Best Seafood Restaurant in Aruba

Best seafood restaurants in aruba palm beach

1. The Local Favorites & Fisherman Owned Wacky Wahoo’s: Located just a short walk inland from the high-rise hotels. It is widely considered a Palm Beach staple because it is fisherman owned. The morning’s fresh catch dictates the evening menu, and they are famous for massive portions of local wahoo, snapper, or mahi-mahi prepared your way (grilled, blackened, or pan fried in local herbs).

Red Fish Aruba: Located just a 3-to-4-minute drive from the Palm Beach strip. It is a casual, roadside gem run by the family of a local fisherman. If you want your fresh catch served “local style” alongside pan bati (sweet cornbread), funchi (polenta), and sweet fried plantains at an affordable price, this is where the locals go.

2. Over the Water & Beachfront Dining

Pelican Nest Seafood Grill: Situated entirely on the Pelican Pier over the water in the heart of Palm Beach. It offers panoramic views of the turquoise sea. Go here for a lively, open air lunch or a casual sunset dinner. Order the mixed seafood platters, fresh ceviche, or the grilled grouper while watching pelicans dive right next to the deck.

Atardi: Located right on the sand at the Aruba Marriott Resort. This is a refined, pop-up fine dining experience that sets up right as the afternoon fades. It’s the ultimate “toes-in-the sand” luxury seafood option in Palm Beach, specializing in high end dishes like macadamia-crusted grouper, lobster tails, and pan-seared scallops paired with curated wine pairings.

Hadicurari: Tucked right on the beach between the Marriott Surf Club and the Holiday Inn. Historically a meeting place for local fishermen, it is now a comfortable beachfront restaurant serving everything from seafood paella to wood-fired Frutti di Mare pizzas and fresh catches of the day.

3. Live Music & Lively Vibe

Fishes & More: Located in the Arawak Garden shopping strip directly across from the high-rise hotels. They source their fish directly from local boats, and Chef Bruno prepares it with an international, Mediterranean-meets-Caribbean twist. They have a cozy, breezy outdoor terrace and feature excellent live acoustic music every single night.

Drunken Fish: If you want something quick, fun, and highly casual right on the main strip, this open terrace spot specializes in “seafood cones” (fried shrimp, calamari, or fish served in street food style cones with creative sauces) alongside cold beers.

The Old Cunucu House Seafood Restaurant Aruba

The whole red snapper at The Old Cunucu House is the dish that gets me every time. It comes out plate sized, bone in, skin crisped from the grill, with nothing dressing it up beyond a squeeze of lime and whatever the cook decided that day. You can tell it came off a boat that morning the flesh pulls clean off the bone in flakes, not the mushy give you get when fish has been sitting around too long. The restaurant itself is a 150 year old cunucu house with the original tile still on the floor, and eating on the veranda while the two sisters who run the place move between tables makes the fish taste even better than it probably has any right to. Order it with a side of funchi and don’t rush it.

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