Aruba Open: A Smash Hit for Aruba

The sport of beach tennis has humble roots as a weekend and vacation pastime in Italy in the early 1970s, with participants taking advantage of beach volleyball nets already in place and adding a tennis racquet and ball.  Over the years, a set of rules was standardized and in 1976, Spain hosted the first official beach tennis tournament.  The sport steadily grew in popularity, especially in Italy, Spain, and Brazil.

In the early 2000s, the sport was introduced to Aruba, where the fun-in-the-sun beach tennis lifestyle fit perfectly.  I joined the sport in 2007, immersing myself not only in gameplay but also into the vibrant social atmosphere built on camaraderie and good times.  As an expat living in Aruba, I eagerly casted a wide net, creating friendships that have lasted long past my beach tennis days. 

In 2008, Aruba hosted its first international tournament, held at Moomba Beach on Palm Beach.  At the time, there were maybe 100 regular players in Aruba, and we were a close-knit community.  For most of us, it was our first time meeting some of the top pro players in the world who made the journey from Italy and Brazil. 

The visiting players were captivated by Aruba’s velvety white sand and brilliant turquoise sea.  Our beaches, made of crushed coral that reflects rather than absorbs the sun, create an ideal playing surface—and nothing beats a post-match dip in the tranquil Caribbean Sea.

Aruba’s small community of players welcomed these visiting pros with our famously authentic and warm island hospitality—after all, tourism is our economic pillar, and hospitality is practically in the DNA of the locals here.  And we love a good party!  At the time, these international beach tennis tournaments were serious business, without much fanfare.  That is, until Aruba.  Music is essential to any good party here, and the inclusion of a deejay and a pumping soundtrack during the tournament brought a whole new vibe.  Add in tasty beach cuisine, endless mojitos, and ice-cold local beer and you have the recipe for seaside success. 

But perhaps the most memorable and game-changing moment came on a Sunday night as the final match was played.  It was magical. The deejay turned up the volume, and many of the local players turned the main court into a dancefloor.  Then more joined in, including spectators. The visiting players looked on in awe and one by one joined the party on the sand.  Someone found a water hose and turned it on some of their friends in the crowd, and before long everyone was soaking wet and dancing like no one was watching.  It was an amazing moment for all of us, and videos from that night went viral in the beach tennis community around the world. 

That feeling we all experienced together 18 years ago has a name—we call it the Aruba Effect.  It’s a feeling of joy and contentment that stays with you long after you leave the island.  The players that came for that first international tournament took this Aruba Effect experience home, sharing it with their beach tennis communities.  The next year, the number of players coming to the island for the international tournament doubled.  After three annual tournaments, the event was moved to the wide expanses of Eagle Beach to accommodate the local growth of the beach tennis community, while hundreds of pro and amateur players from more than a dozen countries were now making the trip to Aruba to be a part of what had become the most popular international beach tennis tournament in the world. 

In 2019, a more sustainable approach had the tournament move locations to Bushiri Beach.  While the Eagle Beach location was beautiful, the ever-increasing size and scope of the international tournament could be detrimental to this pristine and award-winning beach.  Additionally, Aruba, and particularly Eagle Beach, is a popular nesting area for endangered sea turtles.  The tournament is held annually in November, which marks the final weeks of hatching season, so relocating the event to Bushiri Beach was less impactful to the environment and more accommodating to the growing infrastructure of the event.

What is now officially known as the Aruba Open Beach Tennis Championships attracts more than 1,200 pro and amateur players from more than 40 countries.  This year there were 47 courts set up along the shore, with the main court grandstand area seating some 1500 fans.  Support from the island community and the Aruba Tourism Authority was key in the tournament’s growth and the whopping $125,000 total prize purse offered this year (the largest tournament purse in beach tennis).

It’s not only the competitors who love the Aruba Open. Over eight days of tournament events, thousands of spectators come to enjoy more than just the on-court action. The tournament offers a full experience, featuring a food court showcasing some of Aruba’s favorite restaurants, boutique shopping, multiple Boho-inspired relaxation spaces, and nightly live music that creates a vibrant, beach-club vibe.

Although I hung up my racquet a few years ago, I still enjoy the Aruba Open, catching up with local friends as well as reconnecting with friends made along the way in the international beach tennis community.  Those of us from the “OG” group of beach tennis players in Aruba have this poetic fondness of the early days of beach tennis on the island and reminisce about those first couple of international tournaments.  And while we do miss the intimacy of that special moment in time, beach tennis has grown into something much bigger for Aruba—it represents so much of what makes this island so special: endless days of sunshine, breathtaking beaches, genuine hospitality, friendship, cultural depth, and a community that knows how to throw one heck of a party!