The Butterfly Farm is a netted tropical garden just off J.E. Irausquin Boulevard at Palm Beach, next to the Bubali wetlands. Hundreds of butterflies from around the world fly free inside, including the enormous, electric-blue morphos and the owl butterflies with fake eyes on their wings. A short guided introduction covers the full life cycle, and there is a chrysalis case where you can often watch one emerging.
Go early. Butterflies are most active in the warmth of the morning, and the guides will tell you the same thing. Wear something bright: they are drawn to color, and a child in a red shirt has a much better afternoon than one in navy.
The single best piece of advice: go in the first days of your trip, because your ticket lets you come back as often as you like for the rest of your stay. That turns a forty-five-minute attraction into a free rainy-hour fallback for the whole week. It is also small, shaded, flat, and stroller-friendly, which is a rarer combination on this island than you would expect.
Hundreds of butterflies from around the world fly free here, including giant blue morphos. Stand still and one might land on you. Your ticket is good for your whole vacation!
A butterfly is a barbulete in Papiamento. It is one of the easiest island words for a small child to actually retain.
Let them land on you; never grab a butterfly.
More finds nearby
FlamingosThe famous flamingo beach, and the access rules nobody tells you in advance.
Kitesurfing at HadicurariThirty kites in the sky at once, from a beach where kids can paddle.
Aruba AloeA free, air-conditioned factory tour, and the plant that made the island famous.
Turn the list into a treasure hunt
Buska gives kids 75 Aruban treasures to find and photograph (this one included) and turns the trip into a keepsake book. Free to start, no ads, private by default.