23: Road Signs and Maps
Road and street signs in Aruba can be a bit tricky, especially once you venture off the main tourist areas. Many signs are in Dutch or Papiamento, and smaller streets often don't have clear signage at all, so locals tend to give directions using landmarks rather than street names. We highly recommend using Google Maps, which works very well on the island and will get you where you need to go—just make sure you have a data plan or download offline maps before you leave WiFi. Maps.me is another excellent offline mapping app that many travelers swear by for Aruba.
If you have data roaming or a local SIM card, Google Maps and Waze both work great in real-time. You can also download Aruba's map offline in Google Maps (just search "Aruba," tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select "download offline map"). That way, even if you're in a remote area with no cell signal, you'll still have turn-by-turn directions. Just a heads-up: Google Maps can occasionally send you down a one-way street the wrong way—this usually only happens on small local roads where a street's direction has recently changed—so pay attention to the actual road signs and markings on the pavement too.
Roundabouts in Aruba are clearly marked with painted lane guides and directional arrows on the road, so even though they might seem intimidating at first, they're actually quite easy to navigate once you understand the system. Exit 1 is on your right, exit 2 is straight ahead, exit 3 is on your far left, and exit 4 takes you back in the opposite direction. Most roundabouts have raised lane dividers inside (like little speed bumps) that help keep you in the correct lane and discourage lane changes mid-circle. If you happen to miss your exit, don't panic—just go around one more time! Many of Oranjestad's downtown streets are one-way, so it pays to keep an eye on the directional signs and arrows painted on the road.