Eagle Beach is the stretch of sand most cruise visitors picture when they think of Aruba — a wide band of white sand 4.5 km up the coast from the cruise terminal in Oranjestad. Getting there is short and cheap, but the taxi, the bus and the walk are three very different propositions. Every fare and time below was checked against official sources in September 2026.
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The quick answer
A taxi is a flat official fare of $28 per car for up to four people and takes about ten minutes. The public bus is $2.60 each way and drops you across the road from the sand. Walking is technically possible, but it is over an hour along a coastal road — with a whole port day at your disposal, spend the $2.60 instead.
Taxi: $28 per car, fixed by the government
Aruba’s taxis do not run meters. Fares are flat rates per car set by the government, and the official fare calculator at taxi.aw (rates valid from May 2026) lists the Cruise Ship Terminal to Eagle Beach at $28 — Afl 50.40 — per car for one to four passengers. Google Maps clocks the ride at about ten minutes over 4.5 km.
- The fare is per car, not per person: four people pay $7 a head each way.
- A fifth, sixth or seventh passenger adds $3 per extra person (seven is the maximum).
- Add a flat $5 on Sundays, official holidays and between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am.
For the ride back, the simplest move is to agree a pickup time with your driver before you get out, or ask at one of the hotel desks across the road from the beach when you are ready to head in.
The bus: $2.60 each way on the L10A
From the terminal gate it is a flat 550-metre walk — about seven minutes along Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard — to the Oranjestad bus station. From there Arubus route L10A (Oranjestad ⇆ Arashi) runs the hotel coastal strip every 20 minutes on weekdays, 6:15 am to 6:10 pm in both directions — on Saturdays and Sundays it drops to one bus an hour, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm — per the schedule Arubus publishes. A single ride is $2.60, a round-trip card is $5, and a day pass is $15 — the pass only pays off if you also plan to ride on to Palm Beach or Arashi in the same day.
Get off at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort stop, which sits directly across the road from Eagle Beach. Mind the clock on the way back: the last departures are shortly after 6:00 pm, so for a late sail-away either confirm your return bus or plan on a taxi.
Can you walk it?
Google Maps puts the walk at 1 hour 11 minutes each way along the coast road. In Aruba’s midday sun, with little shade on the route, that is not a realistic plan for a beach day. The walk that genuinely works from the ship is the 400-metre, five-minute stroll into downtown Oranjestad — save your legs for that on the way back.
When you get there
Like every beach on the island, Eagle Beach is public and free — you walk on and pick your spot. Natural shade is limited to the famous divi-divi trees, so if you want guaranteed shade for the day you can reserve an umbrella and two chairs at Eagle Beach before your ship arrives; the set is booked in your name and standing when you walk on, so there is no dawn queue and nothing to haul.
Our full Eagle Beach guide covers the beach itself. And if your ship gives you five hours or more ashore, a rental car with cruise-port pickup opens up the rest of the island — you pay a 13% reservation fee online and the rest when you collect it.
Our verdict
The maths does the deciding. For a couple with no fixed plans, the bus wins: about $10 round trip for two against $56 by taxi. For three or four people, or anyone whose ship allows only a short call, the taxi wins: $28 splits to $7 a head each way, and you are on the sand ten minutes after the gangway. Whichever way you ride out, settle your ride back before you settle onto the sand — the bus stops running around 6 pm, and ships do not wait.
Planning the rest of the day? Start with our Aruba cruise port guide and our pick of cruise excursions that fit a port call.
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