Bon bini! I’m fresh off a trip to Curacao and I couldn’t wait to share the details of this vacation with you! This was our first time traveling there and it certainly won’t be the last. We loved this island and got to experience so many fun and amazing adventures. Read on for my tips on what to see and do in Curacao.

Curacao is part of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and is located in the Dutch Caribbean. The weather is sunny and warm all year round. It’s rainy season is from October through February but even then, it doesn’t rain much. Every morning, it spit for literally a minute and then stopped. We did have one quick passing storm where it downpoured for about 15 minutes in the morning. We didn’t mind because we were already wet from swimming at the beach and it gave us a chance to grab breakfast. It’s also located outside of the hurricane belt which was one of the reasons we chose Curacao, since we’d be traveling during hurricane season.

We like all-inclusive resorts. It’s a great savings and the value is usually very good. We stayed at the Sunscape Curacao as it was one of the few all-inclusives on the island. The people of Curacao in general are so friendly. Everyone walking by looks right at you and says hello in some way. It’s funny, because as New Englanders, we are not used to that. Everyone is always in such a rush and in their own world. It was a breath of fresh air.

The beach on the resort was long and gorgeous. I love resorts where there is a jetty of sorts blocking you from drifting out into open waters. I brought my GIANT flamingo float and appreciated not being swept out to sea, haha.

The sand was soft and the water was that perfect turquoise color and super clear.

We decided to rent a car for a couple of days to explore the island. We were able to arrange everything right from the lobby of our resort and have the car delivered to us the next day. Once it arrived, we set out to explore the downtown area. There are two sides to downtown Curacao, Punda and Otrabanda. Punda is a little busier with lots of shops, bright colored buildings down little alleyways and the famous Curacao statue.

If you keep going and walk over the Queen Emma Bridge (also known as the Old Swinging Lady because she swings open to let boats by), you can explore Otrabanda where there is the Renaissance Mall, a hotel with a casino, and lots more bright colored buildings. 

The bridge opened while we were on Otrabanda and we had to wait a few minutes for it to reopen so we could get back across. Jamie got this cool shot of me on it. Anyone have skills to Photoshop those 2 guys out? #kiddingnotkidding

The next day, we set out in our rental car again to explore some of the beaches on the island. Our first stop was Playa PortoMari. On the way there, we happened to pass a flamingo habitat so we pulled over to snap some shots and check them out. Unfortunately, they were kind of far away and I didn’t have my good camera with the zoom lens so my pictures weren’t great. Worth the stop to see for sure, though!

Shortly after that, we arrived at PortoMari. Wow, wow, wow. It was exactly what you imagine when you think of Caribbean beaches. The sand and the water were equally beautiful. But the BEST part was that this beach has free roaming pigs! I’d wanted to swim with the pigs when we went to the Bahamas, but it was too far from where we were staying. This worked for me and I was able to cross it off my bucket list. This chunka, which I named Fatty McBacon, laid there the entire time we were at the beach…right in front of our chairs.

We had a great lunch at the restaurant/bar there before heading off to our next destination. If you go, I highly recommend trying the food. It was great! They also have a dive shop and boutique with beach wear.

After lunch, we headed off to Playa Piskado in Westpunt. It was another 40ish minutes or so from PortoMari. This beach was not great in terms of sand or water. There’s so much coral there that it made the sand very gritty. However, the main reason for visiting this beach was not to enjoy the sun, surf and sand, but to swim with sea turtles! Another amazing experience!

We didn’t stay long since the beach wasn’t our favorite and we had one more beach to hit. We made our way back towards the other end of the island and to Kokomo Beach.

Kokomo Beach was just as beautiful as PortoMari. The sun wasn’t working in our favor, but it has these very Instagram worthy swings that are VERY hard to get up on. We stayed for a bit and had a couple of drinks before getting back on the road.

The rest of the trip was about R&R and we soaked up every last second of it. Right up until an hour before our airport transfer arrived, we were enjoying drinks on the beach.

We had the most amazing time and can’t wait until our next adventure in Dushi Curacao!

xo,