Conchi Natural Pool — Attraction in Aruba

Magical place along a beautiful coast, and the highlight of our Aruba trip! Lots of other posts describing the place itself so I'll just focus on logistics and tips.

Access: we hiked into Conchi from the Daimari side. There is also another option for hiking in from the visitor center but it's a bit longer. Once we parked and hiked to Daimari, the hike past Moro, dunes, cliffs was absolutely stunning. Note if you come in from the Daimari side, the road down to Daimari Ranch is impassable as of Dec. 2022 in a non jeep. Even trucks and SUVs park at the top of the hill and normal rental cars park another 1.5 to 2 hills away. We had the tiniest Kia and this added maybe another 20 min each way to our hike but no big deal. Accessing the ranch/trail is the most challenging part of this entire trek so if you've made it there you are good to go! The hike took us about 1 hr each way at a very modest pace (I would guess it's about 2 miles with the added distance to reach the Rancho). We met a family who hiked in to Conchi from the visitor center and they said their trek was about 1.5 hours. By the time we got back to our car, there was about 5 others parked together where normal rental cars park so it definitely can be done in a normal rental.

Tips: I agree with the other reviewers that the ATV and jeep tours definitely detract from the experience at Conchi. We got to have the pool to ourselves when we first arrived but by the time we left at noon, it was one tour after another. So start early.. but be sure to stop at visitor center first to check conditions and buy your wristbands. Why stop at the visitor center day of and not the day before? The seas can be rough and conchi can close to swimming. The pool was completely closed Dec 26 and partially closed Dec 27. You are only going to get that kind of info on the ground day of.

Pack lots of water (at least 1 L per person). There is little shade on the hike to the pool. The two places you may find shade is under a tree by the rancho and near some bushes as you approach Moro. You may also find some shade near the rocks at Conchi. I brought a travel sun umbrella on the hike and found it super helpful.

Yes there are fish at Conchi and the tour guides will sometimes throw bread into the pool to attract the fish, but honestly the diversity and types of fish you see is no different than other parts of Aruba so I'd say that's a minor value add. We brought our snorkels and didn't bother to use them.

The magic of Conchi is getting to swim in this stretch of coast that would otherwise be completely inaccessible and watching huge waves crash over rocks while you are safely protected by the rocks shielding the pool. It's exhilarating and an experience not...

Stunning natural pool worth the effort of getting there! I highly suggest doing this yourself either by renting a 4x4 or with a regular car + hiking. The easiest way is to get there with a tour but you will have limited time, and will be there with a bunch of other people.

If you go by yourself a ticket to the National Park is required ($22 usd/pp as of Jun'25) otherwise you run the risk of being asked to leave by the park rangers. I went to the visitor center one day prior and got the tickets for the next day because we wanted to start as early as possible.

We drove with a sedan towards Daimari Ranch but had to park 1km before reaching the ranch due to the condition of the road. There were two steep hills with, holes, big and sharp rocks etc, didn’t want to risk it. We started at the trail head at Damari Ranch around 7:15am. It took us about 50mins to get to Conchi at a regular pace with a few stops to take pictures. It’s a moderate hike. There are a couple of places where you will need to get over rocks and use your hands. We reached Conchi at 8am, there were 4 people there that were leaving. We had the pool for ourselves for about an hour, then the tours started arriving in droves, definitely a different experience. The way back was harder, it was hot, and we were a little tired. You must do this early morning otherwise it won’t be a pleasant experience, don't hike if it's raining either.

The sea was quite rough when got there but once the tours arrived it got worse. Tours only had about 30mins in the pool, then park rangers closed it due to the high tide. After Conchi we went to the caves inside the National Park to make use of the tickets. You can also start the hike at the visitor center of the national park, but I believe it take...

OMG, a must-see and do with a jump of the rock . Water in the middle is 16ft deep other eares you can stand in. Im 5ft 4in. Bring goggles or snorkel to see the beauty below. Small black crabs crawls around on the rocks. Pretty harmless. You will need to book this as a tour or rent a jeep for the day, car will not work. Road is rough to get up there and takes about 30 min from entering to park. I booked with a local guy and paid $500 for 5 hrs jeep tour for 7 people, plus $90 for the park entrance ($15 per person, and my 14 yr old was free, Our jeep was closed over. No open window or top off/down. Def not the sporty kind😏😔 Renting individual jeep for 3 or 4 seaters were pricey. But worth it if they take you to all the top site seeing spots. (ruins, lighthouse, conchi natural pool, fontein cave, ayo Indian rock formation, cave beach, chapel, natural bridge (there are 2 bridges). When you arrive, you have to park and walk down. If you do the tour, do early morning, pool area is small, less people around, and you will not have to worry about parking closing soon. We did evening tour, got there around 330pm, natural pool was full, and the fontein cave closed within 5 min of our arrival. Behind the pool where you jump from the rock is a smaller area that they call a warm jacuzzi. Small space too but do see. Enjoy Aruba. It's...