What more can you say about shopping in Aruba except that it's bounteous and you
can max out any number of credit cards in a short afternoon?
Note that shopping in Aruba is not precisely duty-free.
Only the airport departure lounge shops are technically duty-free. The rest of
the shops on the island do offer discounts on some items, as much as 25%, but do some
comparative shopping before plunging into big-ticket purchases.
In addition to minimalls found at many of the hotels on the high-rise and low-rise stretches,
major shopping centers are found in Oranjestad. The Royal Plaza Mall, a colorful center
with colonial Dutch building lines on L.G. Smith Blvd., hosts a number of shops.
Next door is the 90-shop Seaport Village Mall, part of it underneath the Renaissance
Aruba Beach Resort & Casino, and across the street on the piers is the large 60-shop
Seaport Marketplace. These three shopping areas, plus a number of shops on Main St.
(Caya G.F. Betico Croes), a couple of blocks from the waterfront, should pretty well
sate anyone searching for jewelry, crystal, per-fumes, cosmetics, leather goods,
boutique items, cigars, and souvenirs.
Citizens of the United States who have been out of the country for a minimum of 48 hours
and who have not used their respective duty free allowance within 30 days are entitled to a
$600.00 duty free tax exemption. Families traveling together can pool their exemptions,
meaning a couple with two children can bring back $2400.00 worth of articles.
Canadian citizens who have been outside Canada for a minimum of 7 days are permitted a duty
free exemption of $500.00 Canadian dollars. Citizens are also permitted a duty free exemption
of $200.00 each time they are out of the country for more than 48 hours. Exemptions cannot be
pooled with spouse and/or children.
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