Are Caribbean on your top travel wish list? Then we really recommend you to read this post! The Dutch island Curaçao in the Caribbean is a must-visit destination and for sure will fulfil your dreams of the real Caribbean dream. The Island forms the ABC-Islands together with Aruba and Bonaire. We’ve both travelled separately to the Island before we met. Continue reading to learn more!
Location And History Of Curaçao
The island Curaçao is located in the southern part of the Caribbean sea. Just 65 km (40 m) north of Venezuela. The Island was first invaded by the dutch in 1634. And has since 1954 been in the Netherlands Antilles together with the other dutch colonies in the Caribbean. Since 2010 Curaçao has become a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The capital of Curaçao is Willemstad. They have three official languages- Papiamentu, Dutch and English. Their currency is ANG – Netherlands Antillean Guilder. And the islands population is 160.000.
How To Get There
For all Europeans the fastest and best way to get to Curaçao is with a direct flight with KLM from Amsterdam-Willemstad. The flight takes around 9 hours. Or from the US you can fly directly from Miami. Then the flight only takes you around 3 hours. Check out options here. Skyscanner is the number one page for finding good flights!
Where To Stay
There are really a lot of options where you can stay when you visit Curaçao, check them out here. I stayed at The Ritz Village Hotel. Which was adults only. Close to the city. And perfect for my type of travel. You could get to most things in Willemstad by foot. And for the rest the local bus is safe and cheap to use. I travelled alone to Curaçao, and luckily there where other solo-travellers living there – so we did lots of things together.
There are also many resorts if you want to live right on the beach. What fits you the best? Choose whatever you feel is the best choice for you. The one on the picture above is Mambo Beach.
What To Do
There are countless of things to do on the island. This really sweet small boat we saw one day when I went to try out windsurfing together with another solo-traveller. Sweet right? Windsurfing is quite popular in the Netherlands and also here on Curaçao. I barely tried. It was quite difficult for a beginner like me. But, I did try SUP (Stand Up Paddle). And that was really fun! Check out availabilities here.
One other really fun thing to do is to rent a car or take the bus to the Westpunt (North-west part of the island). The ride will take you around 45-50 minutes. And a bit longer with the bus like we did. We spent a whole day there so it was totally worth it. We arrived at the beach Playa Forti. There was no other people and we had it all to our self. There we saw this beautiful (and a bit scary) lizard! We also saw turtles while we went snorkelling. Really a cool not-so-touristic place that you’ll have to visit! Snorkelling is one thing that’s really fantastic to do on Curaçao. Do you like to spend time under the sea?
The main reason we went to Playa Forti was to go cliff jumping. The cliff is around 12 meters high (40 ft)! It was nerve-wracking to stand there before the jump. But both of us did it. Not only once, but TWO times each! We had to make sure we had good foto’s of it, both from the beach side and from the top. Would you dare to make this jump? It’ll be scary. But just think of the crystal clear warm water you’ll land in!
Of course many lazy days at the beach with a drink in your hand is also a must do while visiting the Caribbean! Do you agree? The many beaches are totally amazing.
What To Eat
Have you ever tried Caribbean food? I LOVE IT! When you visit Curaçao you just have to try out the restaurant Ginger in Willemstad. That was my first real Caribbean meal- and I’ve loved it ever since. Since then I’ve found a Caribbean restaurant in Oslo that I also absolutely love. And which is a bit easier for me to frequently travel to! Haha. Especially in this Corona- period. Maybe we’ll have to take our vacation to Oslo this year to get a bit of the Caribbean vibe! It’s called Lemongrass if you want to check it out to get a taste of the Caribbean. (I don’t even get payed to mention these two restaurants, I only do it out of food-looove!).
We hope you like our little guide to Curaçao! It’s a place that we both loved and that we’ll love to visit again some day!
