on.

When it dropped so low that we were only ankle deep, the sea was already occupied by flamingos. It was their time to fish.

You could sit in the warm water and they would walk around you undisturbed and now and then put their head under the water when they saw movement.

Finally, a small shark showed up. The water was so shallow that almost his whole head was sticking out of the water.

How to buy a day pass to Renaissance Island?

If you don’t want to stay at the Renaissance Hotel, you have the option to buy a day pass for around €100. Every Saturday at 9:00 the hotel puts on sale a limited number of day passes according to the hotel’s occupancy. During this day, it offers tickets for the whole week. So you have to be on their website at 9:00 to buy a ticket. Just one hour later, nothing will be available. If you go during the off-season, tickets may be available later, but not the next day. It’s a bit of a struggle, but it’s worth it.

Also included in the price of the day pass is a full and delicious lunch, for which you would pay about 30 €.

Flamingos have a place to hide

Renaissance Island is only accessible during the day, so the animals have their undisturbed peace at night. And even during the day, they have plenty of places to hide if the attention gets in the way. There are several areas of the island that are only accessible to staff, and that’s where some of the beauties have gone.

For us, it was the most beautiful experience of our lives. We love animals and we didn’t feel that they were suffering here, quite the opposite. Renaissance Island really strives for sustainability, and limiting visitors also helps. Kids can only be on one of the two beaches and there weren’t many of them here either. We only saw two throughout the day.