Rodger’s Beach

Rodger’s Beach is undoubtedly Aruba’s most beautiful open boat sailing location. The bay is located at Aruba’s Eastern tip and within the former Lago colony. Sailing conditions are excellent as the easterly wind is hardly interrupted by land combined with the fact that the bay is protected by a reef. The reef is completely submerged but can be spotted by the waves braking on it. There aren’t any shallow spots in the bay so the Sunfish can sail freely with the daggerboard down.

From open sea there is only one entrance to the bay for yachts and fishing boats. The entrance through the reef is about 4 meters deep. It is indicated by a line system consisting of two metals poles sticking out of the water in the middle of the bay. The imaginary line through the two poles points straight at the reef entrance. The poles used to be two meters high but now they are just above the water line. At night the line is indicated by a system of two red lights across the Lago colony chapel and one green light at the top of the stairs leading down to Rodger’s Beach.

A Sunfish racing course at Rodger’s Beach typically span the entire bay. For example: starting at the beach east of the former first pier out to the metal poles in the center of the bay; then on to the east end of the bay close to the group of fishermen’s boats next  to the former Esso Club; then all the way to the west end of the bay close to the bird reserve reef islands across the refinery installations; and then back to the start.

Rodger’s Beach was named after Robert Rodger, a native Scotsman born in 1876. Rodger sailed in the Far East and served as a Reserve Officer in the Royal Navy during World War I. After the war he studied oil transportation in tankers and in 1924 he was sent to the West Indies to investigate the establishment of a terminal somewhere off the coast of Lake Maracaibo. As such Rodger settled in Aruba and became Aruba’s British Vice Consul and Director of Lago Oil and Shipping Co. until 1939. Rodger was also a Rotarian during his time in Aruba and one of the persons instrumental in building the Lago Community Church. Rodger left Aruba in 1939 to return to Schotland where he passed away one year later. Today you can see some pictures of Robert Rodger at Charlie’s bar in San Nicolas. In 1946 a tugboat was named ‘Captain Rodger’ in honor of Robert Rodger. The tugboat was lost during an attempt to rescue a burning tanker just off Colorado point. Many colorful fish now inhabit the wreck of the tugboat, the Captain Roger, lying just off the coast at Seroe Colorado. A steep coral reef nearby is accessible from shore.

At the height of the Lago refinery period in Aruba the Lago colony community used to have many recreational clubs, for example: the Esso Club, the Tennis Club, the Aruba Golf Club, the Aruba Flying Club and the Aruba Yacht Club. The Aruba Yacht Club provided Sunday afternoon sailboat races at Rodger’s Beach. The club was housed in a small pavilion built on the cliff above the boat dock on the beach. The pavilion resembled a well roofed-over porch. There was also space to store the sails and a starting canon. After each race the sailors and their wives would gather here for drinks and to discuss the race.  The beach east of the pavilion used to be populated with ten’s of Sailfishes and Sunfishes stored next to each other. 

Rodger’s Beach used to have three large piers which were popular for fishing and diving. Today only the concrete pillars of these piers remain. However, picnicking remains very popular at Rodger’s Beach

At the West end of the bay there are some small reef islands which serve as protected bird breeding grounds. Access to these islands is prohibited in order not to disturb the birds. During the breeding season a total of more than 10.000 birds may populate the islands. Unfortunately this number has been dropping since tropical storm Ivan destroyed some parts of the islands in 2004. The birds include about ten types of Sterns. However, most common are the Sterna fuscata and the Sterna sandvicensis. In some years up to 4000 pairs of Sterna fuscata and up to 3000 pairs of Sterna sandvicensis may visit Aruba. Sterna sandvicensis is an endangered species and it is estimated that 30% of the world population breeds in Aruba. The birds live on the South American main land and fly out to Aruba’s reef islands in the breeding season.

Rodger’s Beach was also the site where Sunfishes departed several times in the 1970’s and 1980’s for the trip to Adicora, Venezuela. Adicora is a colonial town and windsurfing center on the East side of the peninsula of Paraguaná, Venezuela. To cross the channel between Aruba and Venezuela the Sunfishes were to head windward first for about three hours to ‘Bajo’, a shallow fishing ground 12 nautical miles South East of Seroe Colorado. From ‘Bajo’ they were to sail South West into Adicora avoiding the unfavorable shallow waters on Northern shore of Paraguaná. On the aerial picture to the left you can see the proximity of the Venezuelan cost line in the distance off Seroe Colorado.

The light house at Seroe Colorado (FL 6s 51m 21M), today a metal pole, used to be a real tower. The first tower was made of wood in 1881 and coincided with the creation of the ‘Aruba Phosphaat Maatschappij’. It was visible from 160º (S. 20º) through S., W., N. and E. to 109º (S. 71º E.). The light reached 9 nautical miles. In 1924 the wooden tower was replaced by a stone square tower of 11 meter height and a base of 4 by 4 meter. Its light reached 18 nautical miles and could bee seen from the Paraguaná peninsula. In 1937 electricity replaced gas as power source for the light house. Eventually the lighthouse was removed around 1942. At this time US marines created a coastal battery on Seroe Colorado which required a free shooting angle to defend Aruba’s refinery from submarine attacks.