What documents are required or acceptable (other than passports that we cannot afford)to and from Aruba?

If you are going to be entering and leaving Aruba prior to 12/31/05 a photo ID and birth certificate with raised seal will suffice. After 12/31/05 you MUST have a passport. I think were around $85 ea when we got ours.

sorry molly as of jan 1st you will need a passport to reenter the USA, until then your birth certificate will do.

If you are from the U.S. you will need your Birth Certificate (with raised seal) and a picture ID (drivers license).

BTW - If you are can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on airfare and hundreds of dollars on a hotel, I cannot understand how you can say you can not afford a passport.

If you plan to travel outside the U.S. in the years to come, you will need a passport. So you might as well get it now. It won't get any cheaper to get a passport in the future.

The is from the U.S. Department of State website:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2224.html

Proposed Timeline for Implementation for Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Requirements

The travel initiative requirements will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed implementation timeline is as follows:

December 31, 2005 – Passport or other accepted document required for all travel (air/sea) to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America.

December 31, 2006 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.

December 31, 2007 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air, sea and land border crossings.

Other than passports (which really are best), you would have to take an ID (driver's license) and a birth certificate with an official seal on it. Starting next year you will have to have a passport.

why not read the website. it has the information

by the way, if u cant afford passports, u sure wont be able to afford aruba..no offense but aruba isnt cheap

Until the end of the year a STATE issued birth certificate with raised seal, driver's license and photo ID are acceptable. The problem is not in getting to your destination the problem is when re-entering the USA. The cost of the 10 year passport average is not unreasonable and you'll have a hassle free re-entry.

I just git back from Aruba and we flew American Airlines. Well, I had my birth certificate that had a raised seal. However it was taped together by my mom about 10 years ago. I used the same certificate 2 years ago to go to Aruba and it was fine. This year, they denied me to go on my flight. They said I had to get a new birth certificate. They told me that all travel agencies were notified and its our responsibility to know that a document shouldn't have tape on it. They told us that they will be fined up to 5000.00 if they let me go to Aruba with that document. The workers were rude and just said sorry things like this change all the time....They treated the document like a CSI crime investigation just because it had tape on it. It was legible. I was so upset, but the only thing we could do is drive into NYC to get a new one and sleep at JFK airport over night. ( we live 2 hours away) We lost a day vacation, had to transfer in Miami and had to pay extra money for the hotel in JFK. I am still upset because our whole trip had to be rearranged. I don't think it was our fault at all and our agent had no idea. Our agent is going to help us write a letter to AA. Also, we called AA for customer service but the only way to get help is to write a letter and say we want to be contacted. Has anyone else gone through this? Just make sure your certificate is in good condition when you go!

do not do what i did!! you will need a state birth certificate,drivers liscense and photo ID. I made the stupid mistake of taking my hospital b/c (duh* and was turned away at E-ticket line 1.5 hours prior to takeoff. got a nonstop flight from Dulles the next day. lost 1 day of vacation! (waited to long to apply for passport) am getting the passport this week. after 12/05 only passports will be acceptable; as others have posted here.
I will never go thru that again!!