Aruba Packing List

This list comes from the advice, not from the weather.

No source in this register publishes a temperature or a rainfall figure for Aruba, so a packing list built from a climate table would be built from nothing. What the sources do publish is a short set of things you are required to have, or will not be able to obtain once you arrive, and those are worth more than a clothing list you could write yourself.

Identification, because carrying it is the law.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office states that it is a legal requirement to carry ID on the island. Decide before you travel what you will carry and what will stay behind, and pack accordingly. If the answer is a copy rather than the original, make the copy before you leave rather than hunting for a photocopier on the first morning.

⚠ The driving permit, which cannot be bought once you have left.

If any part of your trip involves driving, this is the item to deal with first. The same source states that a driver needs the correct version of the international driving permit, and that you cannot buy an IDP outside the UK.

Read that second sentence as a deadline rather than a detail. The permit is obtained where you live, before you travel, and there is no counter at the other end that will sell you one. Pack it with your passport rather than with the car documents, because the two are checked at different moments.

The note about the correct version matters too. There is more than one international driving permit and they are not interchangeable, so confirm which one applies to your trip rather than assuming the one you already hold is the right one.

Your own license, and the experience requirement behind it.

The permit does not replace your own driving license, so both travel with you. The advice also warns that hire companies may require 2 years of driving experience, which is not something you pack but is something to confirm before you pay for a booking a company can refuse at the desk.

⚠ Insurance, because the card you may be carrying does not work here.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office states plainly that the Global Health Insurance Card is not valid in Aruba. A traveler who assumes otherwise is carrying a card that will not be honored, which is worse than carrying nothing, because it displaces the cover they would have arranged instead.

Pack travel health insurance that is valid for this destination, and read what it covers before you need it. Our safety guide goes into what the official advice says about medical care and the emergency number.

Vaccination records, arranged on the right timetable.

The health advice asks you to check vaccine recommendations at least 8 weeks before your trip, which makes this a packing item only in the sense that the paperwork travels with you. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends being up to date on all routine vaccines before every trip, and lists hepatitis A for unvaccinated travelers one year old or older and hepatitis B for unvaccinated travelers of all ages. Those are recommendations to discuss with a clinician, not requirements to show at a border, and this guide does not present them as either more or less than that.

What this guide will not tell you.

No clothing weights, no shoe recommendations, no sunscreen factor, no adapter type, and no list of what the island sells. None of that is sourced here, and a packing list that pads itself with guesses buries the five items above that actually matter.

Our best time to visit guide covers the seasonal question honestly, and our entry requirements guide covers the form that has to be completed before you fly.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Aruba travel advice, safety and security: that it is a legal requirement to carry identification; that the island is used as a drug passageway from South America to Europe and North America and that there are severe penalties for all drug offenses; that a driver needs the correct version of the international driving permit, that it cannot be bought outside the United Kingdom, and that hire companies may require 2 years of driving experience; that a driver found with just over half of England legal limit of alcohol in their system may face a fine and possible imprisonment; that taxis are not metered and that the fare should be agreed in local currency with the driver before setting off; that the hurricane season in the Caribbean normally runs from June to November; that most hurricanes pass to the north of the island, which has no record of a recent major hurricane; and that there are occasional tropical storms. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Aruba travel advice, entry requirements: that Aruba is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; that a passport must be valid for the duration of the stay; that a holder of a full British citizen passport can visit for up to 3 months without a visa; that an embarkation card must be completed up to 7 days before arrival and proof of approval to travel shown to the airline before boarding; that the embarkation and disembarkation card is the form travelers fill in; that it is illegal to overstay the entry period or to work without a work permit; and that there are strict rules about goods that may be taken into or out of the island. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Aruba travel advice, health: that the emergency medical number is 911 and a caller should ask for an ambulance; that vaccine recommendations should be checked at least 8 weeks before a trip; and that the Global Health Insurance Card is not valid on the island. Accessed 19 September 2026.
• United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Travelers health, Aruba: that a traveler should be up to date on all routine vaccines before every trip; that hepatitis A is recommended for unvaccinated travelers one year old or older going to the island; and that hepatitis B is recommended for unvaccinated travelers of all ages. Accessed 19 September 2026.