Home of the High-Rise hotels, Palm Beach is Aruba's best spot for people-watching. This stretch of white sand, adjacent to Hadicurari beach, is also great for swimming, sunbathing, sailing, fishing, and snorkeling. The resorts sift the sand daily to get rid of pebbles and sharp shells, ensuring a beach as soft as talcum powder. Located smack-dab in the heart of things, it can get crowded, though, and hotel guests stake out the scores of palapas sprouting from the sand early in the morning. With two piers and numerous watersports operators, Palm Beach is also busier and noisier than Aruba's other beaches. The least-crowded areas are to the north, between the Holiday Inn and the Marriott, and to the south, between the Wyndham and the Divi Phoenix. As you walk along the shore, you can wander through the splendid gardens of the beachfront resorts, watch the thriving bird and iguana life, and stop for a cold tropical drink at one of the many open-air bars. The eponymous trees, coconut and date palms, were planted in 1917.