IT’S A BIG WORLD OUT THERE, IT WOULD BE A SHAME NOT TO EXPERIENCE IT.

– J.D. ANDREWS

Ever since I was little, I travelled often with my parents. And because my dad has family all across the Dutch Antilles, that’s where we went to the most. I’ve done my fair share of solo travel & wanted my first non-Suriname related travel post to be about the country I love just as much (if not a little bit more tbh.): Curacao.

This post includes clickable names for your convenience.

Because Curacao feels like a second home to me, I have some standard things I do, whenever I’m there. However, there were some new things I wanted to try out.

• The city: I love walking around the city. What I love the most about Punda & Otrabanda are the beautiful murals, the souvenirs and the waterside cafe’s & restaurants.
• Rif Fort: during the day I love just walking around, sitting & eating ice cream (from Don’s Ice Cream Shop) and having lunch at the restaurants at the upper level of the fort, with a beautiful ocean view.
• The old market (Plaza Bieu): one of the ways to get to know a culture is through their food. Plaza Bieu is a food hall with various food vendors selling some authentic Curacao dishes. My favorites are the okra soup with Funchi & the karni stoba with Funchi. This is definitely a MUST DO whenever you’re in Curacao!
• Hato Caves: the Hato Caves are located close to the airport & should definitely be at the top of your Curacao itinerary.
• Klein Curacao (little Curacao)
• Sambil: Sambil is a huge mall with a huge food court. Great for shopping & eating. Guess which one of these I spent more time doing…..
• Amazonia: do a jungle experience tour where you get to meet all the animals they have on property, grab a bite to eat in their restaurant, take a dip in their pool and if you don’t want to leave, book yourself a room in their hotel! This was such an amazing experience! I 100% recommend it, especially when you’re travelling with kids.
• Fort Beekenburg
• Pietermaai District: located in the heart of Curacao, you’ll find a lot of boutique hotels, cafe’s, restaurants & more in Pietermaai. Definitely worth exploring! Personally, I love the colors of the buildings and the murals all over.
• Zuikertuin Mall
• Hemingway Beach Bar & Restaurant: on Sunday’s they have Latin nights with a live band. I’ve been dancing for 16 years now so needless to say, this is one of my favorite things to do.
• Shete Boka National Park
• Swimming with turtles at Playa Grandi

• Truki Pan: these are food trucks alongside the road. They offer a variety of dishes both grilled and cooked on the spot. I absolutely LOVE truki pan so much I could kill for it…. hahaha… just kidding. They can be found all over Curacao and are open at night.
• Fort Nassau: it was built in 1797 to defend Curacao against enemy attacks and is now a restaurant where you can get amazing food with an amazing view! I 100% reccommend!
• Poke Food Station: literally THE BEST poke bowls in Curacao! You can customize your entire bowl just the way you like!
• Bario Urban Street Food: at Bario you can choose from a wide variety of dishes & cocktails. The best thing for me was that they also have VEGAN dishes since I have months where I go fully vegan.
• Grand Cafe Mahaai: if you’re a burger lover, this is the best place for you to go to! They have massive burgers!
• The Marketplace by Hofi Cas Cora: a zero-waste fram-shop & cafe.
• De visserij: the perfect place to get all your seafood cravings satisfied! Disclaimer: be there early AF because it gets very busy!
• Goisco (schottegatweg north): now hear me out. Yess, this is a supermarket, BUT they have a soup station & a food station and their food is AMAZING!
• Delifrance: I went here with my mother for breakfast one morning & the food was delicious and A LOT! I especially loved their hot chocolate. It’s a really cute cafe to sit and talk or work remotely.
• Blue View Sunset Bar & Restaurant (road to westpunt): this is a really nice restaurant with good food and an amazing ocean view.

All over Curacao there are cafe’s & restaurants waiting for you to find them. There are so many more than the ones I listed here so I definitely recommend getting in your car, driving around and exploring the island.

These are the beaches & resorts I love going to:

• Blue Bay
• Papagayo Beach Hotel & Resort
• Mambo Beach
• Porto Mari
• Cas Abao Beach
• Grote Knip (big knip)
• Snorkeling to the Blue Room Cave

This is how I would normally spend my week in Curacao. I hope this helps you on your next vacation. I would also love it if you’d tell me about the places you visited and (if they aren’t already) should be added to this post. So, feel free to contact me & I’ll definitely get back to you!

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