The Ultimate Guide to Sports Events in Aruba: Surf, Cycle, Run & More
Aruba offers plenty of opportunities to explore the island, being as small and easy to navigate as it is. At Boardwalk there is nothing we like more than to show our guests and island visitors what the island has to offer when it comes to having fun in nature and enjoy the outdoors. In our own spare time we love being active in nature, embracing a healthy lifestyle and exploring Aruba’s unique playground in a variety of ways. Such as riding a bike or enjoying an early morning run on Aruba’s many nature trails, riding the waves on a surfboard or playing beach tennis with ocean views and our toes in the sand. There’s truly so many fantastic ways to embrace an active lifestyle in Aruba. We summed up some of our all-time personal favorite sports activities and sporting events to provide you with some inspiration for a fun-filled, active stay in Aruba that will undoubdedly unlock authentic experiences and most memorable times on the island.
Surfing
It’s that time of the year again…. With current wind conditions looking excellent, between 22 and 25 miles per hour, the island is ready for the 2025 edition of the Aruba Hi-Winds, the Caribbean's premier watersport event. Ever since 1986 the ultimate windsurfing and kitesurfing beach in Aruba, Fisherman's Huts is the decor for a fun-filled 5-day watersports festival, that includes events and races for professionals and amateurs in windsurfing, wind-foiling, kitesurfing and kite-foiling. Aruba Hi-Winds 2025 kicks off on May 28th and lasts through June 2nd. The festival terrain of this watersportevent, Fisherman’s Huts, the beach strip adjacent to Aruba’s most famous beach, Palm Beach, is open to the public and Aruba Hi-Winds is free to attend for all spectators. Besides all kinds of windsurfing, kitesurfing and foiling races, there is live entertainment and a variety of food stands available at Fisherman’s Huts.
Meet The locals - Aruba Hi-Winds is an excellent way to mingle with the local crowds and the watersports community on the island. And you’ll definitely be entertained by the participating surfers, showcasing their talents on the water. Boardwalk’s hotel owners and their family members share a deeply rooted passion for watersports, surfing and outdoor activities in general. As a result the hotel is a loyal supporter of Aruba Hi-Winds. Guests of Boardwalk are encouraged to partake in this fun watersport event, by cheering on all participants, meet the locals and join in the celebration of Aruba Hi-Winds 2025. For an extra comfortable experience, Boardwalk offers a shaded area on the beach with lounge chairs and hammocks to watch the activities unfold on Aruba’s ‘blue highway’. Curious to learn more about our connection to surfing and the origins of this watersport event? Read this blog about the history of Aruba Hi-Winds and how Boardwalk got involved in previous Aruba Hi-Winds editions, like hosting 25-times World Champion Freestyle surfing Sarah Quita Offringa. Born and raised in Aruba, Sarah Quita is by far our islands’ most successful surfer and local athlete. You might meet her on the beach these days!
Aruba Hi-Winds - how to get there
Staying at Boardwalk is always a great idea, but during the Aruba Hi-Winds windsurfing and kitesurfing competition you will literally have front row seats to this premier watersport event in the Caribbean. Aruba Hi-Winds takes place at Fisherman’s Huts, the beach located right across from Boardwalk. If you happen to stay in our 360 Palapa Lodge casita, you will be able to see the festival terrain and competition area right in front of you. From the Boardwalk main entrance it is not even a 5-minute walk over to Fisherman’s Huts, right across the street, and a few steps from Boardwalk’s beach area on Palm Beach. So no fuss with parking a car or any of that; just walk over or catch a ride with our complimentary beach shuttle Chichi to join the fun at Fisherman’s Huts any time you like.
Mountain Biking
Another passion that is shared by many Boardwalk team members and hotel owners, is riding a mountain bike through Aruba’s rugged terrain and exploring the miles of trails in nature. It’s an excellent way to have fun, explore the island, enjoy the outdoors and be physically active, all at once. Did you know that you can have access to a variety of trails and excellent mountain bike terrains on a mere 10 to 15-minute drive from Boardwalk? We can explain to you firsthand how thrilling a bike ride in nature is, so let us know if you’re interested in mountain biking in Aruba. Come see us at the Front Desk and we’ll set you up with the right bike, a local tourguide if you wish, or give you the local scoop on best mountainbike trails to try out.
12 hours of Aruba
On that note….our Boardwalk team completed a 12 hour non-stop mountain biking relay in the May 2025 edition of ’12 hours of Aruba’, an annually held local MTB event. Boardwalk Boutique Hotel joined with 12 team members, divided over two teams of six riders in a female and male group who biked the relay course non stop from 12 noon till 12 midnight. An incredible performance, especially considering the daytime temperatures in Aruba. To cool off and recharge, Boardwalk handed out fresh fruit popsicles to participants, in addition to supporting this sports event as a gold sponsor.
Running and Walking
Personally, we like a good run at the start of the day and head out around sunrise. It’s a perfect way to collect our thoughts and get ready for the day, while the island slowly wakes up. If you’re an early riser, hit the boardwalk that runs alongside the ocean across from our hotel and connects Palm Beach to Malmok and Arashi. The perfect setting for your morning exercise, with stunning ocean views and a refreshing seabreeze. Another great area to hit the trails in the morning or late afternoon, is the ‘cunucu’ or backland surronding Boroncana in Noord, or the areas between either Alto Vista or Calbas and the North Coast. All are within a 10 to 15 minute drive from Boardwalk, depending on traffic. Here you’ll be running on uneven terrain in a landscape that is dotted with lava rocks, stoney coral and prickly cacti so make sure your shoes and attire are well-suited for the task at hand. The vistas are amazing and you might have the entire trail to yourself. Here’s some more tips to rejuvenate in nature.
KLM Marathon - For fun some of our team members from the Front Desk and The Coco Café formed a Boardwalk running group and trained to participate in the KLM Aruba Marathon. The excellent thing about this fun sport event is that everyone can participate, on all kinds of levels and in every pace. There are two shorter fun run/walk distances of 5 and 10 kilometers, there is a half marathon of 21.1 kilometers and of course the namegiver of this event; a full marathon of 42.2 kilometers.
On June 7 and 8, 2025 the seventh edition of the KLM Aruba Marathon will be held, so whether you are staying with us early June, or will be on island over those days, mark your calendars. Start and finish of the KLM Aruba Marathon take place at the Hilton in Palm Beach, while the route meanders through various neighborhoods and alongside some of Aruba’s most dreamy beach locations such as Malmok, Arashi, and Eagle Beach. The Aruba Marathons route passes Boardwalk as well, where we will be cheering on all participants and of course our own team, and you are most welcome to join us. All you have to do is position yourself on the sidewalk on either side of the street in front of our hotel or on the opposite side, leading to Boardwalk’s beach area on Palm Beach.
Beach Tennis
One of our favorite activities is playing beach tennis. You can best compare beach tennis to pickleball, as both racket sports are played with a similar size paddle, with a similar deflated/perforated bal land you can play it either with two or four players. That’s where the comparison ends. Beach tennis is played on a sand court, which in Aruba means: on soft powdery sands on a dreamy beach near a turquoise ocean. And the net is placed at a much higher level, comparable to that on a volleyball court. That said, beach tennis is a super fun game and Aruba provides hands down the best circumstances to play this beachy game. Want to learn how to play beach tennis, or know where you can play beach tennis? Come ask us at the Front Desk, or read more here.
Aruba Open - International Beach Tennis Tournament
We love to play the game, but we might like it even more to participate in the fun festivities and parties atracting international crowds at the Aruba Open, the annual international beach tennis tournament that is held in Aruba each November. Hosting hundreds of international players from 15 to 20 different countries and attracting thousands of spectators, the Aruba Open Beach Tennis Championships is the largest beach tennis event in the world. Not bad for such a small island, right? The Aruba Open 2025 will be held on Bushiri Beach from November 9-16, 2025. Boardwalk is a proud sponsor and supporter of the Aruba Open and hosted two time world champion beach tennis Antomi Ramos during his participation in Aruba’s International Beach Tennis Championships in 2023. More on the Aruba Open and how to enroll can be found here.
