After a couple Europe trips, and following the 18 months of pandemic restrictions, we finally managed to get out of Europe for the first time. Aiming for a specific country wasn’t that easy, as the individual Covid rules were changing daily from country to country. Something that was legal this week, could have become illegal the following week.
Thailand wasn’t open yet for tourism, except Phuket. Same counts for the U.S . Infections were on the rise in Columbia and Mexico. There wasn’t a real safe zone that could promise safe holidays without a hassle.
Curaçao popped up; the infection curve was quite low, and the allowance for vaccinated travelers made it easy to visit the country. All we needed was a PCR-test, and a travel insurance (due to covid). On the 3rd day, we would have to undergo another Antigen-Test in Curacao for 20 us$. Everything turned out just fine. We made it to the Caribbean !
After passing the usual business upon arrival at the airport (a local simcard was 50$), we stepped outside the arrival hall, and noticed the dutch language among the locals chitchatting with the tourists. American fastfood stores were decorating the first sights on the island.
The taxi driver, was a bulky bald guy, with a suntan and a dutch english accent. He reminded me so much of the dutch legendary fighter Bas Rutten. Curaçao seemed to be a big melting pot of the european and african culture.
Sadly during our taxi ride (which was 40$ to get to the city center of Willemstad) we were told, that the government imposed another curfew, starting at midnight. The shops had to close at 18:00h (6pm). Restaurants could remain open until 23:00 (11pm).
While choosing between Aruba and Curacao, we went for Curacao partially as it was supposed to have less restrictions. But I think in the end it was coping with the same pandemic restrictions as Aruba.
Willemstad.
After checking in at the Saint Tropez Hotel at around 9pm, we decided to have a walk, to see what the streets would be like around our accomodation. That first night we noticed that actually not much was going on. For a travel destination, and by the way, not a cheap one, the city was literally dead at night.
All the menus and signs were written in english and dutch. Prices were shown in “guilders” and US-dollars. You could pay in both currency. (1$ = 2 guilders).
We decided to split our stay at two different hotels during our 10 day stay on the island. Willemstad seemed to be the busiest city, other areas were rather known for its fancy resorts. During the following days, it turned out that our expectations of the city center slightly differed from what was actually happening.
Don’t get me wrong, the neighbourhoods are kinda unique, colorful houses with a tiny touch of Cuba, mixed with the architecture of the Netherlands. Some restaurants and bars are bordering with the sea, which comes with a splending view while enjoying your order. There were a couple of palmtrees spread out through out the city, that would give you a caribbean feel. Some parts of the city were pretty indeed.
On the other hand, at the most famous pedestrian bridge, Queen Emma Bridge, the luxurious stores, Rolex, Panerai, Tudor, ..were lined up, to decorate the most popular colored houses of the city. There was this weird contrast between poverty and luxury, nothing was left inbetween both ends. And you could feel that as a tourist, walking around with your camera on the back, and the locals staring at you while smoking a cigarette or sharing a cheap drink.
As for myself I missed the african/caribbean influence in the streets of Willemstad. It felt so heavily european. And it was supposed to please the tourists. Fancy dining places, luxurious hotels. Half alive in the morning, and dead at night (obviously due to the pandemic).
The restaurants were rather flashy, knowing that the locals don’t make the kind of money, the “white tourists” are bringing money to the island. Nothing was cheap. Expect to pay 30$ for a meal at a restaurant, 10-12$ for a drink. Some nights we ended up paying 100$ for 2 people, with only one drink (no bottle).
We managed to visit Plasa Bieu a couple of times. Plasa Bieu was a local foodcourt, where the citizens of Willemstad went for lunch. The place opened at 11:00 and closed its doors when the food was sold out (around 3 or 4 pm). It was the only kind of authentic food place that we discovered in Willemstad. Even there you had to pay 8-12$ for an average dish: rice, beans and meet or fish. They served it in paper boxes or paper plates. I loved it, as it felt less flashy than its surrounding restaurants.
Willemstad didn’t have much to offer, Queen Emma bridge, the colorful houses, a handful of very uninteresting shops, 2 neighbourhoods (Otrobanda & Punda). You could go for the aquarium and the “blue curacao” liquor factory. However it all looked super dull online, that we didn’t do the tour.
There was a daily market, which we visited a couple of times in the morning, as it was one of the few places that felt curacao-ish. Locals selling their crafts and homemade products for cheap money. It reminded us of the night markets in asia, kind of… but still not comparable with their huge markets.
South of Willemstad, we spent half a day at Mambo Beach, which is a man-made beach with sand, huts and palmtrees. Actually it’s worth to spend some time there, especially with kids. Mambo beach, hosts many shops and beach bars, and is definitely up to entertain the tourists. We enjoyed our visit.
Certainly the main city isn’t culturally on top, however you can find some delicious options, to spend your money. We loved Kome & Roast Cannibal Rumbar. The last one offers all kinds of foods, despite its carnivorish name. The staff of “Roast” was super friendly and offered us the best service. Without a doubt a fine dining spot!
The island & beach hopping.
You get can the full blast experience of Willemstad within two whole days. There’s really not that much to enjoy in the main city. Get a car and witness what Curacao is famous for, its blue shiny coves. We managed to see a handful of beaches:
Playa Fort
Playa Lagun
Playa Kenepa (Grote Knip)
Playa Jeremi
Playa Grandi
Porto Marie
Mambo Beach
To be honest, I’m not a beach bum. I could survive a trip for not getting a sun tan, however I do really love the sea, and be in the water. So we had couple of joyful mornings drive across the green island, to do some snorkeling in the clearest waters. The photos speak for themselves. I can’t deny the beauty of Curacao’s beaches.
The downside would have been the hundreds of dutch tourists. Barely no locals were visiting the beaches, except on our last morning in Lagun Beach, where a group of “Curacaoans” were enjoying themselves in the shadow under a palmtree, dancing, twerking and having a good laugh. All the tourists on the beach, including us, really enjoyed their presence, as it made the beach day more authentic. That’s actually what I expected on the island: rum, dancing, loud latin/african music, and lots of laughter.
Our favorites must have been Playa Lagun, for its cosiness, and Playa Kenepa for it’s wide angled view from above the entrance to the beach.
Snorkeling was kinda fun at any beach. We were lucky to meet a turtle underwater, while snorkeling far away from the tourist crowds. It’s was one single water turtle, but we were the only ones spending time with the animal. Definitely one of my highlights at the beach.
Expect to drive 30-45 minutes to reach most of the beaches and coves. The route isn’t very entertaining, you will get short instant scenic sights, but most views are just about the green plains of the island. On the way to the beach, there are two main spots where you can observe the pink flamingos. As they live free in a natural environment, you are just able to take photos from a certain distance. Nice to see, but don’t expect too much of an experience.
Bring drinks and food as well! Only a few beaches have a bar. As the temperatures tend to get very high around noon, it would feel like a torture to not hydrate yourself. Obviously if you fancy an umbrella or a sun-bed you gotta pay 10-12$.
Local life.
What I actually missed during this trip, was the interraction with local people. We only shared some small talk with waitresses or the women at the marked, where we spent our money. I can’t tell if the curacao people were rather reserved, or due to the pandemic, that the whole city was in a slow motion mode.
The only communication happened when we had to spent some money. Some people consider their experience as a paradise on earth, because of the wonderful beaches, however this wasn’t the case for myself.
The covid pandemic definitely hit the whole world right in its hard. And the poorer countries are without a doubt struggling a lot more with their weaker economy. On our last two nights, the streets got pretty busy for a couple of hours, and I can imagine that pre-covid, Curacao could have been a lot nicer. However as already mentioned, outside of Willemstad, there’s really nothing to experience except raw nature without its people.
As for myself I enjoyed the strolls through the neighborhood, as it didn’t feel like being in a dutch city. The wooden houses and the colors were rather on the caribbean flair.
It definitely felt great to be far away from home again, after being attached to the closer countries for more than a year. I expected Curaçao to be a little more of an eye-opener. This wasn’t the case for my own personal preference. However I will just stop complaining about it.
We had a lovely time with our daughter, who was discovering the waves and the dips into clear blueish water. This would count for me as well. I learned that there’s a language called “papiamento” out there. Blue Curacao (the liquor) is way overrated or underrated…from now on the blue colored cocktails will always remind me of the beautiful coves of Curaçao.
(This beautiful coctail, was served at the restaurant “BALI”, which serves thai and indonesian food. Definitely a recommandation, as we were blown away by their padthai.)
