Curacao: Travel Recap & Vlog

BOOKING YOUR TRIP

Before I get into the real nitty gritty of our trip, I wanted to give you a few details that made our traveling so much easier and so much fun. First things first, make sure that you buy your airline tickets at least six months from your desired travel date, and rent a car to cruise around the island soon after! Definitely the most important. Keep reading to learn more! We booked our AirBnBs closer to three months out, but I would recommend doing this closer to 5 or 6 months out, especially during peak times. You can find the link to our first AirBnB here- in case I have already persuaded you to book your ticket to paradise.

NEXT STOP: PARADISE

DAY 1
Our first day was a big travel day, my trip began in Indianapolis, most of my friends left from Chicago to connect in Miami, and then, the final leg, a flight directly to Curaçao that easily took a total of 8 hours when everything was said and done. Then when we arrived, we needed to get our car rental and find our first AirBnB. We also had to pick up Eleanor- whose trip was much longer than ours- from the airport that night. We found a restaurant near our AirBnB to have dinner and then spent the rest of the night settling in, which really just meant jumping into the pool and then getting ready for ​our first official day of vacation.
DAY 2
Our first adventure was exploring the Willemstad area, the city center, where there are tons of shops, restaurants, street vendors and amazing street art to see. Our first stop was to see the famous Handelskade and walking across the Queen's Bridge, which is actually suspended by boats on the water. We wandered around for a better part of the day, had coffee and ate at a few restaurants that had delicious food- we even had drinks at the oldest standing bar on the island!

DAY 3
The first of many bright and sandy days was spent at Zanzibar beach. With so many beaches to choose from, we had done a ton of research to find the best spots to hang out at in the time that we were on the island. Half of them near Willemstad and the other half on the west side of the island.
DAY 4
Arguably the best day of our vacation.. For Katie's birthday we booked a boat trip to Klein Curaçao- one of the smaller, uninhabited islands off the coast of mainland. We had to wake up at 5 am to get ready and be on the boat by 6:45 am. If you're anything like us, this was a rough turnaround, but we were so excited to celebrate our girl! Our boat ride was about an hour long on some pretty choppy water, so make sure to have something with you to combat the motion sickness. Coming up on the coast of the island was the bluest water I have ever seen. We jumped off of the boat (literally) to the softest sand and hundreds of hermit crabs and lizards roaming beach. Breakfast and lunch were provided, as well as snorkeling gear to give you the most incredible experience. We spent most of the morning swimming with fish and a few sea turtles.

DAY 5
​We were pretty slow to get up, with a full four days behind us. But we planned on going to the Senior & Co Curaçao Liqueur Distillery to take a tour and have a few samples of the island's famous rum. It was interesting to learn about the origin of the liqueur and how it has evolved over the years. And the drinks were all amazing.
Later that night, we had dinner at Mundo Bizzaro- one of the fancier places we went to for dinner- that we kind of stumbled upon when exploring Willemstad a few days before. We sat rooftop, overlooking a small, colorful neighborhood, lined with string lights and the sounds of music playing.
DAY 6
As much time as we spent relaxing on this trip, there seemed to be infinite hours in the day and every day melted into the next, filled with sunshine and so much food. We started this day with brunch and some much needed coffee at The Scuba Club. Then we walked to the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, thee oldest continually used synagogue in the western hemisphere- which is pretty cool. It was breathtaking to be inside and interesting to read about the history of how the island came to be such a melting pot of people and cultures.
Later in the afternoon, we squeezed into the car with all of our suitcases and drove to our second AirBnB on other end of the island to get a real taste of island living. The west side of the island, or Westpunt, is completely different from the area around Willemstad- being very rural and made up clusters of amazing beaches. After we settled in, we went to Playa Knip, a smaller and more secluded beach and had dinner at Cactus Cafe- one of the few restaurants close to our new place.
DAY 7
We explored Shete Boka National Park, which is no small feat- especially in the scorching sun. There are seven bays, hence the name of the park, that you can walk to if it isn't too hot. We ended up driving to each area to limit our heat exposure as much as we could and we were still dripping each time we got back to the car! We saw a natural bridge, explored small caves and walked to a turtle sanctuary. And there was no better way to end this day than at another beach, Playa Lagun.

DAY 8
We woke up early to get to Christoffel National Park and take a hike up the tallest mountain on the island- it is 1,400 feet high! It's recommended to go early to beat the heat and the bug attacks. It took us almost two hours to get all the way to the top, but the view was amazing. Make sure you wear good shoes and lots of water- trust me, it's not easy, but it's so worth the climb. But if that doesn't interest you, there are several lookouts that you can drive to.

DAY 9
On our last full day on the island, we wanted to spend all day on the beach. But before that, we found a local place to have brunch, Restaurant Daniels, that was very close to St. Willibrordus, the Flamingo habitat. Then we set off to our favorite beach on the main island, Playa Porto Mari. This beach is more popular, with the option to partake in water sports and discovery scuba dives and also has a restaurant with pretty good food. I don't think we got out of the water except to eat, so that worked out in our favor.

TRAVEL TIPS

Before going to Curaçao...
​When you're packing, don't forget your swimsuits (yes, plural!)- especially if you're going to spend as much time as we did on the beaches. And make sure to bring an excessive amount of bug repellent- trust me, you're gonna need it. It's recommended to wear pants or long-sleeve shirts at night, but it was way too hot for that. If you plan to go on the boat trip to Klein- highly recommend- make sure to have Dramamine on hand.
Renting a car was definitely a wise decision and I'm so glad we did it! Although a bigger car would've been ideal for that cross-island excursion, but we made it work! Renting a taxi is a bit more complicated, as the island does not have Uber or Lyft. If you can, try to book an AirBnB with a pool and air conditioning, especially if you are going to the island during peak summer when it is hot past sundown and before sunrise. Casa Del Sol was perfect and we will probably stay there next time we go.
When you get there...
Spend several days exploring Willemstad. I only mentioned us going there once, but we actually found ourselves there many times in the first half of our trip because of the delicious food and many things to see and do. Other activities that we LOVED, were the boat trip that we took to Klein Curaçao. It can seem a little pricey, but I would, without a doubt, do it again. The experience alone was worth every penny, and includes buffet-style breakfast and lunch. We booked our tickets through Mermaid Boat Trips, which you can find here.
​Most of the island people who we met spoke one to three languages, including their language of Papiamento and some combination of Spanish, French and Dutch. Some words and phrases to know are: Bon bini (welcome), Bon dia (good morning), Danki (thank you) and Dushi (which can mean many things, but is used to describe someone or thing as sweet or good).