We can dream of a sunny Caribbean vacation, can’t we?
By Tom Adkinson
February 19, 2021

Bucuti and Tara Beach Resorts. Image by Tom Adkinson.

ARUBA – While all of the U.S. works to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and much of the U.S. is gripped in winter’s embrace, we at least can dream of Caribbean sun and sand and our eventual escapes. The pretend surfer here is outside a restaurant in downtown Oranjestad, the very walkable capital of Aruba, and the pandemic-appropriate beach is just a few miles away at the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts.

Surfing in Oranjestad. Image by Tom Adkinson.

Tiny Aruba – not quite 20 miles long and only 6 miles wide and part of the Netherlands – is in the southern Caribbean within sight of Venezuela, at least from this island’s highest point on a clear day. Aruba is famous for scuba diving, especially over two World War II wrecks. It is very different from most Caribbean islands because it is quite dry, with only 15 inches of annual rainfall. That’s why Aruba has the world’s second largest desalination plant, which supplies abundant drinking water – abundant enough for a substantial brewery, Balashi, which delivers a vacation-worthy pilsner in 7.5-ounce bottles. That’s small enough that the contents never get warm.