The best time to visit Aruba, from someone who's been in every season

I've been to Aruba more than 30 times and have seen the island in every season. After all those trips, I've learned there's really no bad time to visit.

Aruba sits outside the hurricane belt , and the weather holds steady year-round, with average highs ranging from the upper 80s in winter to the low 90s in late summer, and cooling trade winds that blow across the island.

With warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, choosing when to visit really comes down to crowds and prices. Recently, I've been skipping the winter rush entirely and aiming for the shoulder seasons, when the beaches empty out and airfare drops. Here's how the year breaks down.

Winter

Escaping the winter cold for Aruba is a great plan. The only problem is that everyone else has the same idea. December through April is Aruba's peak travel season and generally brings some of the island's driest weather, along with its highest hotel rates and busiest beaches.

If you're planning a trip during peak season, book everything early. I learned that the hard way when I waited too long to reserve a rental car and ended up scrambling to find a company with anything left on the lot. Reserve your rental car when you book your flight, and do the same for your dining reservations.

Winter does come with one big bonus worth planning around: Carnival . Parades and street parties roll through the island in the weeks leading up to Lent, and if your travel dates line up with a parade, go. I've been, and what I loved most was watching Arubans come together to celebrate their culture and traditions. It offers a very different perspective from what you'll get in the resort areas.

Spring

March brings spring break crowds, but Aruba's version is relatively tame and remains family-friendly even at its busiest. When late April arrives, everything shifts. Peak-season crowds begin to thin, prices generally ease and hotel availability opens up. Plus, you get the same weather that winter travelers paid a premium for, before the hottest months of the year. If a friend asked me to pick one month for a first trip, I'd say April without hesitation.

Summer

Summer in Aruba is hot, with afternoon temperatures regularly reaching around 90 degrees and humidity making it feel even warmer. The trade winds are especially welcome, but the heat has a way of reorganizing your day so that you're never too far from the water. Plan hikes and sightseeing before 10 a.m., and don't feel guilty about spending an entire afternoon at the beach or pool just to stay cool. 

The payoffs of timing your trip for summer are lighter crowds than in winter, more manageable prices and especially favorable conditions for sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing. But golfers, beware: Afternoon rounds can feel brutally hot with very little shade, and the wind doesn't do anyone any favors.

Fall

Fall overlaps with Aruba's rainy season, which generally runs from October through January. But don't picture washed-out days. Brief showers become more common, but they rarely stick around for long. In my experience, most pass within 20 to 30 minutes, and I treat them as built-in breaks to catch up on a good book, browse the mostly indoor Renaissance Mall in Oranjestad, make a grocery run or visit the casino. 

The biggest tradeoff is the sky. The extra clouds can get in the way of a crystal-clear sunset, so temper your golden-hour expectations. Just don't let the cloud cover fool you into skipping sunscreen. Aruba sits just 12 degrees north of the equator, and the UV index remains high even on overcast days. It's an easy mistake to make during the rainy season and an even easier way to end up sunburned.

The year wraps up on a high note: New Year's Eve is a big deal in Aruba, and the celebration starts well before midnight. In the days leading up to it, businesses and families set off pagaras, long strings of firecrackers traditionally meant to ward off bad spirits before the new year. At midnight, fireworks erupt across the island. The celebrations continue into New Year's Day , when groups of Dande musicians travel from home to home, singing wishes for luck and prosperity in the year ahead.