RamboAdventures
A low islet you can see from the ramp and cannot drive to. Its shore is decades of old bottles that the sea took apart and handed back frosted. Here is what it is, how to reach it, what it costs, and what we will not promise you.
Almost everything written about Sea Glass Island online was written by somebody who has not stood on it. We launch from the ramp opposite it, most days of the week, three times a day. This page is the version with the boring parts left in: where it is, how you get across, what the glass actually is, whether you can keep it, what a departure costs with the numbers printed rather than hidden behind an enquiry form, and the things this tour is not.
Sea Glass Island is a small uninhabited islet off Savaneta, on Aruba's quiet south coast, and its shoreline is made of glass. Not sand with glass in it. Glass. Green, white, aqua, amber, and if the tide has been kind, cobalt blue, packed into the gaps between coral stones and running along the waterline in drifts you can hear underfoot.
None of it was planted there. Every piece began as something ordinary and unwanted, a bottle or a jar or a broken pane, and the Caribbean spent decades rolling it against coral and sand until the edges went and the shine turned to frost. What was litter came back as something people fly across an ocean to look for. We like that better than a legend.
You paddle. There is no road, no bridge, no ferry and no boat service. The island sits a short way off the coast and a kayak is the sensible way across, which is why the tours exist at all.
We start at the boat ramp next to Flying Fishbone in Savaneta. You park, you meet your guide, you get a kayak, a paddle, a life jacket, a trowel and a collection bag. The crossing takes five to ten minutes on the water we usually get, because Savaneta sits behind a reef on the sheltered side of the island. Then you are ashore, and the rest of the time is yours.
Can you swim it on your own? People ask, and the honest answer is do not. It looks close from the shore. Between you and it there is open water with boat traffic, current that moves with the tide, and nowhere to stand or rest halfway. There is no shade on the island, nothing to buy, and nobody there if it goes wrong. A kayak carries your water, your bag and your way home. Swimming out carries none of that.
For an ordinary person on a guided crossing, yes. The water on this coast is flat compared with the north side, the paddle is short, a guide stays with the group the whole way, and you do not need kayak experience to do it.
What you do need is shoes. The shore is coral and glass, not beach sand, and reef shoes or old trainers are the difference between a good hour and a careful one. Bare feet are a bad idea on a beach made of bottles, even frosted ones.
Children come from six. Younger than that and the seat, the sun and the walking surface stop being fun, so ask us before you book.
Every piece is frosted opaque and worn round, and the colour by colour odds are in the table below. We never promise anyone will find sea glass, in any colour or any quantity: the shore is not curated and nobody restocks it, so what is on the waterline this morning is whatever the last tide put there.
You can take sea glass home, and this is the question almost everyone arrives with. The answer turns on one thing: sea glass is manmade. Every piece was a bottle. That makes it a different question from sand, shells and coral, which Aruba asks you to leave exactly where they are. A handful of frosted glass in your pocket is not a piece of the reef.
The rule on top of that is ours rather than anybody's law, and we ask it of every group. A handful, not a bucket. And put back anything that still has a sharp edge, because the sea has not finished with it. The shore stays worth crossing for only if people take a pocketful and leave the rest.
Three departures a day, the same route, a different day out. The 8:30 AM run gives you the flattest water and the coolest air, and it is the one to take if anyone in your group is unsure about kayaking. The 1:00 PM run gives you the strongest colour in the water and the easiest photographs of the glass, because midday light goes straight through it.
The 5:00 PM run is the sunset paddle, and it is the one people talk about afterwards. You hunt the shoreline while the light drops, then paddle home with the sun going down behind Savaneta. Low sun across a shore made of glass does exactly what you would hope.
If you only have one morning on this coast, take the 8:30 AM. If nobody in your party is going to be up for 8:30 AM on holiday, take the 1:00 PM, and we respect that.
US$89.99 per adult and US$69.99 per child aged 6 to 12, on every departure, morning, afternoon and sunset. About two and a half hours from the ramp and back.
It is small, and you can see it from the launch ramp at Savaneta, the old fishing village on Aruba's south coast. From a kayak it takes shape as a strip of pale shore, a scatter of coral rubble and one wind shaped tree growing where nothing sensible would grow. Ashore, the drifts are deep enough in places to run a hand through. Kneel down on a good stretch and the ground you are kneeling on glitters.
There is nothing else on it. No kiosk, no bathroom, no shop, no shade to speak of, no lifeguard and nobody selling anything. That absence is the appeal, and it is also the reason to read the practical sections below before you go.
We are not going to invent a shipwreck for you. The same stretch of waterline can be generous one week and stubborn the next, which is why the hunt is the thing you are booking. The handful in your pocket at the end is a bonus you earned.
| Colour | How often | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle green | Common find | Old soda and beer bottles, frosted into soft emerald shards |
| Frosted white | Common find | Once clear glass, now moon white and smooth as a beach pebble |
| Ocean aqua | Good find | Mid century glassware, frosted to the exact colour of the water you paddled through |
| Cobalt blue | Lucky find | Old medicine and apothecary bottles: deep blue, and worth the hunt |
The palm sized haul photographed in our gallery came out of one afternoon, red included. That was a good afternoon, not a typical one.
Yes, within reason. Sand, shell and coral are pieces of the beach and the reef themselves, and Aruba asks visitors to leave those alone. Glass is the one thing on that shoreline that people put there in the first place.
That distinction is worth carrying with you around the whole island, not just here. And take the photograph before you pick a piece up, because sea glass never looks as good in a jar at home as it does sitting wet on the shore it came from.
Here is the thing people most often get wrong when they plan a visit: you do not drive to the island. You drive to the ramp opposite it and cross from there.
Our departures meet at the boat ramp next to the Flying Fishbone restaurant in Savaneta. In Google Maps it is the pin at maps.app.goo.gl/t2V2TGhrHTExQdsA8, and the plus code is C3V4+V3F Savaneta. Put one of those in your phone before you leave the hotel, because the ramp is a gap in the waterfront rather than a signposted attraction.
It is a working boat ramp on a working waterfront, not a resort dock: concrete running down into shallow turquoise water between two tire capped mooring posts, with the islet on the horizon behind it. There is no changing room, so come dressed to get wet. Arrive 15 minutes early, message us when you get there, and look for the guide with the colourful ocean kayaks. They are hard to miss.
While you are in the village: the Flying Fishbone is the restaurant with its tables standing in the shallow sea right next to the ramp, and Zeerovers is the fish pier a few minutes along, where the catch is priced by weight and eaten with your hands. Both are worth building a day around.
It is open water, and that matters more than the distance does. This is not a sheltered lagoon: it is a stretch of exposed water between the shore and the island, and the wind has an opinion about it. On an ordinary day that means a pleasant amount of work and the small, specific satisfaction of having got somewhere under your own power. The guide picks the line across, decides when to go and when to let a gust pass, and sets a pace the whole group can hold. That judgment is most of what a guide is for on this route.
The boats are open sit on top kayaks, broad and stable, with no cockpit to climb into. The fleet is tandems plus one single, and the roomiest tandem is kept for taller or larger paddlers. Life jackets are provided and worn on the water. There is a shared dry bag on board.
Included: your guide, the kit you are handed at the ramp, bottled water and fresh local fruit.
The shore is there all year, and what changes it is the tide rather than the calendar. Aruba sits outside the wettest part of the Caribbean, and the rain that does arrive tends to be a short warm shower that has moved on before anybody finishes discussing it. We do not cancel for rain by itself, and you are about to get wet on purpose.
The variable that actually matters is wind. Aruba's trade wind blows steadily out of the east, strengthens through the afternoon, and is at its most assertive in the spring months. The whole reason our tours run on the south coast is that the trade wind crosses the island before it reaches this water. On a breezier day the answer is usually an adjustment rather than a cancellation: a different line across, a shorter open stretch, a change of stop. The full policy, including what happens to your money, is on the weather and cancellation page.
Book this early in your trip, not on your last morning. If a departure gets moved on day two of a week, you have six other mornings. If it gets moved on the morning of your flight, you have a refund and a story about the tour you did not do.
Leave behind anything you would be sad to watch sink: rings, watches, hotel key cards, loose cash. There is no locker at the ramp. If you bring a phone, bring it in a proper waterproof pouch on a lanyard, and test the pouch in a hotel sink with a tissue inside before you trust it. The full list, including the sunburn advice people ignore until it is too late, is on what to bring on an Aruba kayak tour.
Swimming. Basic swimming ability is a participation requirement, it is written into our terms, and we do not quietly waive it. Basic does not mean fast or trained. It means that if you found yourself in the sea beside the kayak wearing a life jacket, you could stay calm, keep your face clear and move yourself the few metres back to the boat. Most adults who describe themselves as weak swimmers clear that comfortably. Somebody who cannot swim at all does not. The long version is on do you need to know how to swim.
Children. The minimum age is 6, and children from 6 to 12 pay US$69.99 instead of the adult price. They ride a tandem with an adult from their own party and wear a life jacket throughout. Under 6 is handled case by case by a person, so ask before you book. More on families, attention spans and what actually works is on kayaking with kids in Aruba.
Accessibility, stated plainly. This tour is not wheelchair accessible. There is no dock, no transfer hoist, no adaptive seating and no accessible bathroom at the meeting point, and the launch is natural ground. We cannot remove the transfer onto and off the kayak, the sun, or the duration, and we cannot waive the swimming requirement or the life jacket for anyone. What we can adapt is real though: a tandem with a stronger paddler, a slower pace, the 8:30 AM departure for cooler air and calmer water, extra hands at the launch if we know in advance. The honest, unflattering, full version is on pregnancy, mobility and accessibility, and if you are prone to motion sickness, the timing of tablets is on seasickness and motion comfort.
Two things, because guessing wrong about either one ruins a morning.
There is no snorkeling on the Sea Glass Island route, no snorkel stop and no snorkel gear on board. It is a paddle and a landing. If fish are the reason you are booking, book the other route.
There are no mangrove channels on this route either. The crossing is open water. Anyone describing a mangrove paddle to Sea Glass Island is describing a different tour.
The route with both is Spanish Lagoon and Mangel Halto: sheltered mangrove channels and two snorkel stops on the reef, gear included, same 2.5 hours, same price, meeting instead at the Mangel Halto beach sign in Pos Chiquito. If you cannot choose, we wrote the comparison out honestly: Sea Glass Island or Mangel Halto. Doing both, in that order, on consecutive mornings, is what guests who have two mornings tell us worked.
Vale's Rambo Adventures is a Savaneta operation. It was founded by Rambo, a veteran Aruban ranger with decades on this coast, who leads the weekend departures himself and taught every guide on the crew the way this water behaves. Rambo, Joshua, Darwyn, Morela and Luis run the departures, and one of the crew meets you at the ramp. They work in English, Spanish and Papiamento, which is covered on what languages our guides speak.
Groups are small on every departure and at every time slot. That is how we run rather than a quiet season promise, and it is the reason your guide knows everyone's name by the time you land.
Every price is on this page rather than behind a form, and every one of these books directly with us. No handoff to another brand, no second website, no enquiry and wait.
The crossing from the Savaneta ramp, time ashore to hunt the waterline, and the paddle home.
The same island in the last of the light, with the sun going down on the way back to the ramp.
A longer private evening run that finishes with a landing on Sea Glass Island, guided by Rambo himself.
Door to door pickup and return is US$110 per vehicle round trip, per booking and not per person, added at checkout on any of the three. Booking confirms instantly and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure. Full pricing across every tour we run is on Aruba kayak tour prices, and the whole range sits on Aruba kayak tours. Want the departure to yourselves at a different hour? See private kayak tours. Weighing a paddle against a boat day: kayak tour or catamaran cruise. Thinking of renting instead: kayak rental or guided tour.
Our own frames, off our own departures, shot on the phones the crew carries. No stock, no borrowed shore.
More frames and short clips from the same departures are in the full photo gallery.
Both quotes below were written by guests on the platform they booked through, under their own accounts, and we have not edited a word. Nothing on this page was typed by us and attributed to a first name.
Rambo and his wife were amazing hosts... Authentically Aruban... thousands of birds, a sea turtle and all the sea glass anyone would want!
Bruno and his team are incredible... highly recommend
Read every one of them where they live, on our Tripadvisor listing. Paddled with us already? Add yours at valesramboadventures.com/review.
A low, uninhabited islet in the sea off Savaneta, on Aruba's sheltered south coast. Its shoreline is scattered with ocean tumbled glass: decades of old bottles and jars that the sea has frosted and worn smooth. Nothing is built on it. What is there is the shore, the coral rubble, a wind shaped tree and whatever the last tide rearranged.
Off the waterfront at Savaneta, the old fishing village on Aruba's south coast, roughly twenty minutes east of Oranjestad and a little over ten minutes from the airport. The launch is the boat ramp beside the Flying Fishbone restaurant, plus code C3V4+V3F Savaneta. You can see the island from the ramp before you get into the kayak.
You cross the water. There is no bridge, no road and no scheduled ferry, so the island is reached by boat or by paddle. A guided kayak from the Savaneta ramp is the usual way over, and it is why the crossing is short: we set the line, the timing and the pace.
About 5 to 10 minutes of open water each way on a normal south coast morning. The whole departure runs about 2.5 hours from the ramp and back, and the rest of that time is the shore, the hunt and the paddle home.
Yes. Sea glass is manmade, and that is what separates it from sand, shell and coral, which Aruba asks visitors to leave alone. Our own rule on top of that: a handful, not a bucket, and anything still sharp goes back.
Bottle green and frosted white are the common finds, from old soda and beer bottles and from clear glass worn moon white. Ocean aqua, from mid century glassware, is a good find. Cobalt blue, from old medicine and apothecary bottles, is the lucky one. Amber and a rare red turn up as well. We never promise anyone will find a particular colour: the shore changes with every tide, and the hunt is the point.
US$89.99 for adults and US$69.99 for children 6 to 12, on every departure. Door to door pickup and return is US$110 per vehicle round trip, priced per booking rather than per person, and you add it yourself at checkout. The private evening expedition that lands on the island is US$449 for a small private group. Kayak, paddle, life jacket, a trowel and a collection bag, drinking water and fresh local fruit are in the tour price.
Every day at 8:30 AM, 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM, and each departure runs about 2.5 hours. Arrive 15 minutes early at the ramp, because departures do not wait.
8:30 AM has the calmest water and the coolest air, and it is the one to take if anybody in your party is uncertain about kayaking. 1:00 PM has the strongest colour in the water and the easiest photographs. 5:00 PM puts the sun going down on the paddle home. The route is the same on all three.
No experience is needed. The boats are open sit on top kayaks, broad and stable, with no cockpit to climb into, and the guide sets the line and the pace. Basic swimming ability is a participation requirement, and life jackets are provided and worn on the water. Basic means you could stay calm beside the kayak in a life jacket and move yourself back to it. If somebody in your party is a weak swimmer, message us before you book rather than on the day.
The minimum age is 6, and children from 6 to 12 pay US$69.99 rather than the adult price. Children ride a tandem kayak with an adult from their own party, need basic ability in water, and wear a life jacket throughout. Under 6 is handled case by case by a person, so ask us first.
No. The Sea Glass Island crossing is a paddle and a landing. There is no snorkel stop, no snorkel gear on board and no mangrove channel on this route. If the underwater half is what you came for, take the Spanish Lagoon and Mangel Halto tour instead: a kayak and snorkel trip with two stops on the reef, gear included, at the same price.
Nothing. No kiosk, no shop, no bathroom, and there is no bathroom once you launch either. Whatever you want on the water goes with you, and a shared dry bag is on board. Come dressed to get wet, because the meeting point has no changing room.
We do not cancel for rain by itself, and Aruba's rain tends to arrive as a short warm shower. Lightning is not negotiable: nobody launches. The guide makes the call on the day, using the water in front of him rather than an app, and if we cancel you choose a free move to another departure or a full refund to your original payment method. Booking online confirms instantly, and your own cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure.
We would not. It looks closer than it is, and the gap is open water with boat traffic and tidal current, with nothing to hold onto halfway across. Come over in a kayak.
On a guided crossing, yes. The water on this coast is flat, the paddle is short, a guide stays with the group the whole way, and you do not need kayak experience. The one real hazard is the ground rather than the water, so cover your feet.
A short crossing: five to ten minutes of easy paddling from the boat ramp next to Flying Fishbone in Savaneta, on the water we normally get.
Reef shoes or old trainers you do not mind getting wet, or sandals with a heel strap that will not slide off. The shore is coral stone and sea glass rather than beach sand, and you will be walking slowly along the waterline with your eyes down. Bare feet are the one thing that does not work.
Not a sand beach. It is coral rubble at the waterline with the glass worked in among the stones, which is exactly the reason to go. Everything you need comes over in the kayak with you.
The island is one stop on a coast most visitors never drive to. The village it launches from is Savaneta, Aruba's capital until 1797 and still a working fishing village. Along the same road you have the Flying Fishbone with its tables in the sea, Zeerovers for fish by weight, Pos Chiquito and Mangel Halto Beach ten minutes west, and the calm inland water of Spanish Lagoon behind them. Keep going east and you reach San Nicolas with its murals, then Rodgers Beach and Baby Beach at the island's southern tip. If your priority is what is under the water rather than on the shore, we ranked the snorkeling spots on the south coast honestly, including the ones we do not take you to. For the island itself, how this coast manufactures the glass and what the law does and does not cover, read what Sea Glass Island is and how this coast made it. Weighing the crossing against a beach you can park at: Sea Glass Island compared with Mangel Halto, Baby Beach and Rodgers Beach. Directions, the boat question and what the crossing costs: how to get to Sea Glass Island.
Lee sobre nuestros tours en kayak en español · Lees over onze kajaktochten in het Nederlands. Our guides work in English, Spanish and Papiamento. For the full field guide to the glass itself, the colours and how the sea makes it, our sister site Sea Glass Aruba goes deeper than a tour page should.
Live availability and secure checkout, on this page. Pick a date and a time, and the confirmation lands in your inbox immediately with the meeting point on it.
per adult, on every departure. Kayak, paddle, life jacket, a trowel and a collection bag, drinking water and fresh local fruit included.
Secure checkout by Bokun · instant confirmation · free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure · questions first? Message us on WhatsApp and a person answers. Cancellation terms in full on our cancellation and refund page.
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Sea Glass Island departures are small, and the island limits how many people can land on it, so dates do sell out. When that happens, our kayak and snorkel trip at Mangel Halto and Spanish Lagoon runs the same day, with departures at 8:30 AM, 1:00 PM and sunset. It is the reef and the mangrove channels rather than the glass, and the dates are on the Mangel Halto kayak and snorkeling page.