Surfside

Surfside is a nice bay conveniently located along the L.G. Smith Boulevard from the start of the airport runway to the Queen’s Wilhelmina Park, Oranjestad. The bay is popularly called “Surfside” after a nightlife establishment and windsurfing center in the 1970’s which was housed in the building now occupied by ‘Havana’. In recent years the name has been revived by the opening of the ‘Surfside Marina’ at the center of the bay.

Sailing conditions for the Sunfish at Surfside are generally good although winds can be strong and often include gusts and shifts. Near the shore the bay contains several shallow spots which the Sunfish sailor should avoid, especially when the daggerboard is down. The Sunfish can easily sail the across the entire bay and out to the maritime light poles marking the eastern entrance to Oranjestad harbor and where waves can be high. Surfside is also a perfect starting place for a Sunfish trip through the lagoon along the airport runway.

A Sunfish racing course at Surfside typically spans the entire bay. For example: starting with a beach start next to the Surfside Marina out to the maritime pole marking the reef across the ‘Surfside Marina’; then windward to a buoy close to beach at Havana; then downwind and out to sea to the maritime light pole to the West of the bay; then windward into the lagoon to a buoy across Bucuti Yacht Club; and back. Typically the course will take 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

Surfside has long been popular for sailing. Surfside was Aruba’s premier windsurfing center before Fishermen’s Hut’s took over this role. Due to its protective nature, Surfside is also a popular anchorage for sailing yachts stopping over on Aruba during longer voyages. Surfside also has a long standing tradition of miniature sailing boat racing. Every year on March 18, Aruba’s Day of the Flag and the National Anthem, races are held by the Aruba Miniature Sailing Boat Foundation (AMSBF). The miniature boats are launched off the landslide at the lagoon mouth and have to cross an imaginary line in front of the Surfside Marina.

Surfside has a rich history. The bay is officially called “Paardenbaai” (English: ‘Bay of the Horses’) after the Dutch in the seventeenth century who made the bay a center for loading and unloading horses from their ships. The Dutch ‘West Indische Compagnie’ (WIC) had conquered Aruba in 1636 and destined it to become an economic center for livestock such as horses, cattle and goats. The animals walked around the island freely and were caught by Indians whenever a shipment had to be sent abroad. Colonists were allowed to settle in Aruba after 1754 and they also imported and exported horses all over the Caribbean. Before the creation of harbor piers a natural method was used to unload the horses: the importing merchant would place a horse on the shore, then the ship crew would drop off horses into the water and the horses would swim automatically to the horse standing on the shore!

In 1780 the Commander who controlled Aruba moved from Sabaneta to Paardenbaai due to increasing economic activity in this area. Also the towns of ‘Playa’ and later ‘Oranjestad’ started emerging here. At that time the shore line reached up to Fort Zoutman. The Dutch built the fort in 1796 to protect the bay from outer attacks. They named the fort after Dutch admiral Johan Arnold Zoutman who had won an important naval battle over the British in the North Sea 15 years earlier. Zoutman however, never visited Aruba nor the Caribbean. The fort was attacked for the first time in 1799 when the Dutch defended it successfully from the English. However, during the Napoleonic wars, Aruba came temporarily under British administration. In 1805 the fort was attacked for the second time when the British successfully defended it from a counter attack by the Dutch over land. Eventually, it took until 1816 for Aruba to be returned to Dutch authority.

In 1868 the Willem III tower was added to Fort Zoutman and it served as a light house until 1963. The tower was named in after King Willem III since the lighthouse lamp was first lit on the King’s birthday. The walls of the tower were created from diorite rock and coral stone held together by limestone mortar. Initially the lighthouse light burned on kerosene which was replaced by acetylene in 1930 and electricity in 1935. In 1937 the upper section of the tower was added, also including the clock with plates measuring 78 centimeters in diameter.

The first-ever aircraft that visited Aruba was a water aircraft which landed in the middle of Paardenbaai on the 4^th of July 1925. It was the German water aircraft “Idoor’ and it only stayed in Aruba for a few hours after delivering some passengers. The airport runway at the Eastern end of Paardenbaai was first created in 1935.

The landfill in front of Fort Zoutman was created as of 1939 and it shortened the bay substantially. Before that time Paardenbaai extended all the way down to the current Havenstraat. The bay used to have four piers all perpendicular to the shore: the “Waaf di Polis” located at the Western side of Fort Zoutman, the “Waaf di Rey” located at the site of the former floating Bali restaurant next to the current Renaissance shopping mall, the “Waaf di Sjon Juan” (a private pier) and the “Waaf di Compania” built in 1897 by the Aruba Gold Mining Company Ltd. The “Waaf di Rey” (pictured left) was the public pier and was used for cargo and passenger ships.

The Queen Wilhelmina Park on the new landfill in front of Fort Zoutman was created to commemorate the governance period of Queen Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina was Willem III’s daughter and she ruled for 50 years from 1898 to 1948. The park was inaugurated in 1955 by her daughter Juliana. The marble statue was created in Florence by Italian sculpturer Arnoldo Lualdi.

In 1942 the German Navy U-Boat 156 commanded by lieutenant Werner Hartenstein appeared in the middle of Paardenbaai in broad daylight during its attack on Aruba. The U-Boat was spotted by a group of children at the Princess Beatrix school across the street. The children mistook it first for a whale but then quickly alarmed authorities!