What's happening in Palm Beach this week?

Palm Beach's week has a clear shape once you learn to read it. Tuesday is the anchor night. The Bon Bini Festival runs at Fort Zoutman in Oranjestad, about a 15-minute drive south, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. You'll hear steel pan drums before you reach the courtyard. Inside, Aruban flag dancers move in red and yellow skirts, and food vendors sell pastechi for 3-4 USD each. They're deep-fried pastry pockets filled with seasoned beef or cheese, the Aruban answer to empanadas. Funchi, the local cornmeal cake, comes as a 2 USD side. Fort Zoutman was built in the 1790s and is the oldest standing structure on the island. The Bon Bini has run every Tuesday for decades, and it tends to draw cruise passengers and hotel guests in roughly equal numbers. The courtyard gets packed by 7pm. Arrive at 6:30 if you want space to move.

The Palm Beach strip runs about 2 km along J.E. Irausquin Boulevard, from the Riu Palace south to the Marriott Surf Club. Monday through Wednesday the sand is noticeably quieter. You can claim a palapa, the thatched beach umbrellas the hotels set out, before 9am without a fight. Thursday starts the weekend push. MooMba Beach Bar on the sand fills up around 4pm, and by sunset the whole strip carries the warm smell of grilled wahoo and coconut oil. Friday and Saturday nights, the Paseo Herencia shopping center runs a choreographed water-and-light show at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm. Each show runs about 15 minutes. Free. Sunday morning is the quietest stretch of the week. The sand is nearly empty before 10am, the Caribbean sits flat and warm at about 28°C, and the trade winds haven't kicked in yet.

June weather in Aruba is predictable to the point of monotony, which is the best thing that can happen when you're trying to plan a week. Expect 27-30°C daily, humidity around 75-80%, and an east-northeast trade wind that keeps things from feeling oppressive. Rain in June falls maybe 2-3 days total. When it does show up, it's a 10-minute shower, usually mid-afternoon, and then the sky clears. Current conditions sit at 27°C with 78% humidity under overcast skies, a pattern that tends to burn off by noon. If you want to visit Arikok National Park on the island's windward side, aim for Tuesday or Wednesday morning when tour-group traffic drops. The park covers about 34 square km, roughly 20% of the island, and has been open since 2000. Entry runs 11 USD per adult. The trail to the Conchi natural pool takes about 90 minutes from the Boca Prins area, over rough limestone that gets hot under your feet by 11am.

Dining on the Palm Beach strip follows a steady weekly curve. Monday and Tuesday nights, you can walk into most restaurants at 7pm without a reservation. Keshi yena, a baked Gouda cheese shell stuffed with seasoned chicken, runs 22-28 USD at sit-down spots along J.E. Irausquin Boulevard. It's the Aruban national dish. Wednesday through Saturday, book ahead for anything waterfront. Happy hour at most beach bars currently runs 4pm to 6pm, with 2-for-1 cocktails averaging 6-8 USD per drink. Balashi, the local lager brewed about 5 km south in the Balashi district, costs roughly 4-5 USD at a bar or 8-10 USD for a 6-pack at Ling & Sons supermarket near the strip. Sunday brunch has taken hold at the high-rise hotels. The Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt Regency both run buffets, typically 35-55 USD per person, with reservations filling up by Thursday.