Tours!

[sscruising]

Need info on recommended tours of the island. Which do you prefer-private or cruise based? What is the best area to go to for beaches?

 

Sandi

[Putterdude]

Last month we took a 4 hour ships tour of the island which we were very pleased with. In the afternoon we took a cab into Willamstead...the downtown area that is on the other side of the canal.

[cruiseapril]

We took a ship's tour (Princess) which went to the Curacao Museum, then to Jan Thiel, then to Chobolobo- the Curacao Liqueur Factory. It covered a good area and our guide filled us in on lots of history. They then let us off in Willemstad where we spent several enjoyable hours walking around town. There are many ship's tours like this.

 

Two of the good beaches IMO are Blue Bay and Porto Mari. Both are good for swimming and snorkeling and have amenities. Blue Bay is closer to Willemstad.

[syrupcity]

Our ship will be on island on Easter Sunday. Will that be a problem? What will be open?

I really want family to kayak and have seen little on this thread about it. Anyone tried it here?

[curacao]

Our ship will be on island on Easter Sunday. Will that be a problem? What will be open?

I really want family to kayak and have seen little on this thread about it. Anyone tried it here?

Check out Caribbean sports. they have kayaks. I never kayaked, as I am a diver, but it is an awesome area to be in the water. It is located by the Hilton, which is not far from the pier. Nice beaches also. Easter Sunday is not like you would expect, but do check out their hours as a LOT of places are closed on sunday on the Island, even if cruise ships are in port. Water sports are taken care of a little differently and are ususally open on Sunday. Just looked them up on line...

Carribean Sea Sports. they now have a reservation form on line. Nice laid back area. they are also in 3 areas. The Renaissance is right there at the MegaPier, but they may have to bus you to an area as the kayaking there would not be fun, due to the Ship traffic.

Casa Abou is good too, just a little farther away. Decisions, decisions, decisions. But, have a good time.

[Frequent Floater]

Does anyone know if this tour company is still active?

[jandjfun]

Does anyone know if this tour company is still active?

I don't know but when I googled the name, some pretty scary stuff came up!!:eek: Voo doo, witch craft, sex stuff.

[Frequent Floater]

I don't know but when I googled the name, some pretty scary stuff came up!!:eek: Voo doo, witch craft, sex stuff.

 

=) must not be the same one I was looking for

[RUDIMAY1]

Anybody ever take the excursion? It sounds interesting but never sure where the tour is really going until you are there and see for yourself. Nice waters and sights in Curacao? I've been there once before but just went shopping on the other side via the ferry. Seemed kind of industrial to me except fot the pretty painted buildings.

[curacao]

Anybody ever take the excursion? It sounds interesting but never sure where the tour is really going until you are there and see for yourself. Nice waters and sights in Curacao? I've been there once before but just went shopping on the other side via the ferry. Seemed kind of industrial to me except fot the pretty painted buildings.

 

why take a boat? You can pretty much snorkel from most of the beaches that are mentioned in the Curacao thread. the Dive Bus, Porto Marie, Blue Bay, Hooks Hut, Holiday Beach, Jan Thiel, Alice in Wonderland, Playa Lagun, just to name a few.

 

They do have a refinery and a Port which may seem to be industrial, but I never considered it an industrial island. Their beaches are awesome and worth visiting, whichever one you go to.

 

good Luck in the decision making.....

[blonde375]

why take a boat? You can pretty much snorkel from most of the beaches that are mentioned in the Curacao thread. the Dive Bus, Porto Marie, Blue Bay, Hooks Hut, Holiday Beach, Jan Thiel, Alice in Wonderland, Playa Lagun, just to name a few.

 

They do have a refinery and a Port which may seem to be industrial, but I never considered it an industrial island. Their beaches are awesome and worth visiting, whichever one you go to.

 

good Luck in the decision making.....

 

 

Curacao, which Dive Bus location would you recommend..... husband dives; I snorkel and sun myself while he's under the water! :p Having such a difficult time choosing!

[reklawr]

We did a island tour with a tour company called Curacao-Actief. They were very professional. My wife and I were the only people on the tour which took a good 5 hours. We had all the time we wanted at each stop. Here is their web site:

http://www.curacao-actief.com/index.php

[RUDIMAY1]

While I enjoy snorkeling I want to see more of an island than just which kind of fish are in the water. I enjoy swimming in the beautiful waters of the caribbean and looking at the coast lines from the ocean. Also I love hearing some of the local insights for the tour guides. Like I said I was there once before but except for the shopping didn't see very much. The information that i was looking for had to do with whether on these jet skis and tour sites on this excursion are enjoyable.

We are limited in vacation time and when if ever I'll get to this part of the world again so would like to make it memorable and fun.

Are you recommending to stay off the boats? The pictures of the beaches that I have seen don't look very large. They seem like sheltered coves.

 

 

why take a boat? You can pretty much snorkel from most of the beaches that are mentioned in the Curacao thread. the Dive Bus, Porto Marie, Blue Bay, Hooks Hut, Holiday Beach, Jan Thiel, Alice in Wonderland, Playa Lagun, just to name a few.

 

They do have a refinery and a Port which may seem to be industrial, but I never considered it an industrial island. Their beaches are awesome and worth visiting, whichever one you go to.

 

good Luck in the decision making.....

[RUDIMAY1]

Now that looks like a good tour company. Thanks for the link. Did you do the bus tour? This Klein island(?) tour looks like the type of beach tour that we would enjoy. Anybody ever been there? Far away from the cruise ship dock?

 

 

We did a island tour with a tour company called Curacao-Actief. They were very professional. My wife and I were the only people on the tour which took a good 5 hours. We had all the time we wanted at each stop. Here is their web site:

http://www.curacao-actief.com/index.php

[reklawr]

Now that looks like a good tour company. Thanks for the link. Did you do the bus tour? This Klein island(?) tour looks like the type of beach tour that we would enjoy. Anybody ever been there? Far away from the cruise ship dock?

 

Because we were the only ones on the tour we had the good fortune to get a combination of several tours. Our guide for the day was Anite. I believe we were in Anite's personal car. She is very knowledgeable of the island, the people and the culture. We stopped at historical sites and beach sites. She was very flexible in where we stopped since we were her only customers that day.

The office of Curacao Actief was within walking distance from the cruise ship. It was about a 10 minute walk.

[curacaoqueen]

loko loko is a party bus. Klein Curacao is about a two hour boat ride to an island.

[curacao]

While I enjoy snorkeling I want to see more of an island than just which kind of fish are in the water. I enjoy swimming in the beautiful waters of the caribbean and looking at the coast lines from the ocean. Also I love hearing some of the local insights for the tour guides. Like I said I was there once before but except for the shopping didn't see very much. The information that i was looking for had to do with whether on these jet skis and tour sites on this excursion are enjoyable.

We are limited in vacation time and when if ever I'll get to this part of the world again so would like to make it memorable and fun.

Are you recommending to stay off the boats? The pictures of the beaches that I have seen don't look very large. They seem like sheltered coves.

 

No, about the boats. Just no need to take a boat to snorkel or dive. They have some great diving on this island starting right at the beach. The Dive Bus is a dive shop on Pierbaai Beach. You can look them up on line. don't know their address but I always look it up as "the Dive Bus Curacao" and it just pops up and go from there. There are other Dive Shops, needless to say, but I prefer the Dive Bus as Mark and Suzy are knowledgeable and very friendly.

 

I hate shopping and especially on cruise ship days as they load their stores down with extra folks to keep thefts down, and they are filled with rude people, in some cases, but not all. I never shopped on cruise day as the rudeness was unimaginable by our standards. But they do have great linen shops. I never bought a thing from the street vendors along the canal.

[blonde375]

Suzy contacted me from the Dive Bus and said that the location for my husband would be the Dive Bus Hut at Pierbaai Reef and the Car Pile. It sounds like that is the location that they use for cruise ship passengers.

 

Can anyone give me some feedback on the snorkeling there?

 

Is the beach nice?

 

I was really hoping for him to be somewhere less crowded as it seems like there are a couple excursions that go to the Car Pile.

[curacao]

Suzy contacted me from the Dive Bus and said that the location for my husband would be the Dive Bus Hut at Pierbaai Reef and the Car Pile. It sounds like that is the location that they use for cruise ship passengers.

 

Can anyone give me some feedback on the snorkeling there?

 

Is the beach nice?

 

I was really hoping for him to be somewhere less crowded as it seems like there are a couple excursions that go to the Car Pile.

 

Suzy is the nicest person on the island. They are not a cruise ship destination. Some excursions may stop there for a post excursion beach time, beer time, food time, etc. People (cruisers) choose to go there because of what they have to offer for diving and such. they have a good beach and a great shorkel area. If you don't dive just go to the next beach to the east, Mambo Beach. It has a much longer beach. If your cruise departure is late, it is a WONDERFUL place to watch the sunset.

[PattyG12]

We booked Curacao Actief on our recent trip. We were promptly picked up and handed over to a local cabbie who picked up another fare (speaking Dutch with the other fare). Don't think I'd book with them again. Next time I can find my own cabbie.

[RockyTopMom]

We booked Curacao Actief on our recent trip. We were promptly picked up and handed over to a local cabbie who picked up another fare (speaking Dutch with the other fare). Don't think I'd book with them again. Next time I can find my own cabbie.

 

I'm confused.

What kind of a tour were you supposedly doing with Curacao-Actief? Do they use local cabbie's to do their tours? Did you pay C-A or the cabbie?

[Rozg105]

Our experience with Actief Curacao was not good either. We had a confirmation and were charged a deposit but no one showed up on the day of our tour to pick us up. We tried the phone number they gave which is supposed to be a 24 hour number and got a recording that the number was not available. We talked to a gentleman on the dock who was helping get some of the ships tours out and he told us that Actief is working as a consolidator so you do not know who the actual tour operator is. We did contact Actief when we returned home and were refunded our deposit but I would not book with again. Next time I would opt for a ships tour.