Curacao Part 1

After spending two weeks back in America, Tim and I were itching for some warm weather again. We wanted to go live on a Caribbean island for a bit, but not somewhere overrun with tourists. We both had an interest in visiting Curacao so the decision to “move” here for 5 weeks was a no-brainer. We booked our flights on a Thursday and flew out on Monday!

We found an adorable and affordable Airbnb apartment to rent (wayyy better than what I could get in NYC). It is a little bit out of town, about a 20-minute drive, which is also why it is so reasonably priced. We rented a car from Curacao’s version of Craigslist to keep our costs low.

We arrived on the island just in time for the last night of Carnaval. After exploring a bit, we settled on La Bahia. It is a restaurant & bar located a few stories above ground for optimal viewing of the parade. Oh, it was also all you could eat and drink included 🙂

While Willemstad is a cool town, we try to make most of our meals at home so we haven’t dined out too much, which is mainly what you would do in town. However, I can recommend dinner and happy hour at The Gouverneur, where you can get a nice view of the city. Miles is a local jazz bar with happy hour from 5:30 to 6:30.

We treated ourselves to dinner at The Gouverneur and boy, was it worth it. Try to sit in the garden area as it is very adorable. We started off with the Cuban Banana Soup. I was skeptical but Tim had read reviews that said its a must try. They were right! The soup was so delicious and spicy, almost like a banana curry.

Tim ordered the trio of fish and I had a local dish called a “Kesha Yeni.” It is baked cheese filled with chicken, prunes, pickled onions and olives. Yum!

We were really excited to start exploring the various beaches across the island. We spent the first day at a beach called Jan Thiel. This popular spot is located in the center of the island. It is not as beautiful as the beaches in Westpunt (more on those soon,) but it’s a quick drive from home and our favorite Saturday night party! One night they had an awesome Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover band playing! Tim loved that 🙂

We heard about the magnificence of the beaches on Westpunt, but I wasn’t prepared for the breathtaking bright blue water and white sand of Grote Knip, my favorite beach.

I could barely stop myself from running straight into the water! The snorkeling here is really nice too, I totally felt like a mermaid. All I kept thinking was is this really my home for the next 5 weeks?!

Another favorite beach of ours in Westpunt is Daaibooi as it is very quiet and calm, no loud music or kids running around 😛

We hit up Kokomo beach to see the Insta worthy swings. It isn’t on our “go back again” list, but it also started storming about 2 hours after we arrived.

Mambo is the most popular beach in Curacao. It is the closest one to our home so we frequent it often. The water is super clear and enjoyable to swim in, with some decent snorkeling as well.

At Mambo, we like to sit in the Lions Dive Resort area since it is a little bit quieter than other parts. For happy hour we go to Chill bar which is about 20 steps away from our chairs 🙂 On Sundays, there is a party called “Wet & Wild.” It is free entrance but you can’t bring in any food or drinks. We tried to sneak our rum punches in claiming it was water but to no avail. (However, you can get away with bringing your own drinks to Jan Thiel on Saturdays.)

Of course, we had to do some diving. I do have my own personal guide 😉 This was my first time diving since I got certified in Panama in November so I was pretty nervous. We did two dives at Playa Porto Mari. The beach is nice, there are some cute pigs running around, but the diving wasn’t amazing. I had a mini freakout at 60 feet during the first dive – I kept messing with my mask and am still getting used to clearing it. With Tim’s guidance, the second dive was flawless. Not yet super comfortable in the water, but I am getting there.

We also dove at Playa Kalki, a really nice spot in Westpunt. It has decent diving (Alice in Wonderland), we saw a moray eel, and the beach is relatively quiet and less crowded than ones like Knip, but has the same crystal clear water.

Another good snorkeling/dive spot is Tug Boat Beach. We had a fun time exploring the wreck and did some freediving. I always find it so eerie seeing something underwater that doesn’t belong.

If you are like me, you are a sucker for adorable sea turtles. So when I overheard a local talking about a beach where you could swim with a bunch of them, I had to know where this wonderful place was. Playa Grandi, located in the West, is sea turtle heaven. The beach itself is crap, but the snorkeling was amazing. We encountered about 6 sea turtles, a school of fish, angelfish, a flying gurnard, and so many other beautiful sea creatures.