The Best Beaches in Curaçao

Out is slower than back. The outward leg runs against the trade wind that blows from the east almost every day, and operators plan for roughly one and three-quarter to two hours; in strong wind it can stretch to three. The afternoon return goes with the wind and is noticeably calmer. The whole thing is sold as an eight- to nine-hour day, so the rough part comes first, before anyone has seen the beach.

Willemstad itself works on foot — Punda, Otrobanda and the bridge between them are a walk, not a drive. The beaches are the problem: the good bays lie thirty to sixty minutes away in the west, and the public bus, the Konvoi, runs only every one to two hours. That is why nearly every tour on this site includes pickup. For a few beach days, a car is usually the honest answer; for two days in town it is not.

Often, but nobody can promise it. The green turtles gather there because the fishermen clean their catch at the pier and throw the scraps back. On a day when no boat has come in, there may be nothing to see. They are wild animals, not a show, and any operator who guarantees them is overselling.

No. At Shete Boka and along the whole windward side the Atlantic swell arrives unbroken, the rock is razor-sharp ironshore and there are no lifeguards. It is worth going for the sea itself — Boka Tabla, where the waves run into a cave under your feet — but the swimming is on the southwest side, and every beach tour on this site goes there instead.

It is one of the best in the Caribbean, with reefs starting a few metres off the beach and the Tugboat wreck sitting in around five metres of water. You will not find that on this page, though: GetYourGuide lists exactly two dives for the whole island. The dive centres here sell directly and in packages, so if you want a tank, book with a base rather than through a booking portal. What this site does cover well is snorkeling — 56 offers.

Prices start at €12.99 for a guided walk through Willemstad, and the median across all 135 offers is €100. That is higher than at most destinations, and it is the product rather than a markup: the Klein Curaçao day trips run €123 to €141, the buggy tours €149 to €189, and private tours are priced per group with a median of €239.59. If the budget is tight, the town and the island tours are where the cheap end of this island actually is.