Curaçao-Excursions

There’s a lot more to Curaçao than just the resort we stayed in. I’d seen pictures of the colorful buildings downtown, the Punda love hearts, the swinging bridge, and perhaps my favorite, flamingos. I just had to see all of those amazing things for myself. We went back and forth about how we would get around. Should we rent a car? Should we hire a private taxi? Should we sign up for a tour with Island Routes? Should we take a land tour with ATVs? After having all of these questions floating in my head for days, I was done thinking about it. I didn’t really want to spend a whole day off property, but a half day out sightseeing would be great. Finally, Ashley and I decided to let the boys handle it while we lounged by the pool and decided where we would eat lunch off property. They came back and gave us a few options, and we all decided to do a half day adventure with a local taxi company. We discussed what we wanted to see, where we wanted to go, and Sandals got us set up with Joy. The next morning we met Joy, told him our must sees, and off we went.

Our first stop was the Curaçao factory, where they make the popular blue Curaçao liqueur. It had the history of how the drink came about, a few samples along the self guided tour, and a bar at the end where we each ordered a speciality cocktail. We grabbed a bottle to take back and were on our way to our next stop, the Hato Caves.

We had to purchase tickets once we arrived, but the next tour started within minutes, however we were able get our tickets in time to be a part of the next tour group. Tickets were $10 per person (adult). The caves are really neat. The guide took us through and explained about the different features. Probably the best part of the tour was the last section, which he called the Imagination/Fantasy room. Our guide pointed out different features on the walls of the caves and explained what they looked like. He showed us what looked like a horse, a sleeping woman, and a statue of the Virgin Mary, among other things. Unlike most caves, these were very stuffy. They had several fans to get the air moving, but that’s something to consider. If you have friends that do not like being uncomfortable due to heat, you may want to skip this one. Another note, in the waiting area before going in the caves, there are several manchineel trees. These are sometimes considered the most poisonous trees on Earth. They produce fruit that resembles apples. Eating the fruit is toxic, but so is standing under the trees when it’s raining. If you are going with children, beware that there are dangerous trees and you aren’t warned about them besides small signs on the trees.

Next, we went to Santa Cruz beach which was deserted, according to Joy, jet skis can be rented at this beach. Then, we headed to Playa Lagun which is mostly used for diving. Supposedly, you can also take Submarine Wreck Dive tours here as well. Following Playa Lagun, we made our way to West Punt (West Point) where we saw Playa Kenepa which had beautiful blue water and beach loungers. Playa Kenepa actually has two beaches, Grote Knip and Klein Knip. This place had the most beautiful water I’d ever seen. There are some vendors at the top of the stairs selling food and beverages. The beach was extremely crowded. We were there around noon, and it was packed. As it’s a public beach, it also had a lot of trash around. It made me appreciate the serenity that I enjoy while at the Sandals resort. Afterwards, we went to Playa Forti which is known for diving and cliff jumping. Finally, we arrived at Playa Piskado. This was a real treat, they have a short pier and there are turtles all around. There was a local there baiting the turtles, and it seems like he would not always give them food. To me that seemed a little cruel, but it was nice to see the turtles up close.

Then, we went to Shete Boka National Park. Our driver negotiated with the guard at the gate. We really just wanted to pop in and weren’t planning to spend the day there. He was able to get us a discounted entry fee. Typically entrance is $10 per person. We took a quick walk around at the top, then went down to see the cave. It was really cool in the cave because there was plexiglass, so you could see the waves crashing but didn’t get wet. There was also a ton of trash down there. It would be a bit creepy if you were by yourself, but there was no one else down there at the time we visited.

Finally, it was time for some flamingo spotting! We drove by the Williwood sign, and I happened to see a flash of pink, so Joy drove back and sure enough way out there, was a small group of flamingos. He pulled off the road and we walked down to the marshy area to get a closer look and a few pictures. I was wearing my water socks and happened to step on a huge thorn on the way down to get a closer look. The thorn went right through the bottom of the sock, and I put my tennis shoes back on as soon as I returned to the taxi. Watch your step! Back in the taxi, Joy explained that the flamingos are typically found in two places. If not in the area near the Williwood sign, then in Kokomo, which is where we were headed if we hadn’t seen them. Joy tries his very best to make sure you see everything you want to see.

By then, we had worked up quite an appetite. We found a Poke Bowl place that had great reviews and was rated as the number two best restaurant on Curaçao. It was amazing! At that point, we were almost finished with your tour, but were headed to another highlight downtown Willemstad.

We started in the heart of downtown to lock our lock onto the Punda Love Hearts. We ordered a personalized lock from Amazon. After locking our lock, we threw the key into the St. Anna Bay, and walked across the Queen Emma Bridge. The cool thing about this bridge is, the whole bridge swings open for boats to cross. Instead of opening up like a drawbridge, this bridge swings around to one side, and then back in place once the boats have passed through. We got to witness this while we were there. It’s interesting to note that they do have gates on each end of the bridge and a light and horn that alerts people that the bridge is about to open. However, they do not clear the bridge of people. There were several people “riding” the bridge as it opened and closed. As we waited, we took in the beautiful view of the colorful buildings of the downtown area. Once we were able to safely cross back over we bought some souvenirs in some of the local shops, then went to the huge Curaçao and Dushi signs for a photo op. Dushi, as we learned in a Dutch term of endearment that can be used for men or women.

I didn’t want to spend all day off property, but we got to see everything I requested. We started at 9:30AM and were back on property at 5:00PM. I would definitely recommend getting out and about in Curaçao. I felt safe the entire time, and Joy was literally a joy to be around. Like many other residents, he is multilingual and well versed in the history of the island. He took of everywhere we wanted to go and some places we didn’t know we wanted to go, but enjoyed. He let us hang out as long as we wanted at each stop, and was ready to go as soon as we were.

That’s all for now. I’ve got one more post planned to show off some of the incredible features of Sandals Royal Curaçao. Always remember, you can book with Brittany. Click the link for a quote request and I’ll get you ready to Goforth and get it!

*This post contains affiliate links. They are added for your convenience. An additional fee is not charged to you if you use them, however I may get a small commission.