Aruba is very close to Venezuela: the nearest point of the Venezuelan coast is roughly 25–30 km (about 15–20 miles) across the sea, while the distance between the centers of the two countries is often given as around 770 km (about 480 miles) depending on how it is measured.

Quick Scoop

  • Aruba sits just off the northern coast of South America, directly north of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean Sea.
  • The shortest sea gap between Aruba and the Venezuelan mainland is only a few dozen kilometers, making them near neighbors geographically.
  • When distance is calculated between central points of the two countries (their geographic “centroids”), sources list about 770 km or 478 miles, which is why different numbers appear online.

Why Distances Differ

  • Some sites measure from overall country centers (centroids), giving the ~770 km figure.
  • Others talk about the practical “how close is Aruba to Venezuela” in everyday terms, meaning the minimum ocean distance between the island and the nearest point on the Venezuelan coast, which is only a short hop by air or boat.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.