This parched speck of an island off the coast of Venezuela has guaranteed sunshine and is blessed with beaches that make you say 'ahhh'. Tourism is the big business here and it's served in a double scoop of Latin coastal coasters and sun bunnies from North America and Holland.

Although large-scale tourism dominates the island (read: luxury resorts from here to sunset), there are still undeveloped areas on the exposed northern coast, and much of the interior is inhabited by nothing more than goats and contorted divi-divi trees.

When To Go
The peak tourist season is between mid-December and mid-April, but this has more to do with the weather in North America and Europe than it does with the weather on Aruba which is warm and fairly dry all year round. The high season for cruise ships runs from October to April. It's therefore best to visit outside this period, when the port towns are almost sleepy and you can expect room rates to be almost halved.