Past San Nicolas the island runs out. The last few kilometers hold a red anchor, an abandoned American company town, a lighthouse on a windy cliff, a natural bridge most visitors never find, and a small calm beach where fishermen keep their boats. Almost everyone drives straight to Baby Beach and misses all of it. Give it an hour.
Getting there and parking
From San Nicolas, follow the road out past the old refinery gate and the signs for Seroe Colorado. It is five minutes. The anchor has its own pull-off. The lighthouse has a free parking area at the top of the point. Rodgers Beach and Baby Beach both have free lots beside the sand. Everything here is paved or short gravel, so any rental car is fine. Our Baby Beach transport guide has drive times from each hotel area.
The red anchor
A giant red anchor stands at the entrance to Seroe Colorado. It is a memorial to the seamen lost along this coast, many of them crew from the refinery's tanker fleet during the war years. It is the most photographed object on this end of the island, and the right place to stop and read the plaque before you go on.
Lago Colony: the fenced American town
Behind the anchor is what remains of Lago Colony. When the Lago refinery began operating in 1929, the American company built a complete town for its staff here, separate from San Nicolas. It had its own school, hospital, golf course, club and beach, and it was fenced. For decades Aruban workers lived on one side of the fence and American families on the other. The refinery closed on 31 March 1985 and the colony emptied. Today you drive past tidy streets, a few occupied houses, and a lot of quiet. The refinery itself is due to be dismantled, which Aruba and the Netherlands announced in November 2025.
Colorado Point lighthouse
Continue to the tip of the island and park by the lighthouse. It is not open inside, but the point itself is the reason to come. This is the windiest spot on Aruba, with the trade wind coming straight off the open sea. Below you, waves break on limestone cliffs. Old Second World War gun positions remain nearby, built to protect the refinery after a German U-boat attacked it in February 1942.
The natural bridge below the cliffs
Aruba's famous natural bridge on the north coast collapsed years ago. This one, below the Seroe Colorado cliffs, is still standing and far less visited. From the lighthouse, follow the cliff edge to find the path down. It is a real climb over rough rock, so wear closed shoes and take your time. At the bottom the arch frames the sea. On a rough day the spray reaches you. Do not attempt it in flip-flops or with young children.
Safety on the cliffs
- The cliffs drop without a fence. Keep small children in the parking area, not on the edge.
- The wind is strong enough to move you. Hold hats, phones and small people.
- The climb to the bridge is rock, not steps. Closed shoes, hands free, no rush.
- Do not swim below the point. The sea here is open and rough, nothing like the lagoon a few minutes away.
The San Nicolas and Baby Beach Day
Our narrated GPS audio tour drives you from San Nicolas out through the refinery gate, past the red anchor, to the lighthouse and natural bridge, down to Rodgers Beach and on to Baby Beach, with the Lago story told as each place appears. Before that, it narrates the drive in from the hotel strip and 9 essential mural stops plus 5 extras in town. No app, works offline, one price for the car.
Rodgers Beach
Back down toward the coast, immediately west of Baby Beach, is Rodgers Beach. Its official name is Nanki. It is small, sheltered and local: fishing boats pulled up on the sand, a few families on weekends, almost nobody on a weekday. There are no chairs to rent and no snack bar, which is why it stays this way. Bring an umbrella and water.
The name comes from Captain Robert Rodgers, who surveyed this harbor for the Lago refinery in 1924. The refinery's docks grew up beside it, and in the 1950s the Aruba Esso Club stood at Baby Beach with a restaurant, a dance floor and a baseball stadium for the colony. One abandoned building and a dive shop are all that remain of it.
Why Baby Beach is so calm
It helps to know this before you swim. Baby Beach is calm because the refinery built a barrier across the bay so that Lago Colony children could swim safely. Inside, the water is knee to waist deep. At the mouth, where the barrier opens to the sea, the current is strong and has pulled swimmers out. Stay inside the lagoon. Details are in our Baby Beach safety guide.