Curacao Travel Guide: Where to Visit & What to do

Thinking of Traveling soon? This Curacao travel guide has everything you need from food, adventure, and stay. Every year my best friends and I always go on a girl’s trip to kick off the start of summer. This year we chose Curacao and absolutely loved it! For those who don’t know much about Curacao, it’s a tiny Dutch Carribbean island located relatively close to Venezuela, Aruba, and Bonaire. The island is full of warm, welcoming people. The weather is absolutely beautiful, averaging high 80s with lots of sun year-round.

I wanted to take some time to share with you guys some highlights of our trip and shed some light on some awesome hidden gems and must-see attractions on the island.

Stay:

We stayed in the Renaissance Hotel & Casino located just minutes from Willemstad, the island’s capital. The girls and I bundled our hotel and flight an only paid about $500 each, talk about a deal!

Must Have:

Infinity pool and beach overlooking the ocean

It was a good 15-20 minutes from the airport and a very well-known hotel in the area. Little shops and restaurants surrounded the outside of hotel, enticing guests to roam freely. The staff was super friendly, attentive, and accommodating. My favorite part about this hotel was probably the infinity pool and beach. Both sat over the ocean and the views were breathtaking.

Where to Eat in Curacao:

For food, we ate a little local restaurants that were 10-15 minutes away from our hotel. Majority of the places we visited we either looked up online or asked the hotel staff and city locals. Wherever we ate, the food was super fresh and delicious. Honeslty, my favorite part about traveling is the food. I LOVE to eat. No shame here.

My favorite restaurant that we ate at was called Kome. I found them through Trip Advisor and knew just by their reviews we had to check this place out. We also asked a lot of locals and they all raved about Kome. It’s located in the city, a tiny two-story restaurant with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. If anyone is thinking about visiting Curacao, you HAVE TO check this place out. Honestly, I still think about this place everyday. The food and drinks were to die for (you need to try the hanger steak). To top it off, the staff was more than welcoming and attentive. Honestly… if I could, I’d fly back just to to eat here again.

Adventure & Fun

There is SO much to do in Curacao. From snorkeling to scuba diving, horseback riding to ATV/buggy tours, there’s a lot to experience while you’re here. Throughout our stay, we crossed out a handful of activities off our bucket list.

One of my favorite parts of the trip probably has to be the ATV & Buggy Tours the girls and I did. It’s rated the number one off-road tour on the island and has won numerous awards over the years. There are two different types of tours you can choose from: a 3-hour tour of the eastern side of the island or a 6-hour tour of the western side of the island. We chose the 3-hour tour that included a visit to an aloe plantation, ostrich farm, Indian caves, the Cave of Doom, a private beach, and a natural bridge. Our tour guides were so down to earth, super informative and funny, we had an absolute blast! Id’ recommend this to anyone looking to get dirty while learning about the beauty and hidden gems throughout the island.

Sightseeing in Curacao:

Curacao may be tiny, but it’s jam packed with so much history and beauty. There’s no better way to explore a new island than with a tour guide. Willemstad has various guided tours thoughout the city on tuk-tuks (three-wheeled taxis that usually fit 2-4 passangers). The TukTuk City Tour usually lasts and hour or two and takes you through various historic landmarks. This will only cost you about $25 USD.

The Curacao Distillery is also a great spot to visit and learn about the history of the world-famous liquor (blue curacao). I absolutely love to visit distilleries and breweries when I travel. A few years ago my best friends and I went to Puerto Rico and toured the Bacardi Distilery Factory (also recommend). During the tour, you take part in a mixology class where you’re able to play with exclusive Bacardi liquors and cocktails.

During the Curacao Distillery Tour, you get to see how their liquors are made and grab a free drink while you’re at it. They produce a variety of flavors and styles of liquors, so I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking. The tour itself lasts about 45 minutes and will only cost you about $15 USD. Towards the end of your tour, homemade gelato ice cream awaits in the distillery’s cozy courtyard.

Beach Please

During our stay, we visited a handful of beaches and let me tell you, they did not dissapoint.

There was one beach we kept hearing about the most, Mambo beach. It was a good 15-20 minutes from our hotel and is rated the number one party beach in Curacao. Mambo beach is a boulevard strip of multiple bars, restaurants, and shops surrounding the water. It’s always packed and there’s always something going on whether it’s all day happy hour, a concert or beach party, this is the beach to check out.

Pro Tip: Sunday and Wednesday nights they do late-night happy hour that starts at 10 with a live DJ!

Playa Porto Marie

Playa Porto Marie was hands down, one of my absolute favorite beaches I’ve visited ever. We heard of this beach from the locals as it’s well known for its light turquoise waters and wild pigs. Yep, you read that right. They’ve got wild pigs that roam the beach! The majority of them are either sunbathing, in the water, or rummaging through the tourists’ bags. They’re really calm and keep to themselves, but it’s advised not to feed them. The beach itself has to much to offer. There’s a bar, restaurant with live music, scuba diving/snorkeling, kayaking, and various spots throughout the beach to get a massage.

Playa Lagoon

The last beach we visited was called Playa Lagoon. It’s funny because we stumbled upon this gem by accident. It’s known more for its coral reefs and attracts thousands of deep-sea divers year round. We snorkeled a lot, ate a lot, and took a nap (successful beach day if you ask me). One really cool thing about this beach is that it’s got a restaurant and bar that sits high up over a rock and looks over the entire beach. If you’re looking to get away to a beach that’s a bit more secluded and quiet, this is the place for you.

Before letting you guys go, I want to leave you with one tip:

When staying overseas anywhere, don’t hesitate to ask a travel guide or the locals about where to go and what to do. We went to Curacao with only a few excursions in mind but once we got to our hotel, we ended up adding so much more to our itenirary! Give yourself the freedom and flexibility to adjust your plans and go with the flow when a new adventure pops up. I am so happy we were spontaneous and took this trip. I had my eyes set on Curacao for a while and couldn’t be happier with our travels and memories made. For more inspiration and trips on future travel endeavors and travel guides, don’t forget to subscribe!

Where’s somewhere you’d like to go that you’ve never been to?