Since moving abroad over 10 years ago, my family and I have gotten creative on where we meet up each year. Sometimes they visit me, sometimes I go back home but, recently, we’ve been meeting in new places in the middle.
The past few Christmases we’ve chosen different Caribbean Islands to meet up in. First it was St. Kitts, then Turks and Caicos, and this past year, Curaçao.
While I’ve hardly met a country I didn’t enjoy, I really fell in love with Curaçao. Home to a unique culture of Dutch, Latino, and indigenous cultures, healthy reefs, and delicious food, it was understandable when my infatuation with the island developed so quickly.
Plus, strategically, it was easy for us to get there from Europe, with a direct flight from Amsterdam, easy for my family with direct flights from Miami, and even easier to visit Raf’s family afterwards, with (you guessed it) direct flights to Bogota. Combine all of this together, and you have a place I’ll be voting on for family vacations to come.
After a week here, I felt like we covered a lot of ground but there’s still plenty left to explore on a return trip. Here, I’ll share the best things we did on our trip and some recommendations from our host that we have at the top of our to-do list for next time.
Short on time? Here’s the cheat sheet
🌴Curaçao is an excellent choice for those that enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving since the reefs are still quite healthy.
🏠I highly recommend you book your stay in Coral Estate to be centrally located and have plenty of amenities right at your fingertips.
🚗To really enjoy your vacation, you’ll want to rent a car. That’s the best way to get around to the beaches.
🏥Accidents happen so come prepared with nomad insurance, just in case!
🎭There are a lot of things to do, see, and experience in Curaçao. If you want a guide, GetYourGuide and Viator offer a wide variety of tours and activities to suit your schedule, budget, and interests.
1. Book a Great Stay
A key to any vacation, especially if you’re traveling with a group is to book a great stay. While Willemstad is cute (more on that later), I don’t recommend staying in the city.
Instead, I’d suggest renting a car and getting on the coast or at least near the beaches that brought you to the island to begin with. The easiest way to decide where to stay on the island is to first think about the activities you plan to do.
For example, if you plan to scuba dive as much as possible, you’ll want to be near the dive shop. Plan to spend your days exploring? You’ll want to do what we did and stay somewhere central on the island so no drive is too long.
We opted to rent a large home in Coral Estate. This community of homes and condos is right on the coast, has a swimming pool, two restaurants, a bar, and a dive center. It’s hard to ask for more amenities than here.
You can browse through all homes in this neighborhood here. From big homes to small condos, we really loved our stay here and would definitely choose the same location next time.
If you want to make your stay even better, consider hiring a private chef for one or two of your meals. Housen Culinary gave us the celebrity experience, preparing us breakfast and dinner on two different days of our trip.
2. Go Snorkeling or Scuba Diving
The reefs in Curaçao are incredibly alive. After seeing plenty of reefs sunbleached and lacking the variety of fish they once had, it was really refreshing to snorkel all around the island and find vibrancy all around.
Although I am a diver, I didn’t dive on this trip. Since most of my family members aren’t, we opted to spend the time snorkeling with them rather than diving on our own. After seeing the reefs along the shore, I’m incredibly motivated to carve out a diving trip next time.
Something that really surprised me about snorkeling here is that each beach offered really diverse marine life. Even beaches that were just a 5 minute drive from one to other had different fish, sea turtles, or even octopuses. We did some off-shore snorkeling on the boat trip but truly I was impressed by what was right off the coast. The farther you swam from the beach, sticking to the rock walls, the better it got.
While I can’t comment on where exactly to go diving, I can recommend a few of our favorite places to go snorkeling:
- Grote Knip: This is one of the more famous beaches so I suggest going early. We went right after breakfast and had the beach to ourselves. A tour bus arrived around 11am, marking our time to leave.
- Playa Lagun: This is a small beach but has great snorkeling on both sides of it, with a high rock wall providing ample reefs for marine life. I thoroughly enjoyed going around the corner on the left-hand side.
- Daaibooi Beach: This is another that gets really crowded later in the day but was the only place we saw sea turtles so for that alone it was worth it.
As you can see, all of my suggestions are on the northwestern coast. There are plenty of other beaches around here that you can pick and choose from. The best suggestion is to just test them out and see what you like the most.
3. Enjoy a Private Boat Tour
What better way is there to enjoy an island than to get out on the water? While there are plenty of shared boat tours, if you can afford a private one, the flexibility is hard to beat.
In our case, our captain was really open to making sure we had fun, rather than sticking to a strict itinerary. We went snorkeling and then decided to simply hang out, enjoy lunch, and some drinks while floating in the water. It ended up being one of my favorite moments of the trip simply for the natural beauty and getting to spend quality time with my family in the crystal clear blue waters.
We booked with Bluefinn Charters and loved it. For more options of tours and budgets, I recommend browsing GetYourGuide.
4. Soak Up the View of Willemstad
Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao and one you’ve likely seen in pictures, even if you didn’t realize where it was. It’s famous for its rainbow row of homes, combining the colors of the Caribbean with the architecture of the Netherlands.
I personally loved seeing the architecture of Willemstad but didn’t love walking through the famous streets as much as I thought I would. It was full of touristy shops and little else.
I still recommend you go and enjoy the view from Queen Emma Bridge but, other than wandering around that side of the city, circle back and instead…
5. Go Shopping in Kura Hulanda Village
Kura Hulanda Village is a relatively hidden part of the city but one well worth visiting. You’ll still get your dose of colorful buildings but in a much more quaint atmosphere. The shops are more higher end and better suited for unique and locally made souvenirs, rather than the mass produced options right in the center.
Give yourself at least an hour to wander around the village, more if you enjoy shopping or want to eat lunch or dinner here. At the very least, I recommend you check out:
- Lionfish Caribbean: Here you can learn more about the invasive lionfish and support the locals by either trying them for lunch or wearing them in jewelry (seriously!)
- House of Stroop: If you’ve been to the Netherlands you know about stroopwafels, but if you haven’t, you can’t go on any longer without giving them a try. These are a decadent dessert that’ll satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth.
If you want to walk around the city after visiting the village, there are numerous murals all around this area. Wander aimlessly and you’ll find one every few blocks or put in “mural” on Google Maps and watch your map light up with options.
6. Visit the Flamingos in Jan Kok
Did you know Curaçao is home to flamingos? I didn’t until visiting and loved the surprise. Seeing them in Jan Kok is really easy as there’s a viewpoint right off the road. It’s really up to luck if they’re right at the viewpoint or farther away in the lagoon so, if you’re not lucky the first time, I recommend pulling over each time you pass.
This is a nature reserve with some walking trails. If you want more chances to see the flamingos or to simply explore more than just the beaches while here, this area looks like a great place to do so.
7. Relax on the Coast
Now I know I gave you plenty of activities to keep you and your loved ones busy on your trip but don’t overlook the obvious: to relax. You’re in the Caribbean after all.
Any of these beaches will be great for this but do know they can get crowded, especially if you visit in high season like we did. Plus all the beaches I saw here are pretty small so there’s limited space for seating. A suggestion if you don’t plan on snorkeling would be to visit one of the beaches that doesn’t have a great reef and then, likely, won’t have nearly as many visitors.
From our experience, most beaches offer chairs and umbrellas for rent so there’s no need to carry around your gear.
Things to Know Before You Go
Now that you’re gearing up for your trip and planning the specifics of where and when you’ll go, there are a few things you don’t need to overlook.
I know just how easy it is to look towards simply visiting this beach of your dreams and forget about all of the little things in between that’ll make your trip run as smoothly as possible. Be sure to take into consideration these few things before you go to make sure you get all the good bits of your trip without the stress.
- Make sure you have travel insurance. A good travel insurance, like SafetyWing, will ensure you’re covered in case of emergencies. While you will have to pay upfront for your doctor or hospital costs, unless it’s for a pre-existing condition, you can file a claim and should be reimbursed. For any Americans reading this, fear not, healthcare in pretty much every other country is far more affordable than ours, even if you’re paying out of pocket.
- Save the hassle of getting a local SIM or the cost of roaming with Airolo, an e-SIM that’ll have you connected from the moment you arrive.
- Boat trips, tours, and other expeditions should all be booked in advance. GetYourGuide has a great selection of tours to choose from in Curaçao.
What Will You Do in Curaçao?
I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Curaçao and although I’ve been to a number of Caribbean Islands, I think this is now my favorite. While I could be wrong, I do think a key to loving it as much as I did is enjoying getting in the water. The reefs and marine life are really impressive in Curaçao so, if you ask me, I’d spend as much of your trip as possible under the sea.
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