San Nicolas Aruba: Murals, Charlie's Bar and Carnival

Oranjestad is the capital. San Nicolas is Aruba’s other town, 12 miles south east, and for most of the twentieth century it was the richer one. The Lago refinery, once among the largest in the world, brought workers from Trinidad, Grenada, St Vincent and the rest of the English speaking Caribbean, and they brought steel pan, calypso and Carnival with them. When the refinery wound down, the town emptied out. In the last decade it has come back as something else: the island’s art district. Ghislaine takes guests here when they say they want to see the real Aruba.

The San Nicolas murals

Start on the main street, Caya Principal, and the side streets around it. Since 2016 the Aruba Art Fair has invited local and international muralists to paint the town, and by now there are well over a hundred works: whole building facades, shutters, alley walls, electrical boxes. Styles run from photo realistic portraits of Aruban elders to abstract colour fields to fantasy creatures. Some reference the refinery, some the sea, some are just big and beautiful.

You can walk it in 45 minutes or spend two hours. There is a map at the Cosecha store on the main street, which also sells certified local craft and is a good stop for a gift that is actually made on the island. Guided mural tours run on request and during the Art Fair weekend; Tito Bolivar, who organises ArtWeek, leads the Sunday mural tour. Otherwise just walk, phone out, and look up. New ones appear every September, so repeat visitors always find something.

Charlie’s Bar

Open since 18 September 1941, on the main street. Sailors, refinery men and later scuba divers started hanging things on the walls, and eighty years later every inch of ceiling and wall is covered: license plates, bras, fishing floats, business cards, photos, a motorbike. The food is honest, the beer is cold, and the current family running it is the same one that started it. Go for lunch or a late afternoon beer; it is not a nightlife bar. Check their hours before you drive down, they are not open every day of the week.

The museums

The Museum of Industry, in the restored water tower on the main street, tells the gold, aloe, phosphate and oil story of the island in an hour, and the view from the top takes in the refinery and the whole south coast. The Community Museum a few doors down is a small, personal collection of local life. Both are inexpensive and both close in the afternoon; go before lunch.

Aruba Carnival in San Nicolas

San Nicolas is where Aruban Carnival started, and the last week belongs to it. The 2026 calendar, for reference: Pre Jouvert and Jouvert Morning ran from 8 pm on Friday February 6 until sunrise on the Saturday; the Children’s Parade was Sunday February 8; the San Nicolas Lighting Parade was Thursday February 12 at 8 pm; and the San Nicolas Grand Parade, the 72nd, was Saturday February 14 at noon, the day before the Oranjestad Grand Parade. Carnival Monday, February 16, was a public holiday.

Dates move with Easter each year. If you are coming in late January or February, check the calendar on aruba.com before booking, because the parade days close the main roads and fill every rental on the south side.

Jouvert is the one to see if you only see one thing: pyjamas, paint, brass bands and thousands of people dancing through the streets until the sun comes up. It is loud, it is friendly, and you will not sleep.

The Aruba Art Fair

Every September, the final weekend of ArtWeek Aruba, the main street becomes an open air gallery for three evenings: more than a hundred artists, live mural painting, performances, food trucks, music. In 2026 it ran September 11 to 13. Low season, so flights and rentals are at their cheapest, and the town is at its best. If you can choose your week in September, choose this one.

Around the town

• Baby Beach and Rodgers Beach are ten minutes further on. Most people combine them with the murals.
• Lourdes Grotto in Seroe Preto, on the edge of town, is a shrine cut into the rock with a Virgin Mary statue, quiet and oddly moving.
• The refinery. You cannot visit it, but the Museum of Industry tower is the best view, and the old Lago Colony houses at Seroe Colorado near Baby Beach are what is left of the American company town.
• Kamini’s Kitchen and O’Niel Caribbean Kitchen are the lunch stops if Charlie’s is closed: Indo Caribbean and Trinidadian, both small, both cheap, both the town’s history on a plate.

How to get to San Nicolas from Palm Beach

Forty minutes by car from Palm Beach, straight down the main road past the airport. Parking on the main street is free. The Arubus from Oranjestad bus station also runs to San Nicolas, around an hour each way, which works if you are not hiring a car but makes Baby Beach harder.

How long

Two to three hours for the murals, a museum and a beer. Add Baby Beach for a full day. Do not try it in the afternoon heat of August; mornings are better all year and the museums close early.

Stay nearby

San Nicolas is a day trip from all our homes. Ocean View 2BR on Palm Beach and the Hideout Dream Big Suite and Hideout Happiness Suite near Eagle Beach are about 40 minutes away; Oasis Hideaway in Gold Coast is 45 to 50. See all four at /stays/.

Questions people ask

Is San Nicolas worth visiting?

Yes, for half a day. The murals along the main street are the best street art in the Dutch Caribbean, Charlie's Bar is an institution, and Baby Beach is ten minutes further. It is 40 minutes from Palm Beach.

When is the Aruba Art Fair?

Every September in San Nicolas. The 2026 edition ran September 11 to 13, the last three days of ArtWeek Aruba. New murals are painted live and the main street becomes an open air gallery with music and food.

Is San Nicolas safe for tourists?

During the day, yes. The main street and mural area are busy with visitors and the town is used to them. It is a working town, not a resort, so normal city sense applies after dark.

What is Jouvert in Aruba?

The pre dawn street party that opens the last week of Carnival in San Nicolas. In 2026 it ran from 8 pm on February 6 until sunrise on February 7. Pyjamas, paint, brass bands, thousands of people.