San Nicolas, Aruba: murals, Main Street and Charlie's Bar

Aruba's second town does not try to look like a resort, and it is more interesting for it. San Nicolas sits at the southeastern end of the island, was built around an oil refinery, and has spent the last decade covering itself in enormous murals. It is a half day, easily, and it is the strongest counterweight to the hotel strip that the island has.

A town built by the refinery

The refinery arrived in the 1920s and changed everything. Workers came from Venezuela, Suriname, the United States and across the English speaking Caribbean, and the town that grew around the plant became the most mixed place on Aruba. You still hear it: a local English creole took root here alongside Papiamento, Dutch and Spanish, and the food, the music and the Carnival all carry that inheritance.

The refinery site still occupies the coast between the town and the beaches at the island's tip. San Nicolas today is a working town in transition, and the art is a large part of what it is transitioning into.

The murals

Since an annual art fair started here in 2016, artists from Aruba and abroad have been painting the walls of the town center. The count has grown every year and now runs into many dozens, with new work added each edition, so no two visits show you quite the same town.

The murals cluster in a compact grid of streets, which means you can see the bulk of them on foot in one to two hours. It is free, there is no gate and no fixed route. Guided walks exist if you want the stories behind the pieces, but wandering works perfectly well.

Go early. There is very little shade between the walls and the midday sun here is a serious opponent. Morning light is also kinder to photographs of large flat surfaces.

Charlie's Bar

Charlie's Bar opened on 18 September 1941, started by a Dutch couple who set up shop within walking distance of the refinery workforce. Eight decades of visitors have since nailed, hung and wedged things into it: photographs, license plates, flags, hats, oddities. The ceiling and walls have effectively disappeared under the collection.

It keeps daytime hours rather than late night ones, and hours shift, so check before you plan a meal around it.

Carnival

San Nicolas is where Aruba's Carnival gets loudest. The tradition of two grand parades, San Nicolas first and then Oranjestad, was settled in 1957, and the calypso competitions that give the season its soundtrack took their modern shape in the mid 1960s. If you are on the island in the weeks before Lent, this is where to be.

Practical notes

San Nicolas is roughly twenty five to thirty minutes from Oranjestad by car, and about fifteen to twenty minutes east of Savaneta on the same coast road. Street parking in the town center is straightforward outside event days. Bring water, a hat and comfortable shoes, because the mural walk is entirely on pavement.

The obvious pairing is the beaches beyond the town: Baby Beach for the shallow lagoon and Rodgers Beach for the quiet version, both about ten minutes further on.

Pairing it with a day on the water

Murals in the morning, water in the afternoon, is a good day. Our departures run from the sheltered middle of the south coast, twenty minutes or so back toward Oranjestad.

The Sea Glass Island kayak tour meets at the Sea Glass Island ramp in Savaneta and crosses to an islet whose shore is scattered with ocean tumbled glass. The Mangel Halto kayak and snorkel tour meets at the Mangel Halto beach sign in Pos Chiquito, paddles mangrove channels and stops twice over the reef. Both run daily, 2.5 hours, maximum 10 guests, with departures at 8:30 AM, 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM, and the 5:00 PM one comes home through the sunset.

The company was founded by a veteran Aruban ranger with decades on Aruba's south coast, and every guide on the crew learned this water from him. Guides work in English, Spanish and Papiamento. Adults pay $89.99 at our summer rate, children from 6 to 12 pay $69.99, minimum age 6. Booking online confirms instantly, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure, and WhatsApp reaches a person at +1 786 971 2221. See live availability and book, or browse all our Aruba kayak tours.