WHERE’S THE BEACH?
This is not meant to denigrate Sandals Royal Curaçao, but don’t go there if lounging on a beach is an important part of your destination. The beach at the Curaçao resort is practically nonexistent and is simply a stretch of sand along the inlet that leads to the marina beyond the resort and the area is edged by a pier where the resort’s dive boats moor. Though the water is clear, the bottom is grassy and there are no waves.
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| Curaçao sand |
This is not meant to denigrate Sandals Royal Curaçao, but don’t go there if lounging on a beach is an important part of your destination. The beach at the Curaçao resort is practically nonexistent and is simply a stretch of sand along the inlet that leads to the marina beyond the resort and the area is edged by a pier where the resort’s dive boats moor. Though the water is clear, the bottom is grassy and there are no waves.
The shoreline for the
rest of the resort is rocky with treacherous waves and foreboding signs warning
against entering the water.
This is not to say the
“beach” at Sandals Royal Curacao isn’t lovely. With plenty of palms and
thatched Palapa umbrellas and chaise lounges the area is quiet and peaceful.
There’s also a bar and the Strand (Dutch for beach), which is a great open-air restaurant
serving lunch and dinner.
The view is great, except the water in uninviting.
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| Sandals Curaçao Infinity pool and the "beach" in the background |
Don’t worry, the rest
of the resort does not disappoint. Sandals Royal Curaçao, the latest addition
to this all-inclusive, adult couples only Caribbean family of resorts has
plenty of pools dotted across the nearly half-mile stretch including a massive
double decker infinity pool steps away from the Caribbean Sea, complete with a
typically lively swim-up bar. It is quite easy and reasonable to fill your days
trying to decide which pool strikes your fancy while enjoying drinks and pool-side
entertainment all the while quibbling over where to eat that evening. If you’re
interested in ocean activities, Curaçao is one of the best diving locations in
the Caribbean and elite scuba divers flock here and free diving, no matter your
level of expertise, is part of the Sandals package. While diving you might be
lucky enough to catch sight of a sea horse.
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| Double decker Infinity pool |
Here’s a quick list of
the beaches we managed to visit on Curaçao: Kokomo, Playa PortoMari, Cas Abao,
Grote Knip, Kleine Knip and Playa Piskado. Truthfully it was over-kill because
we wanted to remain at nearly every single one, and these are just a few of the
beaches on Curaçao.
THINGS TO KNOW BEYOND
THE BEACH
Curaçao is a
multicultural island where you’re liable to hear Dutch or Spanish or the local
language of Partiamoutl as you will English. Even the ATMs offer a choice of
these languages as you try to withdraw American dollars or Antillean Guilders.
Both are accepted as currency, with the ANG tied to the USD at approximately 1.75
ANG to the dollar. You can pay with dollars, but you’re liable to get your
small change back in guilders.
Taxis get paid in dollars though and drivers expect at least a 10% tip.
Negotiate the fare before you leave.
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| in Willemstad |
We landed in Curaçao
the night before our check-in at Sandals and caught a taxi to a hotel near the
airport. Just 350 meters from the taxi stand it cost us $20.00. We arranged for
the driver to pick us up in the morning and drive us to Sandals. That cost
$70.00.
When we decided to take
a private tour of the island the taxi driver we had used twice now, Ida,
charged us $60.00 per hour, but we split the cost with our newfound friends Roy
and Jackie from upstate New York.
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| drinking buddies at Netto's Bar |
Ida first took us
through the capital of Willemstad to see the pastel-colored Dutch colonial
buildings the capital is famous for, and which earned it a UNESCO World
Heritage designation.
She pointed out sights on the Otrabanda and Punda sides
of the Sint Anna Bay, driving right up to the swaying pontoon Queen Emma bridge
and the Locks of Love sculpture and along the Handelskade on the Punda side.
On
the Ontrabanda side she drove us past the oldest bar on Curaçao Netto’s, famous
for their green rum, or Rom Berde.
Our plan for the day
was that after exploring much of the coast we would be dropped off in
Willemstad for drinks and a late lunch before catching another taxi, that Ida
arranged for us, back to the resort.
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| Handelskade |
We now had a good idea of what we wanted
to see.
WHICH WAY TO THE BEACH?
Some beaches on Curaçao are privately owned and require an entrance fee, others are open to the public. Most have facilities like restrooms and a lot have bars and restaurants and beach chairs for rent. Usually there are scuba dive centers somewhere on the beach renting out dive and snorkeling gear.
Some beaches on Curaçao are privately owned and require an entrance fee, others are open to the public. Most have facilities like restrooms and a lot have bars and restaurants and beach chairs for rent. Usually there are scuba dive centers somewhere on the beach renting out dive and snorkeling gear.
Kokomo Beach (free)
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| Kokomo pier |
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| Kokomo Beach bar |
Laid back, beautiful water, soft sand, beach chairs, a dive center, a beautiful pier and a bar and restaurant had us wanting to linger all day, but there was plenty more to see.
Playa PortoMari (entrance fee)
When we asked Hugo, our
dive guide at Sandals, what beach we should visit he immediately said, Playa
PortoMari. Located on the private Pantages estate this lively beach has lots of
beach chairs and a guard at the actual beach charging $3.00 per person for entrance,
although you can park for free and go to the bar for food and drink without a
charge.
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| drinks at PortoMari |
The sand is soft and the water clear and calm.
We did not swim here,
but we lingered over drinks admiring this beautiful stretch of sand.
Playa Cas Abao
(entrance fee)
The second beach our
dive guide Hugo mentioned was Playa Cas Abao. It is a strikingly beautiful
beach, with calm crystalline water and soft white sand, with impressive rock
formations edging this stretch.
Indeed, Playa Cas Abao is so beautiful Sandals
Royal Curaçao has it on their telephone ap as the representative beach of Curaçao!
I guess they’re hinting that’s what you’ll find if you go to the resort … but
we know better.
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| my pic of Playa Cas Abao |
Here we swam. The beach
is popular with divers and snorkelers as well, but we just flounced about in
the refreshing water and changed afterwards in the somewhat roughshod
facilities.
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| look familiar? |
The entrance fee is
$6.50 per car which Ida graciously paid. There’s a bar and restaurant here as
well, but personal coolers are welcome. There is also a dive shop.
Cas Abao is popular for
sunset wedding ceremonies.
Grote Knip (free)
We never actually went
to the Grote Knip beach, so we didn’t get to add this very popular beach to our
sand collection, but we did admire it from the cliffs that overlooked vivid
turquoise waters and white sand.
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| GROTE KNIP BEACH |
Grote Knip is popular with the locals and can
get very crowded on the weekends. There is a staircase leading down to the
beach. There are food and drink vendors in the parking lot and from the rocks
some brave souls leap into the water. When we visited Grote Knip there was a
school outing also visiting and kids in uniforms crowded at the ledge to take
photographs.
Klein Knip (free)
This beach is also very
popular with locals and just a short drive from Grote Knip. “Klein” means little in Dutch, and though
beautiful it is small and intimate with Curacao families spending the entire
day here playing and BBQing. There are chairs to rent here but no other
amenities like food or drink, so if Grote Knip is overcrowded and you decide to
drive over to Klein Knip bring your own.
Playa Piskado (free)
Admittedly I was hoping
for more from this small rocky beach at this fishing village located near the
western end of Curacao. It is a popular place for people wishing to swim with
sea turtles, and there were several people in the water, albeit being scolded
by a man on the pier if they got too close to the juvenile turtles. The man
would lure the turtles to the area by banging on the pier with a machete and
the promise of an ort of food. But, the beach was rocky and uninviting and the
whole thing seemed a bit sleazy and disheveled.
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| PLAYA PISKADO |
There were several tacky
tourist vendors lining the approach to the water and surprisingly there were
beach chairs for rent on the rocky shore.
We have had the
opportunity to swim with turtles already: In Hawaii, on both Maui and the Big
Island where we sometimes shared the surf with them, In Panama where they were
as curious of us and in Fiji where we saw a massive Leatherback ignoring us as
it foraged while we were on a dive. So, for us, this beach was just not worth
the effort of driving out there.
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| Post time |
After this we drove back to Willemstad where Ida dropped us off. We had Dutch beers (not Heineken) and some snacks at an outdoor restaurant. Janet and I hung our “Locked In Love” padlock on the sculpture. We walked across the Queen Emma pontoon bridge and made the short walk up to Netto’s Bar for some more drinks and green rum. We crossed back, marveling at our luck to be in such a beautiful place before calling Ida again to arrange another cab for us to get back to the hotel.
Our list here is small.
There are several more beaches to visit on Curacao so if you visit make it a
point to get out there. You’ll not be disappointed.
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| locks of love Willemstad |
Thanks for reading.
Love, Janet and greg
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