Best beach/Curacao

[Aosborn]

We are going to be in Curacao in November and want to spend time at the beach. We would like to go to a beach that is very lush with trees, white sands, not too crowded and with a bar service. Can anyone suggest a beach that we soon wont forget?

[Danielley]

My husband and I just returned from Curacao. We visited Cas Abou and Playa Porto Mari which are halfway between Otrobanda (where the cruise ships dock) and Westpunt (the point farthest west). Both had bars with food, payphones, bathrooms, showers, umbrellas and lounge chairs. Get there as early as possible so you can get some shade- they are permanently attached to the ground. Of the two, Playa Porto Mari was nicer. They have a dive/snorkel shop on site and the bar is much better. Cas Abou had nicer water though.

 

They each charge an entry fee by person or by car. Porto Mari charges by person and charges extra for a lounge chair, but it's pretty inexpensive. You can probably catch a cab to and from (there are phones at the beach).

[kpgclark]

Are there cabs readily available where the ships dock? I have a family of 4 and would enjoy a day at the beach with them. The cruise's beach tour is to the Hilton Hotel and would be around $200 for our family. Rather than have a defined departure and return time we thought it would be nice to just take a cab to the beach. I'd also like to know if there are cabs waiting by the beach to take folks back to the dock.

[geri]

Read the thread on the Kontiki Beach Club. I think it's what you might be looking for.

[kpgclark]

Wow the Kintiki sounds great. Thanks geri.

[kristen3525]

We were on the Adventure of the Seas 2 weeks ago and went to Curacao. We had no plan for the day, kinda took our time getting off the ship. When we got off there was a really nice taxi driver who said he'd take us to a nice beach for $20 per person (it's 30 minutes away). He took us to Playa Porto Mari, and he turned out to be a great tour guide too, telling us all about the island. Well, I fell in love with Curacao, after not expecting much from it. I had heard there are no nice beaches in Curacao. Well, that was wrong. I loved this beach! There were very few cruise passengers (some came with a tour with the ship that was $34/person) and very few people at all. We all got a chair under a tree for $5 a chair, plus a free soda. We did some snorkeling and some some really pretty fish. The water was very calm, and the sand was very white. There is a lot of coral on this beach. Very pretty scenery.

[kpgclark]

How did you get back from the beach to the ship?

[kristen3525]

It cost us $20 per person round trip. The taxi driver dropped us off and asked what time we wanted to be picked up. He picked us up right on time and we didn't pay him anything until we were picked up. We actually had him drop us off downtown to do some shopping and we walked back to the ship from there.

Just be aware that this beach has mostly Europeans on it and there are quite a few topless women.