In our ongoing coverage of the Caribbean islands, we come to Curacao. This island – or rather, pair of islands – is separate from many of the other Caribbean islands and is instead located just off the coast of Venezuela.

Want to explore other Caribbean islands? Check out our posts on fantastic destinations like St. Kitts, St. Lucia, or a general Caribbean Cruise!

Curacao is part of the continental shelf of South America, and is a hilly, beach-laden island full of exotic plants and animals. In fact, it’s unique amongst the Caribbean islands for being semi-arid, which results in more desert-like species including cacti and iguanas, rather than the more rainforest-focused environment of many of the other islands.

Curacao’s weather is very stable, with lows in the 70s and highs in the 80s pretty much all year round. It’s rainiest and most humid in October and November, but even that is relative; the rainiest days get 3-4 inches of rainfall, while the driest average half an inch to an inch and a half. Basically, while seasons exist, it’s mostly stable.

Curacao is also a great destination to book if you’ve built up points and miles with a good travel credit card. It’s relatively close by, well-traveled, and full of cheap and enjoyable things to do. Give it a try!

So, whether you’re looking for a Caribbean change of pace, or you’re swinging through South America and want to hit the nearby islands, or you’re just island-hopping and spending a few days in each spot, you probably want to do your research and plan a stop in Curacao.

What is there to see and do? Let’s talk about it!

The World Beneath the Waves

To start things off, let’s head off the island to the vibrant blue Caribbean Sea. Most of the Caribbean islands are excellent destinations for snorkeling and scuba diving, each with its own unique ecosystems and attractions. What can you do beneath the waves in Curacao?

Explore the Sea in a Submarine

Relatively few people in the world ever get to spend time in a submarine, and most of the ones who do are either in the military or fabulously wealthy people like James Cameron and can commission a submarine themselves. But what if we told you that you could join a submarine for exploration, scientific research, or shipwreck viewing?

Substation Curacao is a submarine-based tourism and research group that maintains a small, non-military submarine called the Curasub. They offer a shipwreck tour, an exploration dive, and the option to ride along on one of their research trips.

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It’s an expensive trip; the dives range from $450 to $1,000 per person. But where else can you join a private submarine to explore the undersea world? Curacao’s submarine is truly one of a kind.

Tip: Want a similar motorized underwater experience but have a much tighter budget? The Aquafari underwater safari equips you with individual underwater scooters and guides you around a controlled area for brilliant aquatic tourism. More importantly, daily trips start at just $140 per person.

Restore the Reefs

By far one of the most interesting and unique features of Curacao’s underwater ecosystem is the coral reefs. Curacao’s coral reefs have been devastated over the years by everything from diving and fishing to environmental pollution and climate change. Fortunately, people are doing something about it, and you can help!

Reef Renewal Curacao is a conservation organization dedicated to preserving and expanding the coral reefs around Curacao and demonstrating effective restoration techniques that can be used elsewhere in the world. If you’re comfortable scuba diving, you can join them for an educational dive, swim along with a volunteer dive, and even earn a certification to bring those skills with you elsewhere around the world!

Reef Renewal uses a fragmentation technique with specific corals, to break them up and distribute them, where they can become the “seeds” of new corals. It’s a fascinating process, and being able to not just see it, but help do it yourself, is a unique experience you can’t find anywhere else.

Tour the Island’s Natural Wonders

The island of Curacao essentially has one city, a handful of villages, and a lot of nature to explore. Almost as soon as you step outside of the capital of Willemstad, you’ll be surrounded by landscapes, much of which are protected. The question is, what should you do, and where can you visit for the most fun during your trip?

Visit the Fantastic Beaches

Curacao is known for some of the best beaches in the Caribbean, but as a less-frequented island, many of those beaches are free from tourists almost all the time. There are a bunch of options, too, so even if a cruise disembarks and people disperse throughout the beaches, you still might have one all to yourself.

Some of the best options include:

• Playa Kenepa, also known as Kleine Knip. This is actually two adjacent beaches, which are great for snorkeling, a mostly private place to sunbathe, and some fantastic cliff diving. With cliffs rising 20 feet above the sea, the diving here is some of the safest cliff diving you can do anywhere in the world, so it’s a great introduction if you’ve never done it before.
• Cas Abao Beach. This is one of the clearest beaches, with bright blue waters and vibrant white sands that look like something out of a postcard – probably because it has been featured on postcards! It’s one of the more famous and most pristine beaches in Curacao, so it can be a little crowded, but it’s incredible nonetheless.
• Playa Santa Cruz. This beach is surrounded by a mangrove swamp, making it a more isolated and natural beach full of incredible avian life. If you’re a fan of exotic tropical birds and birdwatching in general, this is one of the best beaches to visit.

This is just a handful of the many different beaches, coves, and seaside attractions in Curacao, so feel free to explore on your own!

Tour the Shete Boka National Park

Shete Boka – also known as the Seven Inlets – is a national park and protected nature space in Curacao. It’s located to the north of the island and encompasses pretty much everything there is to see on land in Curacao, in miniature.

There are rock terraces, coastal corals, the Boka Pistol (a natural seaside geyser), and guided tours to make sure you see everything. If you’re at all interested in the geology of the island and its volcanic history, definitely take one of these tours.

Explore the Forts

Dotted around the island are a series of forts built by the Dutch to protect the island from both foreign powers and pirates. Today, the forts are mostly run down, but they’re still fantastic to visit and see the ancient stonework. Fort Amsterdam is the oldest, while Rif Fort is the newest. Other forts include the Waterfort, fort Nassau, fort Beeken burg, and Fort Piscadera.

Waterfort is now the site of the Van der Valk Plaza hotel, and Rif Fort is home to a handful of shops and restaurants, as well as a nearby casino, making it a hub of touristy things to do.

Spend Time with Animals

If you’re an animal-lover but you want to do something more than just snorkel with the fishes or watch the birds, there are a few other things you can make a point to do in Curacao.

First up is the Curacao Ostrich Farm. Curacao is actually one of the largest sources of ostrich resources — feathers, eggs, and meat, as well as breeding the birds themselves – in the world, at least outside of Africa. You can take a safari tour and see the birds, feed them, and, if you fit the criteria, even try to ride one. It’s a wild experience you can’t get much of anywhere else.

Next is Playa Porto Mari, one of the more wildlife-friendly beaches in Curacao. But there’s a twist: instead of the usual birds, turtles, and fish, Porto Mari is a pig beach! That’s right, semi-wild hogs like to stretch out in the sun, root around in the sand for snacks, and generally enjoy the area. It’s similar to the other pig beach we wrote about before.

Visit the Little Curacao Island

Klein Curacao, the second island of the Curacao group, is tiny and uninhabited. Seriously; it’s just 1.7 square kilometers, making it smaller than some city blocks!

The island is small and disused, and it’s time-consuming to get to, so relatively few people take the trip. That makes it perfect as an off-the-beaten-path destination while you’re in Curacao in the first place.

Getting there means taking a two-hour trip on a catamaran, so keep that in mind; if you tend to get seasick, it might be better to skip this trip. But spending a couple of hours on a luxury party boat on the way to a pristine beach is an excellent way to travel if you’re immune to the ebb and flow of the sea.

Once you arrive, there are a few things to do. You can bask on the pristine beaches and watch the local wildlife go about their business. You can even see sea turtles if you’re there at the right time. Birds and other wildlife are also common and fun to see. Snorkeling and scuba diving are also great if you haven’t gotten enough of them already.

In centuries past, Klein Curacao was essentially a prison and quarantine island for sick slaves and served as a burial ground as well. You can explore the island’s ruins, see the old lighthouse, wander the broken-down structures, and imagine the history that went on there. Then, the party boat back, and you’re on your way!

Explore the Capital, Willemstad

Willemstad is the capital of Curacao and the largest hub of civilization on the island. It’s where you’ll arrive, it’s where you’ll leave, and there’s a decent chance it’s where you’ll be lodging unless you’ve booked a resort further afield.

In the city, there are a bunch of things to do. You can easily spend a day just wandering the streets, but if you want to see some of the top attractions, consider seeking out:

• Pietermaai. This district is a neighborhood of disrepair and revival. It was once a wealthy group of mansions, but fell into disrepair; today, artists are taking over, reviving the facades and turning it into a zone of culture and color.
• Landhuis Bloemhof. This 1700s plantation grounds has been repurposed as a cultural center to visit and learn about the history and culture of the island. It’s also vibrant and artistic, with exhibitions and lectures taking place regularly; definitely catch one if you can!
• Hemingway. The world-famous beach bar is one of the top destinations for Curacao’s nightlife. If you’re a fan of cocktails and want to try something famous, Hemingway is the place to be.
• Otrobanda. This is the historic port and is home to most of the UNESCO-designated historic buildings in Curacao. It’s free to explore and see the sights, so give it a wander.

Willemstad also has a ring road surrounding the interior waterways of Schottegat. It’s more of a highway than a scenic drive, but it’s easy to hop on and give the area a shirl to see what you can see. The only downside is that much of what you can see is port infrastructure, like the refinery zone and the Containerhafen shipyard. Still, if nothing else, it’s a great way to travel the city.

Your Recommendations

There’s plenty to see and do in Curacao that we didn’t mention above because there’s just so much available! It’s easily a place you can spend a week exploring and lounging, and even then, you may feel like you have more to see if you just extend your stay.

Since we haven’t even seen and done everything, we turn to you; what are your favorite things to do and places to go in Curacao? Let us know all about it in the comments below!