Curaçao – February 23, 2018

As we near the end of our trip, we wanted to reflect on our time here in Curaçao.

Curaçao is located in the Caribbean Sea, one of the “ABC” islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao).  Curaçao is a Dutch Caribbean island, known for its beaches tucked and its expansive coral reefs rich with marine life. The capital, Willemstad, has pastel-colored colonial architecture, a floating Queen Emma Bridge and the sand-floored, 17th-century Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue. It’s also a gateway to western beaches like Blue Bay, a popular diving site.

At one end of the Queen Emma Bridge is Punda, which is the main shopping area.  Punda is filled with UNESCO World Heritage historic buildings.  The other end is Otrobanada (which literally translates to, the other side).  It’s interesting to watch (and experience) the floating bridge.  We stayed on the bridge during an open and closing for a big tanker…quite the sight.

During our time we stayed at the Floris Suite Hotel.  A beautiful, adults only hotel located in the southern region of Curaçao. Lush gardens, exotic birds, large pool, friendly staff – all made our time enjoyable and positive.  Our room was large with separated bedroom/living room quarters and a big, covered balcony overlooking the pool area. The staff are quite friendly, chatty and respectful.  Floris, along with Curaçao itself is known for its openness to lifestyles.

Our time began by first learning the word, “Dushi.”  The word, Dushi, has a meaning here to refer to the words, “sweetheart,” “babe,” or even “sexy.”  You also use it for tasty foods or to describe good things in life. Everything’s a dushi here in Curaçao!

From where we’re located, it is about a 45-minute walk to town.  We could easily take a Taxi; however, the fees are set so going into town and back (10-minute drive) will run you approximately $60 US so we did that the first time and decided to hoof it, then rent a car.  Car rental here with insurance costs about $52/day so it was worth it to see the entire country.  Curaçao is quite small by comparison.  The land area measures 61KM long by about 14KM wide.  It has a population of approximately 160,000 people, most living in the southern region and a few on the west side of the island.  The north side of the island is beautiful but mostly non-habitable due to the high winds and rough seas.  Some spectacular sites all around.

One of the highlights we did was an Aquafari tour.  A unique experience for us where they lower this submersible scooter into the water and you just dunk your head under to come up in the head bubble where air is being pumped in through a regular scuba oxygen tank.  Think of holding an inverted glass and pushing it into water, it creates a pocket.  By handle bar, you steer and move effortlessly underwater.  It is eco-friendly, self-propelled and you just sit, steer, breath and experience.  This was a good alternative to try as we explored down to 22 feet along the ocean floor.  It ended up that the group that was to go with us had to rescheduled to the following day so we had a private tour with the guide to ourselves.  A wonderful way to experience this not taking a scuba course and being able to go deeper than traditional snorkeling.

We rented a car for two days and explored the west and north sides of the island.  More sparsely populated, the west side of the island offers stunning wildlife and beaches for snorkeling and exploring.  We snorkeled at 3-4 different sites, witnessing sea turtles, eels, and an array of different fish species that we lost count.  It’s amazing to dive down and swim along with schools of fish and experience the multitude of life that lives beneath the waves.

On the north side of the country we visited Shete Boka Park.  A boka is, in fact, an inlet. Shete Boka stands for ‘seven inlets’. The park begins at the beautiful Boka Tabla an underground cavern carved out of the limestone cliffs over millions of years by pounding waves.  An impressive experience! It’s desolate looking due to the vast area of lava rock and yet mesmerizing as the waves crash like rhythmic drums along the shoreline.  Quite fascinating.  There is also the “pistol point” inlet that as the water rushes in, it shoots out like a gun.  Likely Trump’s favourite spot!

Last evening, we went into town and had a wonderful dinner at the Gouverneur.  A terrific restaurant overlooking the ocean, great staff, food and experience all around.  Because Curaçao is known for their “Blue Curaçao” alcohol, we each had a drink with either blue or green Curaçao.  We capped the night off by a walk (and ride) on the Queen Emma Bridge, and a jaunt through Punda taking in the night life vibe, warm breeze and local drinks.

This has been a terrific trip and would recommend Curaçao for a tropical adventure to anyone.

Love to all,

D&D
xo

Punda, Curaçao

Floris Hotel

Floris Hotel

Floris Hotel

Floris Hotel

Sweetheart, Sexy, whatever one wants Dushi to be

Inclusivity at its best – Hey North America, take notice!

Aquafari Scooter

D&D Feeding the Fishies

Side view of the Aquafina Scooter

Snorkeling the world below

Sea Turtle

D&D Beach day, Curaçao

Floating Market – Boats pull up and unload to sell on the streets

Dinner at the Wet ‘n Wild Beach Club

One of the many stunning snorkeling beaches, Curaçao

Flamingos at Curaçao Salt Lake

Shete Boka Park

D&D – Shete Boka Park

Shete Boka Park – Boka Tabla

Shete Boka Park – The Pistol

Shete Boka Park

D in Curaçao enjoying the sun and warmth

D following Dutch Tradition

D in downtown Punda

Floating Queen Emma Bridge

Queen Emma Bridge

Curaçao at Night

One of the many, stunning, sunsets. Thank you Dushi Curaçao!