Private Tour Itinerary Suggestions

[MNSails]

We're heading to the ABC Islands in April and will be booking a private tour in Curacao. The tour company is recommending the itinerary below - anything to add or remove?  We will have our water and adventure loving 5 year old with us. 

 

Flamingo watching at the salt lakes of Sint Willibrordus.

 

Shete Boka National Park. 

 

Playa Piskado.

 

Lunch at the local restaurants of Westpunt.  (Recommendations needed!)

 

Playa Kenepa Grandi.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Wxman0]

Boy these forums are really dead. That's too bad. 

 

We have the exact same itinerary except we go to Santa Martha Bay and not Playa Piskado. Our trip is next week so will try to remember to let you know what we liked and what we didn't. You must be going through Gone Caribe? 

 

 

[SKSMIKE5]

We will be doing the ABC next August and I was just commenting how the forums on these islands is pretty sparse! Appreciate any nuggets! We were in Bonaire a few years ago and loved the Landsailing! Booked direct with them and it was great!

[drvmywifecrzy]

Hoping for more tips on Curacao

[txsmiles]

Would love to see some suggestions for small group or private Curacao tours!

[txsmiles]

On 12/10/2023 at 9:01 PM, db8alien said:

We're heading to the ABC Islands in April and will be booking a private tour in Curacao. The tour company is recommending the itinerary below - anything to add or remove?  We will have our water and adventure loving 5 year old with us. 

 

Flamingo watching at the salt lakes of Sint Willibrordus.

 

Shete Boka National Park. 

 

Playa Piskado.

 

Lunch at the local restaurants of Westpunt.  (Recommendations needed!)

 

Playa Kenepa Grandi.

 

Thanks in advance!

@db8alien have you gotten any other feedback on your itinerary?  And how did you locate/choose your tour company - have you used them before?  Appreciate your thoughts!

 

[MNSails]

Not much in terms of feedback.  I think we are just going to wing it with the itinerary they suggested and modify on the go.  We just got back from a cruise with a stop in Cozumel and did a private tour there, but my daughter loved the first stop (beach club) so much that we only got one other stop in.   

 

We booked Gone Caribe on Curaçao based on recommendations elsewhere.  We also booked with Isla Aruba for a full day private tour in Aruba, and Lady Bellias for a half day snorkeling trip in Bonaire.

[Wxman0]

On 12/10/2023 at 9:01 PM, db8alien said:

We're heading to the ABC Islands in April and will be booking a private tour in Curacao. The tour company is recommending the itinerary below - anything to add or remove?  We will have our water and adventure loving 5 year old with us. 

 

Flamingo watching at the salt lakes of Sint Willibrordus.

 

Shete Boka National Park. 

 

Playa Piskado.

 

Lunch at the local restaurants of Westpunt.  (Recommendations needed!)

 

Playa Kenepa Grandi.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, just got back from our trip. We also used Gone Caribe. Joey our tour guide was excellent!! There was 10 of us so they took another vehicle. The guy driving the other one was good but the main guide was so knowledgeable. 

 

Shete Boka was our favorite part by far. So beautiful and interesting I could have stayed there most of the day. I think if we were to do it again we would spend more time there. So much beauty as the waves crash and it sounds like there were more places to visit here if we had the time. I think if you are willing to do a little hiking this would be a good area to stick around. I attached a photo of one of my favorite spots with the water splashing up. 

 

Playa Piskado was not on our schedule. I did read some on this and it looks like it may be a good snorkeling site and perhaps where he decided last minute to take us cliff jumping but more on that in a bit. 

 

We were suppose to do the restaurant at Westpunt but decided to skip it to and find a food truck or eat at the beach. We wound up eating at the beach. Couple notes there. If you do this, be sure to stop at the food truck right away! It got so busy, we ordered 40 minutes before we wanted to leave and it took an hour and a half for the food to come. They do give you a buzzer that you can take back to your chair or towel so I would suggest to order right away if you are hungry. He was going to quick take us to a place to cliff jump on the way back from the beach but because of the food we ran out of time. They were very concerned about making sure they get us back in time. So we did not make it to the cliff jump site so not really sure where that would have been.

 

Playa Kenepa Grandi is beautiful but a little rocky especially when you first walk into the water so if you have water shoes, they are beneficial to have. Chairs are limited so we threw our towels down on the beach. It is a beautiful beach and I am glad we went there but just know those few things. The other picture is this beach. 

 

He mentioned the tallest point in Curacao and how it is limited to when you go up. The latest is 10am because of the heat. I think he said it's about an hour walk up. We would have liked to have done that but that probably would have meant we did that and maybe one other thing. Perhaps next time.  

[txsmiles]

@Wxman0 thank you for sharing all of this information about your tour! We are planning a similar trip in early May.  Curious about where you ended up eating, you mentioned food truck at the beach... was it at Playa Kenepa Grandi or at a different beach?  

[Wxman0]

Yes it was at Playa Kenepa Grandi. It was just burgers and fries, cheese curds, that sort of food. Nothing special but it filled the hole in our stomach at that point. I guess we were less concerned about the food and more concerned about taking in the island. But it was at that beach where you could order, they would give you a buzzer, and you could walk back to your chair and wait for the buzzer to go off. 

[fsjosh]

We did basically the same tour with Irie. Kenepa was rocky with the small coral once you got into the water, but cliff diving was a blast. There were 3 different jumps to do depending on how brave you were. The beach itself was nice too until you went into the water.

 

Cas Abao frankly sucked. Pretty, but the water was similar to Kenepa. Rocky. The biggest problem though is their beach bar is chronically understaffed. 45 minutes to get a drink or food. We won't go back there.

 

If you do the tour take water shoes. I forgot mine and regretted it.

 

Shete Boka was nice. Lots of good picture opportunities with big crashing waves. But you aren't doing anything more than that there. You aren't getting in the water. Too rough and all rock. 

 

The flamingos are just a quick stop for pics. Probably 5 minutes. Ok, but was underwhelming. 

 

Playa Piskado was probably the highlight. You literally snorkel with big turtles and fish. You could reach out and touch them they are so close. It is a fairly short stop though and theres not really much of a beach. Its more of a fishing dock area. I'd never snorkeled before and had problems with the supplied gear. Water kept getting into the mask at my mustache, so I couldn't do a whole lot. There's apparently solutions to that problem, but I'm just including that so you can be aware in case you are in the same situation I am. 

 

We didn't stop and eat at Playa forti, so can't comment on that. 

 

You do spend a lot of time in the bus between the port and between each stop. So be prepared for that. We got back with only an hour left, so we really didn't have time to shop or explore.

 

Overall we had a good time. It was fun and our guide was great. Glad we did it, but its not something we'd do again. Mambo beach is a nicer beach, even if it is a little commercialized and in town, so consider that if you are just looking for beach time. But if you want to see some of the island and try some new things, it's not a bad tour.