Our kids were going on a school trip during February break so naturally we did not want to stay home while they were gallivanting in Iceland. We only had four nights and I had a hard time figuring out where to go – somewhere warm, not too far away and a place with stuff to do… I reached out to a travel agent who after hearing my criteria recommended Cuba. Cuba sounded perfect and checked all the boxes – only we’ve been there already. So next she suggested Curacao and off to Curacao we went!

Curacao is a beautiful island in the Dutch Antilles – it’s outside of the hurricane area so good to go pretty much year around. I did not really do much research on the island (other than making a few restaurant reservations because you know – FOOD!) and all we were planning to do was just relax on the beach at the resort. But then, during our first breakfast at the resort, we decided that we would rent a car and explore the island for the day. We ended up keeping the car for the whole duration of the stay and did a good amount of exploration! We went to beautiful local beaches, saw a whole lot of colorful tropical fish and very cool corals, we went to a national park and saw stunning scenery, we walked among giant cacti, we swam with the turtles and saw a Carnaval! AND we even had time to hang out on the beach and do nothing (and I’ve learnt that my limit of hanging out and doing nothing is 4 hours max!).

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So if you are looking for a place for a quick getaway definitely consider Curacao! As always, I put together a Practical Info Guide that will help you, should you decide to plan your own get-away to Curacao

PRACTICAL INFO

Hotel

I like staying at small boutique hotels (rather than large resorts) and Baoase Resort fit the bill perfectly. Its small (only 23 rooms) and does not have gazillion restaurants, entertainers and activities that large resorts have. But the grounds are beautiful, the service there was top notch (it almost seems that they have 1/1 staff/guests ratio), it’s new, the rooms are beautifully decorated (we stayed at a Honeymoon Suite and at a Beach Front Suite). It does not have a proper beach – not like what you would expect in Mexico for example, it’s set in a cove but it did not bother us.

Things To Do

You could book a tour but since we did not plan in advance (and it was Carnaval week) all tours were booked so we decided to rent a car and explore on our own – and it worked out great! Driving on the island was super easy and the roads were in great condition.

Tugboat Beach – probably the best snorkeling we’ve done in a while – and right off the beach! Normally whenever we go snorkeling, we take a tour where they take you on the boat in the middle of the ocean – here you just go right off the beach and see the most colorful fish! We even saw a very colorful eel! You can rent a beach chair and snorkleling gear right on the beach – not many eating options but you can get yummy hogdogs and eat them on the beach!

Directeurs Baai – this was just a 5 min drive from Tugboat beach – and the views there were absolutely STUNNING! Snorkeling was good but not as good as at Tugboat – although corrals were much cooler there

Playa Grandi – this is the place to go if you want to swim with turtles – and who would not want to SWIM with TURTLES! you just go in – and there are turtles in the water – you don’t even need to go swimming – they swim up to you! I did go swimming with them (snorkeling was really cool because you can observe them in their natural habitat) and it was one of the coolest experiences ever!

One thing I have to say about all these beaches is that they are not fine white sand beaches you may expect from a Caribbean island – they are rocky and NOT easy to walk on… so consider yourself warned:)

Sheke Boka National Park – we were driving past it so decided to stop by and so glad we did – the scenery was spectacular: desert landscape with giant cacti meets volcanic coastline and bright blue sea! Definitely worth a visit!

Punda – brightly colored buildings, cool architecture and statues, pantoon bridge -what’s not to love?

Carnaval – we did not realize it till we got to the island but we were there during Carnaval so of course we had to check it out. It was my first Carnaval and it was spectacular!

Restaurants

We had a few meals at the hotel and while they are fine, I can’t say they were my favorite. They were beautifully presented and made with the freshest ingredients but as they would say on the Great British Baking Championship ‘the flavor was not there’. It was convient to eat at the hotel and we did do a ‘romantic gazebo dinner’ one night – it was definitely a nice experience and one that I would recommend.

Fish and Joy – this place was AMAZING – the setting was very pretty and the food was SO GOOD – highly recommend. I wish we went there more than once!

Fort Nassau – I booked it because it was one of the top rated restaurants on TripAdvisor – with, supposedly, the best views of the sunset so of course we had to check it out and it was just OK. The views were nice and it was cool to see the sun set over the ocean but the food was nothing special – I would skip it

Playa Forti – this a local restaurant that’s right by Playa Grandi – a place to go swim with the turtles (more on that later). It’s nothing fancy but the seafood we ordered was fresh and yummy and the views of the sea were absolutely stunning. I would not go out of my way to eat there but if you are in the area – it’s a solid choice.

Hope this post helps you plan your own trip to Curacao!