Page 16 - AHATA

a8 local
Wednesday 20 august 2025

Beaches for the whole family to enjoy!

(Oranjestad)—One of the and tents. Much like Baby
biggest concerns that par- Beach, these sites are one
ents have when traveling of the best beaches for
with their children is a guar- your children to play and
antee of their safety and build sand castles.
healthy enjoyment. There-
fore, we thought it would Boca Catalina in Malmok
be a great help to travel- Boca Catalina is a small bay
ing parents to list off some beach near the Malmok
the most family-friendly beach area further down
beaches around the island. the hotel areas. Though it
may not be a very sandy
Baby Beach in San Nicolas beach, it is relatively quiet
Baby Beach is one Aruba’s and tranquil. This is a great
most popular and visited place for family to lay down
beaches, and for good rea- a big blanket and have a
son: This sandy and quiet little picnic. This is also one
lagoon is a great place for of the best places to snor-
parents to sit back and re- kel, as this area is filled with
lax while their children play little fish and corals, even
in the shallow shores of the close to the shore.
beach. Beside the relaxing
atmosphere, there are also Palm Island
several services that may Pos Chiquito city. Though set up their belongings. In and Palm Beach is where Ok, this one is technically
accommodate your stay, there are several stairs on this area, the shore is also most of our visitors go to not a beach, but a must-
like a parking lot, sun tent the sides of the beach cliff shallow, falling right around tan, swim or play in the visit attraction for family fun.
rentals, chairs, bathrooms leading you down, the best your knee before slowly white sand. Because they This small water park oasis is
and a snack bar right at spot for families to hang getting deeper: perfect for are near the low-rise and located further down the
the far left of the beach. out is across the bridge, kids to safely play. high-rise hotel areas, these Mangel Halto Beach and
passed the mangrove trees beaches are the most ac- is reachable by boat. This
Mangel Halto in Pos Chiq- near the entrance sign. Eagle Beach/Palm Beach cessible for visitors on foot. water park offers 6 hours of
uito Here, there are small and in the hotel area These beaches also offer fun activities, food, drinks,
Mangel Halto is situated big palapas, perfect for Yet another highly popular many palapas free to use, and a chance to see pink
in the back streets of the big and small families to beach sites, Eagle Beach but you can also rent chairs flamingos up close!q

Fun facts about cacti hedges “Trankera”

(Oranjestad) – When off- taining our flora and fauna. animals that can feed on
roading in inland Aruba, the cunucu vegetation or
you may notice some cacti The trankera dates to co- cattle.
hedges around various lonialism, where settlers es-
properties or lined up by tablished several ‘cunucu’ Nowadays, trankeras are
certain pathways. These (farm) on the island. Peo- less common, and those
man-made hedges are ple either used stone walls that still stand are often not
called “trankera” and play or trankera as a fence to maintained. On the sur-
an important role in main- ward off strangers and wild face this seems like a bad

development, however which limits propagation to
this proved to be benefi- a minimum.
cial for our flora and fauna.
Naturally developed flora So, though trankeras don’t
around the hedges offers play that big of a role in
more shelter for fauna. An- Aruba’s agriculture any-
other aspect is the propa- more, our environment
gation process. When still reaps the benefits of
pruning hedges, flowers these long-standing natural
and seeds were removed, structures.q