Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to dig up an older thread, but not many on Curacao on this board. For those who drove to the beaches there, is it safe to leave your belongings on the beach while you swim/snorkel (ie beach bag, shoes)?

Is it safe to leave stuff in your car while you shop and eat at restaurants (ie beach gear)?

Yes to both.

It’s been a few years, but we found curaçao very safe/low crime compared to other vacation spots. I mean, we didn’t dump our iPhones and cash out in full view on our blankets while we swam, but we left our keys tucked in bags. As for our car, we didn’t worry about that at all.

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but not many on Curacao on this board. For those who drove to the beaches there, is it safe to leave your belongings on the beach while you swim/snorkel (ie beach bag, shoes)?

Is it safe to leave stuff in your car while you shop and eat at restaurants (ie beach gear)?

Anonymous wrote:Loved visiting the very old synagogue (oldest in the Western Hemisphere). The slavery museum is good and sobering.

We didn’t all have water shoes and it was fine for us. Some beaches are sandy and you won’t need them there, for others they might be useful.

There is enough to do but not SO much to do. Snorkeling was our main activity, and beach going.

We had a car and used it every day—I think it would be a much less cool trip without one. There isn’t much in the way of public transit. Driving and parking were easy.

Loved visiting the very old synagogue (oldest in the Western Hemisphere). The slavery museum is good and sobering.

We didn’t all have water shoes and it was fine for us. Some beaches are sandy and you won’t need them there, for others they might be useful.

There is enough to do but not SO much to do. Snorkeling was our main activity, and beach going.

Anonymous wrote:Playa Grandi - this was insane. They were like "please do not touch the sea turtles" and my reaction was "what do I look like, Katie Ledecky? I can't catch a sea turtle!!" but then as soon as I put my head underwater they were everywhere. One bumped into my head while I was backing away from another. Crazy crazy crazy cool.

Guided tour with a local - we used Around Curacao tours and had Ray for our guide, it was awesome and we all agreed that if we had it to do over again we'd do it two days in a row and see more. He took us to a cool cliffside restaurant with amazing views where we could watch divers while we ate; never would have found it on our own.

Playa Porto Marie was beautiful and the softest beach we visited but I was not really charmed by the pigs and watching people chase them around.

I found Hato caves to be extremely skippable in retrospect.

We did not rent a car. Other people really prefer to do that but we didn't want the responsibility and we were so close to Willemstad it wasn't necessary. The island is tiny. BRING. WATER. SHOES. The beaches are rocky but worth it.

Would you think that crocs make adequate water shoes when wandering on the beaches and into the shallow waters? On a related note, don't people normally use flippers when snorkeling in deeper water?

Have been a few times but many years ago. I second the advice on Playa Lagun. We never had a guide, it is very easy to rent a car and drive around the island yourself, and you can stop at many of the beaches and picnic or snorkel. We are divers so we also took our scuba gear with us and did shore dives at many of the beaches away from the resorts.

OP here. Thank you for the Water Shoe advice. Something that none of the guidebooks mention.

Appreciate any and all additional responses.

Playa Grandi - this was insane. They were like "please do not touch the sea turtles" and my reaction was "what do I look like, Katie Ledecky? I can't catch a sea turtle!!" but then as soon as I put my head underwater they were everywhere. One bumped into my head while I was backing away from another. Crazy crazy crazy cool.

Guided tour with a local - we used Around Curacao tours and had Ray for our guide, it was awesome and we all agreed that if we had it to do over again we'd do it two days in a row and see more. He took us to a cool cliffside restaurant with amazing views where we could watch divers while we ate; never would have found it on our own.

Playa Porto Marie was beautiful and the softest beach we visited but I was not really charmed by the pigs and watching people chase them around.

I found Hato caves to be extremely skippable in retrospect.

We did not rent a car. Other people really prefer to do that but we didn't want the responsibility and we were so close to Willemstad it wasn't necessary. The island is tiny. BRING. WATER. SHOES. The beaches are rocky but worth it.

It's been 10 years since we went, but I highly recommend visiting the Blue Cave (Blue Room) with a tour. For snorkeling we loved Playa Lagun and Playa Porto Mari.

Most of the beaches are not powdery but rather crunchy with broken shells, so water shoes are a must.

I am surprised how underwhelming the travel books are with respect to Curacao. Either it is just mentioned in 3 pages in a massive Fodors/Frommers Caribbean book or there are what look like poorly produced, self-published travel guides on Amazon.

I did a search and I see there are some mentions of Curacao, again in the context of the Caribbean in general.

Visiting for the first time and just wondering what the can't miss snorkel spots, outdoor activities (ATV tour recommendation would be great), restaurants, etc.