Flying Fishbone, Savaneta: dinner with your feet in the sea

There is a stretch of shallow water in Savaneta where the tables stand in the sea and the waiters walk through it. That is the Flying Fishbone, and it is the reason a lot of visitors to Aruba find their way to the south coast at all. It also happens to sit right beside the ramp our kayaks launch from, so we watch the evening service set up most days of the week.

What makes it different

The Flying Fishbone occupies a small crescent bay in Savaneta, on Aruba's calm south coast. Some tables sit on the sand under the trees. A row of them sits in the water itself, ankle deep, so dinner arrives while the sea moves gently around your feet.

It has been doing this since 1997, which on a coast full of newer ventures makes it something close to an institution. The kitchen leans European with Caribbean influence: seafood, steak, that kind of register. In the evening the tiki torches and table lanterns come on and the bay does the rest.

Reservations, hours and timing

Book ahead. This is not a walk in restaurant. Reservations are made through the restaurant's own website, by phone or by email, and the tables that actually stand in the water are the first to go. Guests who want one often book well in advance, sometimes months out in high season.

Dinner only. The restaurant opens daily in the late afternoon and serves into the evening, so there is no lunch service to plan around.

Time it with the light. An earlier seating puts you in the water tables while the sun is still going down over the bay. A later one gives you lantern light and a dark, quiet sea. Both are good, and they are genuinely different evenings.

Price bracket. This is a high end dinner by island standards, and it is priced accordingly. Menus and prices change, so take them from the restaurant directly rather than from a travel page.

Getting there

Savaneta is about twenty minutes east of Oranjestad along the south coast road, and a little over ten minutes from the airport. The village is small and the restaurant is signed, but the last turn is easy to miss in the dark, so it pays to look it up before you set off rather than while you are driving.

Our kayaks launch next door

Our Sea Glass Island departures meet at the Sea Glass Island ramp, right beside the Flying Fishbone. That neighborly accident produces a very easy day, and guests work it out quickly.

Departures run at 8:30 AM, 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM. The 5:00 PM sunset kayak tour puts you on the water for golden hour and returns you to the same patch of shore in the early evening, salt on your skin, in time for a late seating next door. If you would rather do it the other way, the 8:30 AM or 1:00 PM Sea Glass Island kayak tour leaves the whole evening free. Snorkelers can start ten minutes west instead, on the Mangel Halto kayak and snorkel tour.

Tours run 2.5 hours with a maximum of 10 guests. Adults pay $89.99 at our summer rate, children from 6 to 12 pay $69.99, and the minimum age is 6. The company was founded by a veteran Aruban ranger with decades on Aruba's south coast. Booking online confirms instantly and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure. Check times and book, or see all our Aruba kayak tours.

Nearby on the south coast

Also on this stretch: Zeerovers for the opposite kind of fish dinner, the village of Savaneta itself, Mangel Halto Beach in Pos Chiquito, and the mangroves of Spanish Lagoon.