Every island has one place where the tourists haven’t fully figured out what the locals have always known, and in Aruba, that place is Zeerovers in Savaneta. This is a working fishermen’s cooperative on the south coast, far from the Palm Beach resort strip, where fresh-caught fish and seafood gets fried right in front of you and served in paper bags for around ten dollars. The ‘bar’ is whatever cold Balashi you can grab from the cooler. The seating is picnic tables on a wooden pier over the water. Boats come and go. Pelicans circle. Local families mix with the knowing visitors who drove thirty minutes south specifically for this. It is, without question, the most authentic dining experience on the island, and possibly the best ten-dollar meal in the entire Caribbean. Go at lunch. Get the shrimp.
