I Didn’t Know Aruba was Open for Travel!
Bon Bini,
Aruba is a desert island that remains to the country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba is one of the few places that are open for US residents to travel to during the Covid-19 pandemic. Aruba is known for being One Happy Island and we definitely see why it holds that title.
How do I enter Aruba during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The Aruba Tourism Authority has placed some travel protocols into place to limit the spread of Covid-19.
Below are some tips for you to know ahead of time to make your trip to the Happy Island as smooth as possible:
Due to limiting the spread of Covid-19 Aruba has decided to go completely paperless. Aruba created an Embarkation/ Disembarkation Card Process known as the ED Card. The ED card is broken down Into 5 component sections.
Component 1 & 2 are the Basic and Personal Health information & Assessment. During these two components you are providing your name, date of birth, passport information, length of stay, and being screened for Covid-19. Each individual traveling must have their own ED card process including minors & infants.
Component 3 focuses on the required negative Molecular PCR Covid-19 test. You may want to pay close attention here, because this part can be very confusing and can make or break your trip. The Aruban Government has expressed that to enter Aruba all non-residents MUST have a negative Covid-19 test completed within 72 hours prior of your travel date. For instance, our flight was set to leave Aruba on February 8th. Therefore, we had to have our test done anytime between February 5th-8th. The earlier you can have your test done, the better. This way you can have your results back in a timely manner. Within 72 Hours of our flight, we took two Covid-19 test. We wanted to be sure that we took the right PCR test therefore we tested twice. The first test we took was performed at our local hospital drive-thru testing site. The second test was a Rapid PCR Molecular completed at a Walgreens Drive-thru. Yes, Walgreens now offer the Covid test. You are provided with a small bag with a Covid swab to swab your own nose directed by the Walgreens tech or pharmacist on shift. As long as you accepted the Rapid Diagnostic Test results when you booked your appointment online, you will receive your results in 24 hours. We received our results in 2 hours. If you do not select the Rapid Diagnostic Test option, then you will receive your results within 48-72 hours which may not be on time for your trip. I highly recommend the Rapid selection.
You can use your health insurance to cover the cost of the Rapid test at Walgreens. If you do not have health insurance, the cost of test is $126.00 USD. Please keep in mind that Walgreens appointment can only be booked three days in advance of the date you need to be tested. The spots fill up fast so keep an eye out for your test date. The test can be booked here. Whether you take the Walgreens test or any other Covid-19 Test, be sure to upload them to the ED card under this component and print out your covid-19 test results. Please keep in mind your test results have to be uploaded no later than 12 hour before your departing flight.
Component four of the ED Card Process is purchasing Covid-19 insurance. This insurance is mandatory and must be purchased to enter Aruba. Even if you have your own travel & health insurance, you have to still purchase the Aruba insurance. The insurance is put in place to protect non-residents incase they were to be exposed to or contract Covid while visiting. The insurance covers medical & quarantine expenses. The insurance is very reasonably and the flat rate price is $30.00 USD per person. Please keep in mind: Your Covid-insurance has to be purchased no later than 4 hour prior to your departing flight.
Component five of the Ed Card process are acknowledgment consents. You will have to sign and acknowledge all of the health requirements.
Once you’ve completed your Ed Card you will receive two separate emails. One email will state ED Card. This email is your green check mark ✅. Please print this out and the Covid insurance as this will be asked for many times during the entry process. This form basically says that you have fully completed your ED process; however until your Covid test has been viewed at the airport by someone this doesn’t grant you access into the country. The second email is your Covid insurance verification. Please print this information out. This information is something that you would want to have physical copies of.
My ED card is complete. What now?
Again, have your negative Covid-19 results, green check mark, & Covid-19 insurance with you when you check in for your flight. Your airline representatives will ask for this information before allowing you to board your flight.
Almost there:
Once you’re in Aruba Airport. There is a small line that you have to wait in . You will be asked for your green check mark. Once you’ve shown your green check mark, you will be given a resort pass & blue test lane pass. Your resort pass is for you to give to your resort when you check in as clearance that your Covid test was accepted. From there, you will go to another line and your Covid-19 results will be checked. As mentioned before, we had took two Covid test just incase one of them did not have the information that Aruba required we had a backup test. In the line we had given them the first test we took at our local hospital drive-thru. The examiner looked at the test and stated that she believed that it needed to be evaluated. She took our blue test lane pass and told us to head downstairs. We then explained to her that we took a Walgreen test and showed her the Walgreens test. She stated that the Walgreens test was accepted and that we were clear to go downstairs to grab our luggage. Once we arrived downstairs we grabbed our luggage and another worker asked us for our blue test lane pass. We explained to her that another employee took the blue test lane pass. Since we did not have the blue test lane pass, we had to get to a different line to have our Covid results evaluated. We showed the next representative our Walgreens ID now test and he confirmed this was the right test, however since we came to that specific line to have our results evaluated we had to connect to the airport WiFi & show the email and portal that contained our Covid results. Once she saw our results in the portal, we were given the blue test lane pass, went through a small security check, handed our blue test lane pass back to a security officer and was then let out of the airport to start our adventure.
What happens if your Covid results do not come back on time or if Aruba does not accept the specific covid test that you took?
This is the million dollar question that everyone seems to want to know. Due to the high demand of Covid-19 test, many of states test are backed up and the results may be delayed. Aruba is a very Americanized country and has set up some measures in place to work with United States residents. If your test results do not come back within the time frame of your flight or Aruba does not accept your Covid test for whatever reason, you have the option to test in Aruba. The Covid test is $75.00 USD per person. Once you’ve taken the test, you will have to quarantine at your place of residence. You have to go straight to your place of residence and quarantine. The results can take up to 24 hours to get back however many of individuals have confirmed that they received their results in 6-8 hours after taking the test. Once your negative results come back you are free to leave your place of residence and safely explore the island.
Although this process seems rigorous and extensive. It’s pretty easy and we promise it’s worth it. We also joined an Aruba Facebook group to help us with any questions that we had prior to our trip.
The group was very helpful and answered many of our questions about entry to Aruba & many other questions. You can also find all of this information on the Aruba website. These were both great resources to use.
You will be glad you came to the One Happy Island.
Subscribe to our blog as we will be releasing a Travel Guide to Aruba. Our subscribers are the first to receive this information. Remember that Covid-19 is an ever-revolving issue and the Entry process can change at anytime. Therefore, look to the Aruba website for any changes or guidance.