Planning a beach trip and Curacao came up as one of the choices. Neither of us have been and everything I read about the island sounded like we would enjoy our time there. We wanted to use Craigs Hilton points. Hilton Curacao offered beachfront as well as reasonable amount of points per night so that made the decision easy and we booked.
I can say that if you haven't had the opportunity to visit Curacao definitely put it on your list!!
Through the visit Curacao website you can fill out your passport info and breeze right through the airport upon arrival with their Egates system. We did it and no line for us, will say I was saddened that my passport didn't get stamped but moving right through was really nice!
Outside we had a group taxi that dropped us right at the hotel lobby and this was our view ~
Already I felt comfortable and relaxed!
The hotel staff were so pleasant and friendly within minutes we were up in our ocean view room.
It didn't take us long to start exploring around the hotel ~
2 restaurants 2 bar areas, beautiful pool area, beach, dive shop, car rental, coffeeshop, casino, health spa/workout area, ruins really great hotel amenities.
The first full day we decided we would take the hotel shuttle to Willemstad and wander the city area. What a treat! Walked across the Queen Emma Bridge pontoon bridge. This bridge swings open instead of up!
We did a little shopping along the way to the floating market.
Boats come in from Venezuela with fresh produce and goods. A little bit of everything here!
Great day spent wandering the city, friendly people, affordable, good food and drinks, you can walk as much or as little as you want and have a great experience!
We found that almost everyone we spoke with was multi-lingual, speaking English, Dutch, Spanish and the local Papiamentu. I came home thinking I really needed to work on a second language! We always felt comfortable even though I am sure we looked the tourist part. The local currency Antillean Guilder is accepted everywhere but honestly we didn't exchange that much and used US $ or credit cards easily. It was easy to move around the city and talk with locals as well as other travelers.
The next day we opted for a rental car. I love city buses but touring the island with city bus seemed limiting and we wanted to head completely up one side and down the other stopping along the way so rental it was. As we traveled out it did seem there were less and less bus stops so glad we had the car.
We went along noticing that the north side was cliffs and rough waters after rounding the tip of the island the water was calm and the beaches were abundant, each had a little different feel.
Our first stop was Playa Forti where there is cliff diving. No one diving this day weekends usually busier we were told but still a beautiful beach and ocean view. We were ready to snorkel but not cliff dive so off to the next beach~
World famous Grote Knip this is a stunning beautiful beach with crystal clear waters for snorkeling.
We spent the most time here totally enjoying the afternoon!
There is little snack bar/food and restrooms.
We did stop few more beaches taking time to snorkel and check out the area. Each was just as beautiful and welcoming!
Our last day we hung around the pool and beach at the hotel getting some sun and snorkeling there.
I have a lot of places I want to see so unless I have family or know someone at a place I often don't re-visit it as there is always somewhere new. Curacao is an exception. I would book a trip back. I still feel there is more to experience and enjoy. Also would take our daughter who is a diver as there are numerous dive shops and areas that I believe would be spectacular!!
