The ED Card comes first, and it carries a fee
Visit Aruba says that all visitors spending more than 24 hours on the island, children included, must complete the ED Card before travelling, at edcardaruba.aw, with a valid passport and a valid email address. Travellers receive an email confirmation with a green checkmark that must be shown digitally or in print at check-in or boarding. People in transit for under 24 hours are exempt.
The same page says a US$20 Sustainability Fee applies to air arrivals as of 1 July 2024, with exemptions for local residents, children under 8, repeat visitors who paid within the same calendar year, people in transit and Aruban students abroad. Use the official address only. Because the confirmation must be shown at check-in, save it as a screenshot and in your email before you leave Wi-Fi at home.
SETAR's Tourist SIM: free card, bundle required
SETAR's tourist FAQ says the Tourist SIM is obtained by buying one of its Tourist Bundles, with the SIM card itself free. Bundles last 7 or 14 days from activation, and the SIM is valid for 45 days from activation, after which any remaining credit or bundle is lost. Both bundles offer unlimited data under a fair-use policy of 5 GB per day, with speed throttled after the daily allowance until the next 24-hour cycle.
SETAR says you buy it at setar.aw/tourist, at the telekiosk at the airport or at teleshops in Palm Beach, Oranjestad, Santa Cruz or San Nicolas, and that a foreign ID, passport or driver's licence is requested to verify nationality, with the documentation confirming tourist status only. Top-ups for bundles are repurchased online, at the kiosk or at teleshops with a credit card, since prepaid recharge cards cover only calls and SMS. The support line is 140 or tourist@setar.aw.
SETAR's separate prepaid data page lists regular visitor data bundles in Aruban florins, such as 9 GB for Afl. 15 over three days with a 3 GB daily limit, or 10 GB for Afl. 50 over 30 days including social media. Prepaid cards are sold at supermarkets, gas stations, bars and ATMs as well as teleshops. The FAQ did not mention eSIM or 5G, so we do not claim either for SETAR.
Digicel's Paradise eSIMs
Digicel Aruba lists three Tourist eSIMs. At the time of checking, the 3 Days in Paradise plan cost US$20 (Afl. 35.50 including tax) with unlimited data, unlimited Digicel minutes, 15 minutes to other networks and abroad and unlimited SMS to Digicel numbers. The 7-day plan cost US$30 with 50 minutes to other networks and abroad and 50 SMS to other networks. The 14-day plan, labelled most popular, cost US$50 with 100 minutes and 50 SMS to other networks.
Digicel says all Tourist SIMs expire one month after becoming active unless topped up, and that its anywhere minutes apply to mobiles and landlines but exclude Jamaica and Haiti. The plan page says a plan is bought by choosing Get this plan on Digicel's website, and it does not list ID rules. Compare it with SETAR's offers on days, minutes and data cap before choosing: both list unlimited data, but SETAR states a 5 GB daily cap and Digicel's plan pages we opened give no cap, so read the full terms.
What we could not confirm about 5G and coverage
Searches for Aruba's 5G rollout returned conflicting visitor reports, and we did not find a regulator or operator page confirming a commercial launch or its areas, so we do not say 5G is available. We also found no regulator coverage report for the island.
A traveller with specific needs, such as remote work from a rental away from the hotel zone, should test the signal on a short bundle before committing to a longer one. Both operators sell short plans, which keeps that test inexpensive.
Emergency numbers
The UK Foreign Office lists 911 for ambulance and fire, 100 for police and 913 for the coastguard in Aruba. SETAR's and Digicel's tourist plans include minutes, so choose a plan with voice and test it.
Keeping your home number active
Apple's travel guidance says an iPhone must be unlocked to take a local carrier's eSIM and that mobile data can be assigned to one line while the home number keeps iMessage and FaceTime. Google says Pixel 7 and later phones can run two eSIM profiles if the carrier allows it. Samsung says eSIMs are added in SIM manager. Our Aruba plan page covers the pre-departure alternative.
Networks our Aruba plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Aruba, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- Digicel4G
- Digicel Aruba4G
- Flow4G