Curaçao

Great place to visit! I was there twice in one year tdy with Air National Guard unit. 1999-2000.
Best tdy I have everbeen on! :)

While the scenery is beautiful and water even more so, it’s still a place that you’ll want to bring a friend. The natives do speak a fair amount of English, but it can get rather lonesome if you derive pleasure out of more than just lying on the beach all day.

The seafood is amazing and I think there might be some sort of breast-enhancement supplement in the water. As the beaches are semi-nude, you see a lot of that and well…let’s just say these ladies weren’t paying for their assets. To my flat-chested sisters, perhaps moving to Curacao is a safe alternative to surgery.

Unfortunately… But…I did visit the Dolphin Academy and I swam with the dolphins. I must say that this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The water was beautiful, the sun was shining and the dolphins were high on life. I truly wish that I could have seen more but what little I DID see was gorgeous. Can’t wait to go back!!

Go up north. The mid and southern areas aren’t nearly as nice as the northern section.

I’ve been to Curacao 4 times in the past 2 years, all for work. I was lucky enough to be ensconced in a relatively nice all-inclusive resort. I booked extra time on the front and back end of each trip, and spent quite a bit of time exploring the island.

The Good:
The people are quite nice – it’s mix of EuroCarib, as you might expect. Everyone is quite pleasant, and most people speak some amount of English. The food can be a little strange at times, but I suppose that’s some of the ol’ Dutch influence :) My favorite part of Curacao? The beaches, diving and snorkeling. If you can, dive the Mushroom Forest or Watamula. Very nice. For good snorkeling, there’s Tugboat and Porto Marie. The Tugboat is a decent-size tug in about 15 feet of water – it’s fantastic!

The Not-So-Bad: From what I could tell, people there are either wealthy or poor – there’s not much of a middle class. It seems like most people in and around Willemstad are pretty well-off. Move further up the island to the northwest, off the beaten paths, and it can be pretty deserted. But I never feared for my safety – although on the last night of my first trip some one stole the two left tires off of my rental car. As I mentioned in the title, Curacao is NOT a lush tropical island. It is desert, so it’s pretty arid, and you will find the usual complement of desert-style foliage (cacti and scrub brush). Up on the northeast side of the island, it is almost moonscape.

The Ugly: Curacao is well-known for it’s oil refinery operations, so some of the areas around Willemstad are pretty nasty what with the smokestacks and refining operations. But, you can always look off of the other side of the bridge when crossing over :)

Great for diving, but otherwise nothing notable about Curacao.

A warning to all who think they may want to vacation in Curacao. Before you hop on a plane, read this. Curacao isn’t your typical lush, tropical, green leafy Caribbean island. It is rather the opposite. There are cactus everywhere, and also beware of a dreadfully spiky plant called wabi with spikes so long and strong, the can puncture car tires. Wabi is seriosuly everywhere. But don’t let that that i have just said steer you away from this woderful island. That was just a warning so you didn’t expect Curacao to be any different then it is.

Curacao is quite and island. It is famous for it’s snorkeling and diving, which attracts many tourists each year. It shares the same reef system with nearby Bonaire. The sites to be seen underwater are seriosuly incredible. There are 1000’s of brilliant fish, simply saturated with every color imaginable, there are coral formations everywhere and there are even a few wrecks at which you can either snorkel or dive. The wreck i recommend is the Tugboat wreck off Caracasbaai, a beach just east of the Seaquarium located near Spanish Waters. It’s a stunning wreck in only about 15 feet of water, so snorkeling is recommended. It’s a well preserved wreck that went down in the 1970’s and is also a wonderful spot to view tropical fish. I saw a blue parrot fish that was seriosuly as long as my arm!

About snorkeling locations, you can’t beat Playa Lagun, on the western side of the island. Explore the coral formations along the right and left sides of the cove that is Playa Lagun, because there are many exotic fish and pieces of coral it would be a shame to miss. Another primo snorkeling location i discovered was Westpuntbaai, also on the western side of the island, but is more westernly located then Playa Lagun. If you get a chance to snorkel there, explore along the left-most side of the beach, along the sheer drop from the restraunt above. Similarly to Playa Lagun, there are 100’s of fish that congregate there and so many from of coral i can’t even tell you.

If you want a beach at which to simply swimm, not to snorkel, not to sunbathe, just to swim, i highly recommend Playa Jeremi, just West of Play Lagun. It is about the size of Playa Lagun, but with a purely sandy bottom. There is no snorkeling to be done here, but thats not a problem. The water gets deep quickly, and there are no waves or current at all, both making for perfect swimming conditions. If you are at Playa Jeremi and are feeling adventurous, look to the left wall of the beach, all the way out where the left wall stops. Do you see the ladder? It may be coated with coral, but can support anyone. Climb that latter, and climb up the rocks above it (even though it is basically vertical, you can still climb it if you try; if i can do it, anyone can, seriously), then when you get to the top, just jump out into the water. It’s deep enough to be safe for sure, and is so exhilerating!

For hotel recommendations, i recommend Sunset Waters Hotel and Resort, located on the west side of the island in a small town called Soto. It’s about a 30 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of Willemstad, the capital, but thats a good thing. The hotl has a pool with a swim-up bar, a woderfully sheltered beach with thatched cabanas everywhere, and there is even some snorkeling to be done there. The hotel also offers a beach barbecue on Thursday evenings and a fish fry on Monday evenings, but dinner is served every night. I didn’t stay here during my visit, but rather at the house my family owns about a mile away from here, however we ate here many times and were permitted by the manager, who is a family friend, to swim at the beach and pool as often as we liked.

I really hope this helps you on your visit to Curacao. it’s a great island with so much to do and see. The lolcals are gracious and welcoming, the beaches and food are unmatched by any other Caribbean island, and relaxing is the order of the day. To get more tips, check out the book Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao ALIVE. Have fun!

Carley

I expected a green island full with exotic flowers. The opposite is true… but never the less a beautifull island.

Our goal was to relax and i can say that we reached our goal ;) The beaches are great, the water calm, food delicious and when you like fishes (i don’t…) you can dive and see nice coral and colorfull fish.

You guys….we are leaving for Curacao on June 30th! I’m so excited! My uncle owns a house there and we’re staying at it. I’ve never been before, but my parents have been multiple times. i’m so excited, i’ve heard so much about it!

Curacao was the first stop on my 2005 cruise. Willemstad is incredible, with the painted buildings and shops everywhere. We didn’t get to cross the pontoon bridge, but we got to watch it move! Anyway, we took the ferry over to the other side of Willemstad. Unfortunately, there were a lot of tourists (side effect of taking a cruise, I guess), and a bit of price gouging going on at some of the shops.

So we decided to wander in search of a “bus stop by a statue” for the ”$1.00 bus” that would take us to some beach our friend’s mom had been to. Only problem was that our friend couldn’t remember the name of the beach, and his mom was 2000 miles away… After asking around, we found the bus stop, and decided on the most likely candidate: the $1.25 bus to the Seaquarium!! We ended up going to the resort’s private beach, getting kicked off after a few hours (we didn’t realize it was a private beach… at first ;) After checking out the sea lions, we walked over to the public beach, which was just as nice (only more crowded!)

Curacao was definitely one of the most memorable stops on the cruise. I’d go back!