San Nicolas

San Nicolas is Aruba's second-largest town, 19 km south-east of Oranjestad on the island's “Sunrise Side”. It grew as a company town around the Lago oil refinery and today draws visitors for its street art, its Caribbean music and Carnival culture, and for Baby Beach, the calm lagoon at the southern tip. The district covers 32.84 km², and the town had 15,283 inhabitants in 2010.

Why is San Nicolas different from the rest of Aruba?

Because of oil. The Lago Oil and Transport Company, a Standard Oil subsidiary, opened its refinery here in 1924, and it became one of the largest in the world. Workers came from the British Caribbean and elsewhere in the region, and many families still speak English at home; a local English creole, known as San Nicolaas English, is spoken alongside Papiamento. Exxon closed the refinery in 1985, a shock that pushed Aruba towards tourism. After later reopenings and closures, the site was transferred to the Government of Aruba in 2020. According to oral tradition, the town is named after Nicolaas van der Biest, a 19th-century landowner addressed as “Shon Nicolaas”.

What is there to see in town?

• Murals. More than 50 hand-painted murals cover walls around the centre — follow our San Nicolas street art walk or see the San Nicolas murals page.
• Zeppenfeldstraat promenade. Part of the main street has been converted into a pedestrian promenade with shops, snack places and historic buildings.
• Community Museum. The former Nicolaas Store in the centre now houses the town's community museum.
• Museum of Industry. The water tower built in 1939 to supply drinking water was restored in 2013 and now tells the story of Aruba's industries.
• Charlie's Bar. Famous since the 1940s, when divers began hanging their underwater finds on its walls.

Is San Nicolas the home of Aruba's Carnival?

It is one of its heartlands. The Aruba Tourism Authority credits refinery workers from Trinidad and the English-speaking islands with introducing steel bands, calypso and exuberant Carnivals here, and the town hosts what the tourism authority calls Aruba's largest “jump-up”. See Aruba Carnival for the season, and the Aruba Art Fair for the town's contemporary art scene.

Which beaches are near San Nicolas?

• Baby Beach — a sheltered bay known for calm water and good snorkelling, popular with families.
• Rodgers Beach — a smaller neighbouring bay.
• Boca Grandi — on the windward east coast, a kitesurfing spot; not a swimming beach for most visitors.

On the way to the southern beaches you pass the former residential area of The Colony, built for refinery staff. Offshore, the San Nicolas Bay reef islands are an Important Bird Area where terns nest.

When is the best time to visit?

Combine a morning at Baby Beach, before it gets busy and hot, with lunch and the murals in town in the afternoon, when the light on the walls is softer. During Carnival season the town is at its liveliest — and its busiest.

What do people misjudge?

• It is quiet most days. San Nicolas is a working town, not a resort; check opening times before you plan around a museum or shop.
• Two coasts, two seas. Baby Beach is calm, but Boca Grandi and the east coast have strong wind, waves and currents.
• Sun at Baby Beach. There is little natural shade on the sand; bring your own and reef-friendly protection.

San Nicolas suits culture-minded travellers, families heading to Baby Beach and anyone curious about the Aruba that existed before mass tourism. There are few hotels and no large resorts, so most visitors come for the day from Oranjestad or Savaneta.