What’s it wish to journey to Curaçao?

We ended up in Curaçao on a whim — and it ended up being one in all our favourite islands within the Caribbean.

Between an extremely cool capital metropolis, a number of the bluest water I’ve ever seen, and iguanas all over the place, Curaçao is a vacation spot like no different!

So how do you find yourself ANYWHERE within the Caribbean on a whim? My husband Charlie and I knew we needed to be in Barbados in early December for our Star Clippers cruise, however we needed to fly KLM enterprise class if we might, and choose up some KLM homes for our assortment.

Effectively, KLM flies to Curaçao. Growth. Booked!

We didn’t go in utterly clueless. A few of my buddies actually love Curaçao, and I knew that it was one of the photogenic Caribbean islands, with attractive, colourful structure and seashores with clear, attractive water.

Earlier than our journey, I reached out to the Curaçao Vacationer Board they usually provided to offer us a rental automotive with Plusify Rentals, a ship journey to Klein Curaçao with Mermaid Boat Trips, and a day with a cabana and therapeutic massage at Mondi City Beach Club. All the things else we paid for ourselves, together with our lodge, meals, and actions.

After which we bought to Curaçao — and found this could be essentially the most “us” Caribbean island there was. A spot that couldn’t be simpler to discover independently. An island that wasn’t overdeveloped. Landscapes with cacti and iguanas. Cliffs overlooking the brightest turquoise water.

We had a blast. And now I’m making an attempt to persuade my buddies to go to Curaçao, too. So if you wish to know extra, this submit is a superb place to begin!

This submit was revealed in January 2026.

Inform me about Curaçao!

Curaçao is a small island off the coast of Venezuela within the southern Caribbean, near the islands of Aruba and Bonaire, in addition to the coast of Venezuela.

These three islands are known as the ABC islands, and Curaçao is the biggest and most populated of the three.

Is Curaçao a rustic?

It’s technically a rustic throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands (together with Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, St. Eustacius, and Saba).

These 5 islands had been often known as the Netherlands Antilles till 2010, when the NA dissolved and every island turned an impartial nation throughout the Netherlands. You possibly can refer to those islands because the Dutch Caribbean right this moment.

Curaçao is sort of like Scotland or Wales in that they’re a rustic inside a bigger nation, however they play within the World Cup below their very own flag. In reality, in 2025 Curaçao turned the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup!

Then there’s the Olympics. Curaçao competed below the Netherlands Antilles flag till 2008, and right this moment they compete below the Netherlands flag.

What about language, cash, and telephone plans?

A number of languages are spoken in Curaçao, together with English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamento, a neighborhood Creole language. You will get by with English simply superb. When procuring in shops, locals would typically converse Spanish to me.

Regardless of being a part of the European Union, Curaçao doesn’t use euros and your EU telephone plan won’t work right here.

As a substitute, Curaçao makes use of the Caribbean Guilder (XCG) for his or her foreign money, although US {dollars} are often accepted. St. Maarten additionally makes use of the Caribbean Guilder; Aruba and Bonaire don’t.

You need to use playing cards for nearly your entire purchases on Curaçao, however I like to recommend carrying round sufficient foreign money for a day’s bills. There was an enormous energy outage once we had been visiting the west of the island, and lots of locations had been solely taking money.

Curaçao is very easy to discover independently.

What I cherished most about Curaçao is that it was really easy to discover as an impartial traveler. For 2 huge causes: it’s an affordable measurement, and the driving situations are fairly comfy.

From Willemstad, the capital, to the seashores within the west of the island, it’s a few 50-minute drive. From Jan Thiel, the neighborhood east of Willemstad that’s house to many resorts, it’s about an hourlong drive to the western seashores. Fairly cheap!

And the roads are nice. Roads are in good situation for essentially the most half, there are by no means any super-steep or calamitous driving areas, there aren’t any difficult or complicated intersections, and the drivers are fairly cheap (although some will certainly tailgate if you happen to’re going under the velocity restrict).

After visiting round 15 or so Caribbean islands, I can attest that Curaçao is without doubt one of the finest locations to discover by automotive by yourself. It’s a far cry from the excessive velocity drivers of Barbados, the curvy nausea-inducing roads of St. Lucia, or the pothole-covered streets of Dominica.

Curaçao can also be an extremely secure island to go to, and also you don’t have to take precautions past basic travel safety.

On some islands, it seems like you should take excursions so as to truly discover the island, which finally ends up costing more cash than you could need to spend. Not so on Curaçao. Go wherever you need. Discover what you need to discover. Drive your self there. Depart everytime you need. That is YOUR trip.

Briefly, driving in Curaçao is straightforward and joyful, and I extremely advocate you hire a automotive. Simply remember that Google Maps isn’t at all times 100% correct. It often needed us to bang a u-ey the place there have been indicators studying “NO U-TURNS.”

I additionally really feel like Curaçao is developed the proper quantity. There are resorts and resorts, sure, and at numerous worth factors, however it’s not end-to-end resorts right here like on some Caribbean islands. As you drive across the island, particularly extra rural areas, you see numerous small and colourful properties the place locals dwell.

Whereas tourism is a big a part of Curaçao’s earnings, it feels just like the island hasn’t utterly given over to tourism. Locals are valued right here.

On prime of that, Curaçao by no means felt crowded in any respect (excluding Willemstad when two huge cruise ships had been on the town). Even in the beginning of excessive season, it was at all times simple to discover a parking spot on the seashores. It wasn’t arduous getting seated at eating places, both.

Curaçao has the clearest, bluest water.

The one factor many individuals learn about Curaçao is the existence of Blue Curaçao, the intense turquoise liqueur that brings to thoughts the Caribbean. And actually, we’ll get to the liqueur later — however every thing concerning the coloration of the water is completely true.

Curaçao has an abundance of swimming spots with brilliant blue water. Listed below are a number of of them:

So if good images and movies with brilliant blue water is a precedence of yours, you must completely contemplate Curaçao!

Willemstad is a superb metropolis.

Willemstad is a delight of a metropolis, crammed with lovely structure, colourful murals, and many good eating places. Willemstad rapidly turned one in all my favourite Caribbean cities I’ve ever visited (together with San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort-de-France, Martinique — although I believe Willemstad is the prettiest of all of them).

And Willemstad may be very secure and simple to discover by yourself.

The one factor I ought to warn you about is that Willemstad generally will get overloaded with cruise ship guests, which generally is a bit annoying.

It’s at all times a good suggestion to have a look at the native cruise ship schedule and plan your Willemstad exploration when the fewest cruise passengers are on the town. (I do that in each cruise port I go to, from Dubrovnik to Alghero.)

One factor to not miss is the Queen Emma Bridge. This pedestrian-only bridge connects the Punda and Otrabanda sides of Willemstad, and it truly swings out when it must accommodate giant ships!

More often than not, it solely swings out a bit of bit to accommodate speedboats. However if you happen to’re there when it swings ALL the way in which out, it’s a deal with to look at! Simply know that if the horn goes off once you’re on it, get your self to the opposite facet rapidly.

For me, the most important pleasure of Willemstad was simply strolling round, taking images, and admiring the surroundings.

However if you wish to do extra sightseeing, you possibly can go to the Kura Hulanda Museum, which focuses on the Trans-Atlantic Enslavement Commerce and Curaçao’s position in it, and Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, the oldest regularly open synagogue within the Americas.

Rif Fort is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Web site of Willemstad, Internal Metropolis and Harbour. And whereas there are some cool out of doors elements to discover, right this moment the fort is usually crammed with outlets and eating places catering to vacationers.

For a pleasant memento, I like to recommend stopping by Heinen Delfts Blauw, a store in Rif Fort that includes attractive porcelain gadgets. Charlie and I picked up 4 colourful homes formed like Curaçao’s buildings so as to add to our KLM homes assortment.

And if you happen to’d wish to get out into nature proper within the metropolis, you possibly can go kayaking in Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park!

Thursday nights are the perfect night time in Curaçao!

If you happen to’re going to be in Curaçao for lower than per week, I strongly encourage you to have a minimum of one Thursday night time throughout your keep. Thursday nights are Punda Vibes — when the Punda neighborhood goes all out with music and celebrations!

That is such a enjoyable time to exit in Willemstad. I cherished how alive the town felt.

On the recommendation of locals, we went to Cascada Rooftop Bar to look at the fireworks at 8:15 PM. It’s a well-liked spot and there was no seating out there, they informed us — however we discovered an enormous desk and simply sat there, and no person appeared to care. You may as well stroll round if no tables are free.

And one other factor — Thursday could be your solely probability to expertise nightlife in Curaçao. I used to be genuinely stunned at how useless Punda was nearly each different night time. Some eating places shall be open, after all, however most bars gained’t be.

Klein Curaçao makes a stunning getaway-from-your-getaway.

So, you’re already on a small tropical island. What do you do? Clearly, head to a fair smaller tropical island!

There’s a small island to the southeast of Curaçao known as Klein Curaçao, or Small Curaçao. A day journey right here is without doubt one of the hottest actions in Curaçao.

Klein Curaçao is a small, flat island a few 90-minute journey from Curaçao. There are a number of sights to see, like an previous lighthouse and some shipwrecks, and the snorkeling off shore is great.

There are a number of tour suppliers that do the boat journey to Klein Curaçao. We went with Mermaid Boat Trips, who hosted the 2 of us, and actually, I wouldn’t go together with anybody else!

So what do you do on the island? Charlie and I did a lap, testing the lighthouse and shipwrecks, however spent the majority of our time swimming within the sea and enjoyable on the Mermaid compound.

Sure, there’s a compound, a bit ramshackle however with every thing you want (and larger than something every other firm has). There’s a actual lavatory, numerous areas to eat, snorkeling gear, and greater than sufficient seashore chairs for everybody. Charlie and I bought seashore chairs and a palapa and nobody else was even close to us!

We had a breakfast buffet, together with breakfast sandwiches and fruit salads. Lunch was an enormous barbecue with hen, burgers, ribs, rice, and salads, and it was all scrumptious.

There’s additionally a bar making tasty frozen cocktails, which aren’t included.

The journey takes about 90 minutes there and about an hour on the way in which again. It’s a bit uneven at occasions, and I like to recommend movement illness tablets in case you are vulnerable to seasickness.

What makes the Klein Curaçao journey price it? I believe it makes a pleasant day the place you possibly can flip your mind off and simply lounge, the place you get to dwell with out wifi or telephone sign, and every thing is dealt with for you. It’s particularly good if you happen to’re staying at a lodge within the metropolis relatively than a resort, so you continue to get to have a resort-like day.

The price for the day journey is $140 USD per grownup, $70 USD per youngster age 4-12, and free for youngsters three and below. Decide-ups can be found for an additional charge; we drove to the dock.

One tip: the tour contains breakfast and lunch, however you’re not served breakfast till you’re on the island. (There’s espresso on the boat, although.)

For that purpose, I extremely advocate stopping at Coffee Bike Curaçao within the car parking zone throughout the road (that’s a Google Maps hyperlink) and getting a espresso and cake to stave off your starvation in the course of the boat journey.

Curaçao has a well-known liqueur!

If you happen to’ve ever labored in a bar, you’ve most likely seen a bottle of Blue Curaçao — a liqueur from the island within the brightest shade of turquoise, good for making neon cocktails just like the Swimming Pool.

However there’s far more to Curaçao’s liqueurs than simply the blue one!

On our one cloudy day of the journey, Charlie and I drove to the Landhuis Chobolobo (what a reputation!!) to go to the Curaçao Liqueur Distillery.

We took a tour and discovered that Spanish settlers meant to domesticate Valencia oranges in Curaçao, however they didn’t develop nicely on this local weather and the fruit got here out bitter. However it wasn’t an entire loss — the peels had been ripe for distilling.

And the well-known blue coloration? It’s completely a gimmick. It was simply added for enjoyable. Curaçao liqueur is available in numerous flavors, most of them in pure brownish colours. We had been stunned that we loved the chocolate and low liqueurs essentially the most!

After the tour, you get to get pleasure from some cocktails within the bar. Additionally they have an intensive listing of scrumptious nonalcoholic mocktails, that are good on your designated driver.

Chill Out at a Seashore Membership

If you happen to’re staying at a non-beach lodge in Curaçao like me, it may be enjoyable getting the seashore resort expertise elsewhere. Klein Curaçao is the lie-on-the-beach-and-veg expertise, however if you’d like one thing a bit extra high-end, spend a day at a seashore membership!

We spent a day at Mondi City Beach Club, who hosted us, and we had a wonderful time. This membership is situated inside strolling distance from Willemstad, near the cruise terminal and Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park.

There isn’t an precise seashore right here, however it’s perched on the shoreline and there are good swimming pools for cooling off.

We bought the Cabana XL package deal for the day, which prices 200 Caribbean guilders or $111 USD. It contains a big shaded cabana for 2 folks, one snack platter, two apps, two foremost programs, two drinks (beer/wine/gentle drinks), one bottle of wine, and one bottle of water. I believe that’s GREAT worth for cash!

There was SO a lot meals, and it was so tasty. The cheese balls might need been essentially the most addictive meals I ate in Curaçao.

So what did we do this day? We relaxed. We ate. We learn. We drank cappuccino milkshakes. We loved being shaded all day lengthy, and we bought an hourlong therapeutic massage, which Mondi Metropolis supplied for us as nicely.

There are iguanas EVERYWHERE in Curaçao.

Curaçao has way more of a desert really feel than the rainforest-covered islands within the Jap Caribbean. Dry, sandy expanses and many cacti. And there are iguanas EVERYWHERE!

I cherished seeing these cool animals pop up elsewhere. They’re pretty cool with people, for essentially the most half, so you possibly can simply {photograph} them.

The place the place I noticed essentially the most iguanas was at Bahia Restaurant, the restaurant overlooking Playa Lagun. There needed to be 5 or 6 good-sized iguanas hanging out up there, basking within the solar, gazing upon the seashore prefer it was their kingdom.

In case you have a child who loves lizards, that is another excuse why Curaçao could be for you.

They even eat iguana in Curaçao. I didn’t partake, nor did I search for it — however I do know you could find it with a little analysis.

The place to Eat in Curaçao

We spent 5 days in Curaçao, which gave us an opportunity to strive numerous totally different eating places. Listed below are the locations we preferred:

Cafes in Willemstad

Van Gogh Specialty Coffee — A pleasant cafe and breakfast spot in Punda with a number of the higher espresso we had on the island. Good place to go once you’re jet-lagged and up early.

House of Stroop — A small cafe in Otrobanda specializing in stroopwafels, the perfect Dutch meals merchandise ever to exist! Get those made contemporary; they’re so a lot better.

Eating places in Willemstad

Plasa Bieu — A market corridor in Punda turning out scrumptious, hearty plates of native delicacies.

Mar y Tierra — A classy-feeling spot in Punda, subsequent door to Cascada Rooftop Bar. They made some scrumptious ceviches.

— Nothing earth-shattering at this place in Punda, however you will get easy dishes like sandwiches, wraps, and Caesar salads. Additionally they have a full breakfast menu.

Bario Food Yard — I believe we had an off night time at this place in Otrobanda — it was abandoned and many menu gadgets weren’t out there — however the meals was first rate and it appeared like it might be enjoyable on a busier night time.

Bars in Willemstad

Swinging Old Lady Brewery — A brewery in Otrobanda with a FANTASTIC identify, a pleasant out of doors seating space, and a few tasty native beers.

Cascada Rooftop Bar — Good place to look at the fireworks in Punda on Thursday nights. Our cocktails had been ridiculously tasty — I had one thing that tasted like a watermelon Jolly Rancher!

World’s Best Mojito Bar — Tasty mojitos within the coronary heart of Punda, and I made a enjoyable video right here. Take note they shut at 6:30 PM each night time however Thursday night time.

Locations Exterior Willemstad

Bahia Restaurant — We solely had drinks right here, however the view overlooking Playa Lagun is SENSATIONAL. Top-of-the-line views on the island.

Discover Lagun — A enjoyable and informal out of doors restaurant with nice burgers simply subsequent door to the car parking zone at Playa Lagun.

Coffee Bike Curaçao — A bit espresso bar constructed on a bicycle in a car parking zone throughout from the place numerous the boats to Klein Curaçao go away in Caracasbaai, Jan Thiel. I extremely advocate getting espresso and cake (the banana bread was nice!) earlier than your boat journey.

Easy methods to Get to Curaçao

Curaçao could be simpler to succeed in than you suppose! As somebody from the Boston space, the place a LOT of individuals go to Aruba for trip, I used to be below the impression that Aruba was the massive hub and Curaçao was the facet vacation spot, however that’s not the case in any respect.

There are direct flights to Curaçao from numerous North American cities, together with Miami, New York, Toronto, Chicago, and Atlanta, amongst others. There are additionally direct flights from Amsterdam, which is one of the best ways to fly in from Europe.

You may as well fly direct from Curaçao to the opposite ABC islands, Aruba and Bonaire, in addition to a handful of locations within the Caribbean and South America. There aren’t any worldwide ferries.

Charlie and I flew from Prague to Amsterdam to Curaçao on our method in, and from Curaçao to Trinidad to Barbados on our method out.

The place to Keep in Curaçao

The place to remain in Curaçao relies upon solely on what sort of journey you need to have. Some folks come right here for the resort expertise, however you may as well have a extra native expertise staying in a smaller guesthouse within the metropolis.

We selected to remain in Willemstad, at Atelier Skalo Boutique Hotel, which was largely good, however had one huge downside. The situation was PERFECT — simply over the bridge from Punda, so we might simply stroll over and luxuriate in eating places and metropolis life, however there was additionally ample road parking and it was simple to drive out and in.

The room was a superb measurement and tastefully embellished, the breakfast was paid however was first rate, and the workers had been good.

The massive downside of this lodge is that the water by no means bought hotter than lukewarm. I can take care of that when it’s actually scorching out, however if you happen to’re hanging out in an air conditioned room and go bathe in not-that-warm water, it’s not nice.

So if that’s a downside for you, don’t keep there. If that’s not an enormous deal, keep there!

Scorching water isn’t at all times a given within the Caribbean. We had been within the Caribbean 4 weeks and solely had constant scorching water at one place. So preserve that in thoughts.

High-Rated Locations to Keep in Curaçao

Finest Time to Go to Curaçao

The ABC islands — Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao — are particular as a result of they virtually by no means get hurricanes. These islands are situated within the southern Caribbean, exterior the hurricane belt.

For that purpose, if you happen to’re set on a Caribbean journey in September or October (prime hurricane season), I believe Curaçao would make a superb alternative.

However total, Curaçao’s peak season runs from November via March, when there tends to be extra sunshine and fewer rain, and when the northern hemisphere is experiencing chilly temperatures.

And whereas I visited on the finish of November and starting of December, there was a short mild bathe day by day. It wasn’t sufficient to disturb us; we simply waited a couple of minutes and it was over. That’s fairly commonplace for the Caribbean.

Is Curaçao Value It?

After studying all this, you could be questioning if it’s truly price visiting Curaçao. Effectively, let me let you know one thing — I cherished it right here, I’d return in a heartbeat, and I’ve been recommending it to lots of my journey buddies.

I believe Curaçao makes a superb alternative for people who find themselves pretty well-traveled and luxuriate in exploring independently. The cool landscapes, pleasant folks, and enjoyable issues to do are all a bonus.

I hope you might have a wonderful time in Curaçao!

Extra on the Caribbean:

Extra on what it’s wish to journey right here:

Have you ever been to Curaçao? Have any suggestions? Share away!