Curacao wow!

Just got back from an amazing trip to Curacao. When I would tell people where Adam and I were going I would get a blank stare, “it’s the country right next to Aruba.” “Ohhhhh,, nice.” And it reminds me of Aruba just not as commercialized…yet. If you have a couple hundred grand laying around and want to invest, I suggest you get in on this island before it turns into an Aruba. Curacao is out of the hurricane zone so any time of year is a good time to visit. It is a Dutch Caribbean island and all of the locals speak 4 languages; English, Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamento (local Creole). It is actually in South America, about 188 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

We stayed 5 nights at the Marriott Beach Resort. The resort was recently remodeled so it was beautiful and spotless. It is a little off the beaten path (so they can keep you there) but we escaped and toured Willemstad city, went to a couple beautiful beaches, swam with the sea turtles and went off shore fishing. Here’s the view from our room (below). I’m disappointed in the room because even though it is oceanfront, it is an obstructed view. We were at the far end of the resort right next to the property line so we had trees blocking half of our view. I know, first world problems.

The resort was a tropical paradise. They spend a lot of time caring for the property. Someone was always pruning a bush or cleaning the pool or pool deck. The resort had two pools, one adult only, so that was nice. The main entrance to the property is completely open air, definitely living the Caribbean lifestyle. The gym was amazing, not that it ever got very crowded. The private beach was beautiful with crystal, clear water. Here are some resort photos.

The highlight of the trip for me was swimming with the sea turtles and going to Playa Kenepa, such a beautiful beach. The sea turtles will come right up to you and they are so cute. I highly recommend to do this type of excursion if you ever get the chance.

This is Playa Kenepa Beach. The water was crystal clear.

Another fun beach we went to was Mambo Beach. This beach had restaurants, shopping, and brand new condos going in everywhere. The shops weren’t super touristy so I was about to get a couple nice souvenirs to bring home.

If you ask Adam, the highlight of his trip was probably the offshore fishing. I usually stay behind at the resort when he does the fishing trip but I agreed to go with him this time. Yeah, not my favorite thing to do, especially when we were headed back to the beach and began getting pelted but torrential rain that felt like cold needles being poked into every part of my body. But, other than that. The good news is he caught two Mahi. It was absolutely delicious. There is nothing better than fresh Mahi.

I do have to give a shout out to a couple local restaurants we ate at, MosaCana and Blklyn. MosaCana was a tapas style restaurant, with the most delicious homemade harissa dip and beef tataki. We could not stop talking about the beef tataki.

Blklyn was a Dutch gastropub. We had to try their local delicacy, funchi fries. It is basically boiled cornmeal that is shaped into blocks and then fried. It kind of tastes like polenta. The restaurant was pretty slow the night we were there because most of the island was at a festival called Kaya Kaya. It was sold-out or we would’ve checked it out.

Overall, we had a really good time in Curacao. Language wasn’t a barrier, it was similarly priced to DC, they take US dollars, and it felt very safe. I did like the Marriott Beach Resort. If you have status with Marriott they have a lounge with free beer, wine, liquor and snacks. That was a nice touch. So what are you waiting for, book your trip to Curacao. One word of caution, the flights to Curacao are not cheap. I watched for months but never saw them drop in price.