Who knew I’d be writing so many posts about Aruba, but I really just think breaking our day down into smaller chunks make for better posts. I hope you agree! So today I’m sharing about the time we spent in Arikok National Park, Aruba.

We came through the SouthEast entrance Vader Piet.

12°27’58.122″ N 69°53’33.612″ W (Just a reminder some of the pictures will have GPS coordinates that link to that location on Google Maps in case you want to go to that spot on future travels. If one of the pictures doesn’t have coordinates after it, it means its very close to the coordinates last listed.)

Guadirikiri Cave

There are apparently 3 caves in the national park. We ended up seeing 2 of them. The first one you come to is soon after entering the SouthEast entrance. You have to climb up some stairs to this one, so Alice and David (Rob’s mom and step dad) just waited for us at the jeep.

This is after we climbed up to the entrance.

12°28’57.306″ N 69°53’58.566″ W

This was the more impressive of the 2 caves we entered. It’s famous for its two chambers, illuminated by the sunlight streaming through holes in the roof of the cave.

The cave extends for about 100 feet. In the darker parts of the cave nest hundreds of harmless bats.

I’m not sure I’ve ever shared this here, but back when the boys little we went swimming at friend’s pool at dusk. Bats were literally flying at my head and ever since then, I have been terrified of bats. Usually when we go somewhere where there might be bats, I’m like NOPE! However, I really wanted to checkout the caves. Rob held my hand and I just kept thinking to myself “they’re just like bird.” Luckily, none of them flew anywhere near us, so I was ok.

It’s just a short drive to the next cave. Here’s a couple pics outside of it.

I was just a little bit obsessed with all the cacti on the island! 🙂

Fontein Cave

This cave is more accessible because you can walk straight in as you see here. Alice and David joined us for this one.

12°29’42.162″ N 69°54’26.202″ W

To my surprise after going seeing the caves, the Fontein Cave is the most popular of the caves because of the Arawak Indians drawings on the ceilings.

I didn’t even notice the drawings until a park ranger pointed them out.

12°29’35.718″ N 69°54’26.124″ W

A crab Alice noticed. He looks like he’s glowing.

I didn’t see as many bats flying around this cave, but it could have been because there was already a tour in there.

Boca Prins

Boca Prins is so beautiful and magnificent. There are wooden stairs going down to white sands and very rough waters with deadly undertows so its strongly advised to not enter.

12°29’51.978″ N 69°54’26.16″ W

Pictures do not do this justice at all.

12°29’51.636″ N 69°54’25.608″ W

12°29’52.056″ N 69°54’26.154″ W

Nice view as we drove the North Loop.

12°29’53.748″ N 69°56’37.536″ W

Visitor Center, which we didn’t stop at since we were leaving.

12°29’55.332″ N 69°56’42.036″ W

Here is the map. We got to see a good portion of what you can see driving. We didn’t venture out on foot much because of time constraints. The only place I would like to see that we didn’t was the Conchi – the Natural Pools, but it was closed that day. FYI, from what I’ve heard it is a very rough drive and it would have taken too long to get there and back. Other than that I was happy seeing what we saw. If we go back, I’d like to see that and possibly do some hiking.

Click on an then you can zoom in by clicking on map twice.

General Info as of April 2022:
Address San Fuego 70, Santa Cruz, Aruba
Cost $11/adult – Free for kids 17 and younger
Open everyday 8-4
Comprises almost 20% of the island
Entrances Vader Piet (SouthEast entrance)
San Feugo Entrance (NorthWest entrance) – Main Entrance with Visitor Center

My next post will probably wrap up my Aruba posts for this cruise. Find out what we did the rest of the day!

Other posts from this cruise listed here: Carnival Horizon::March 2022