For a brief winter break, we packed up our small family and headed to Curacao for the week of January 16 – 23rd. Coming along with us was one of my wife’s friends, Rose, an avid snorkeler and assistant margarita maker. The reason we chose Curacao came down to a fluke of ticket pricing. I simply went online in December, pulled up a Google Flights route map of the Caribbean, and found cheap round-trip tickets to a random destination. With tickets just a bit over $300 round-trip, Curacao was a no-brainer. After a brief online search, we found a beautiful house located in the Cas Abou Villas neighborhood, on the less populated central south-coast of the island.
The rental house sold me the minute I saw the wraparound porch and open air layout. I was admittedly nervous about wiring a good chunk of change to Curacao, but the whole thing was legit and even better than I expected. So on Saturday, the 16th of January, we took off out of Charlotte for the three hour direct flight to Curacao.
On descent and approach into Curacao, we arced around the southwest side of the island, which put the area we’d be staying on our side of the plane. Here is a picture I snapped from the airplane of Cas Abou Villas (the house we rented was the third row up, green roof) and the adjacent Cas Abou beach. As you can see, the community is perched on a slope overlooking the Caribbean Sea toward Venezuela. The south facing coast of the island is sheltered from the relentless trade winds, while the north coast gets pounded by heavy swells and wind.
Landing at Hato International Airport…wind turbines on the north coast…
It was late afternoon when we cleared customs, nabbed a rental car from the super quick and convenient Just Drive Curacao rental car agency, and headed for Cas Abou. The owner of the rental house, a super nice Dutch fellow named Fred, met us at the residence, went over the features and operation of various items, and shared a beer with us. We elected to forego the grocery store on the first afternoon and instead went to a small market to pick up just the essentials: beer. We actually brought with us from the U.S. a cooler stuffed with steaks, frozen burgers, and a bunch of other items we thought might be a bit more expensive in Curacao, so we were set with food for a bit.
My wife Marisa (right), her friend Rose (left) and the rental house owner, Fred…
Pictures I took of the house…we ate outside on the patio each night…it was fantastic…!
The pool is a really cool feature with steps on both sides leading down to the lower level of the house (which is a separate rental if you don’t want the whole house). The pool edge is a bit nerve wracking for parents of a six year old because it can be quite dangerous if your kid decides to walk around the edge of the pool. The drop-off is a good ten or twelve feet down to sharp coral rocks below and the owner has explicit instructions to not allow kids to play on the edges of the pool. We set the ground rules for that immediately for Kai.
After getting our stuff sorted, we took a short walk down to the community “beach”, which is more like a coral beach cove, but is perfectly adequate for getting into and out of the water for snorkeling or diving. The sunsets each night were just jaw dropping and never got old. Here we are walking down the path through the scrub to get to the small coral beach…
The next morning we woke up, had an awesome breakfast, and went down to the tiny community beach to access the water just off the cliffs. The water is cool this time of year, to the point that Kai would get cold after 15-20 minutes and start shivering. I’d definitely recommend a rash guard at the minimum, and for kids I would probably (next time) get a 2 or 3 mil shorty suit or something.
The small coral beach with a nice palapa – a great entry for local snorkeling…
Water clarity just off the coral beach was very good. Curacao is probably a better island for diving than snorkeling compared to some islands, but the variety and diversity of the fish and coral were still pretty good. Water clarity just off Cas Abou was fantastic the first few days, but got a bit cloudier later in the week – but other areas of the island were crystal clear, so if you don’t have good luck in one spot, you can often just drive down the coast and find a better spot. In front of the Villas were a lot of sponges, coral, and some fans. There do seem to be indications of damage from bleaching and (perhaps) warming sea temperatures, but there is still plenty to see. One troubling thing we saw often while snorkeling all over the waters off the island were invasive Lionfish that are taking up residence. These non-native fish can kill of vast numbers of native reef fish and there is a very public campaign to encourage divers to kill them. They are edible, so it is a bit of a win-win. Unfortunately, we were not equipped with the means to kill and harvest them.
Picture of Lionfish I took just off Cas Abou…
Me and Kai working our way around the point to get to Cas Abou beach – the more beautiful and larger white sand beach with a bar, dive shop, and nice waters to snorkel in…
It didn’t take long for Kai to grow comfortable in the water…and soon he was diving, flopping around, and generally working off a lot of energy…
Some of the coral and fish off Cas Abou…
Nearly all of the beaches feature stretches of shallow water and reefs, followed by a precipitous drop from the shelf into the depths. Some of these drop offs are mere yards from the beach, and some are a longer swim out. The “wall” drop-offs are popular with SCUBA divers because they are easily accessible from the shore, so you don’t have to pay a boat to take you out. I’m able to free-dive down to depths of around 30’ or so…and snapped some photos of the deeper structures…
Marisa floating along…
Some areas of the reef appear damaged, but some are recovering as well. Some areas of the island (like around Tugboat) had phenomenal reef systems, while others (like around Jan Thiel) had some pretty significant coral degradation. Curacao has some national parks, but from what I’ve read, there is no real legal protections for the reefs and creatures, so they do get fished extensively. That said, there were plenty of fish around, so no telling if there is any real impact from fishing…
The reef system just in front of the Cas Abou Villas is actually pretty good, with some of the healthiest patches of elkhorn coral that we saw on the island, and tons of fish sheltering around it. This was nice since it was literally steps from our rental…
Another short segment of broken coral beach just northwest of Cas Abou Villas – then there is a longer stretch of beach that we never got around to really exploring…
Barracuda…
Kai and I just off Cas Abou beach – around the corner to the right is the swim back to our community coral beach – the dark blue water is the edge of the dropoff into the depths…
Lots of cool fish – particularly trunk fish, trumpet fish, and file fish…
A white spotted Sharptail Eel spotted by Marisa – we’ve often referred to them as sea-snakes, but they are actually eels…
Peacock flounder…
We saw tons of spotted moray eels on this trip…
Each morning, the resident birds would chirp us awake…there were many types with brilliant colors…
Omelette with hashbrowns wrapped within, pico de gallo, Mexican cheese, and some thick cut bacon…a great way to fuel the day…
The local popular beers were Bright and Polar…both pretty good…
A couple evenings, I wandered down the path toward Cas Abou and climbed down the cliffs to do some fishing. My luck wasn’t very good though, despite the waters teeming with fish. I could see fish interested in my lures, but nothing was striking. I managed to catch a small parrotfish and that was about it…but the views and setting couldn’t be beat… I had the chance to talk to some local fisherman who were using hand thrown lines to catch fish. They were using small hooks baited with squid to catch smaller fish for eating. They were very interested and appreciative of my bug spray…
The next day we headed further toward the west side of the island. The east side of the island includes the main town, cruise ship docking, and is much, much busier…while the central and west side of the island is much more sparsely populated. We set up on Playa Kalki for the morning and enjoyed snorkeling and playing on the beach there. The snorkeling wasn’t that great, but the beach was beautiful – yeah, the water is really that color!
Later, we bounced a couple of coves back to the east and the interesting cut in the cliffs that makes up Playa Lagun, which features a nice beach protected by towering walls on either side… We wouldn’t go to the beach proper until later in the week, but we did go to the restaurant on the cliffside and enjoyed some hamburgers and drinks. The food and beverages were good, and reasonably priced, but the service was definitely not the greatest.
It was the reality of the situation on the island that many of the locals and service industry people were kind of indifferent to visitors. The history of the island (slavery) is not distant enough for locals not to harbor resentment is my assumption. Understandable, but it doesn’t help their tourism industry, which doesn’t help them either. The situation is complex I’m sure. Compared to some other Caribbean islands though, the mood was definitely sort of flat line – not gracious, nor hostile…just sort of blah. There were exceptions, of course – particularly the guys I met fishing, the awesome guy at Just Drive Rental Car, and of course, the people we met in the Cas Abou Villa community.
On the drive through a tunnel of trees…
Mid-week, the people renting the downstairs portion of the house showed up from Munich, Germany. We were renting the top half of the villa, while they were renting the bottom floor. We knew that they were coming, but we weren’t told the makeup of the group. No doubt Rose (single) was probably hoping it was a group of young, fit SCUBA diving men. I was worried it might be a quartet of German bikini models (female…female…) (“you knew Chris…didn’t you???”) In the end, it turned out to be a nice couple with their six year old son and his grandmother. So Kai was over the moon about having a new friend “Lewis”. The language barrier mattered little to the kids and they delighted in chasing each other around, playing hide and seek, and worrying us with their pool play.
The weather turned a bit rainy on one day – but it was just a few showers and some moody grey skies for the most part. We decided to head around the corner to Playa Cas Abou and avail ourselves of their beautiful sand, water, and facilities.
Cas Abou has some nice snorkeling for beginners just a few yards from the beach. Meanwhile, shore divers can put on their tanks and get to the wall drop off in just minutes. Some of the nicest fans and coral can be found just around the point to the east, but once you get out to the point, be aware of the current because it can pick up a bit out there.
“What do you mean – do I botox??”
Beautiful anemone…
Go ahead…stick out your finger…
One of my favorite types of coral…I think it is Fuzzy Pillar Coral (maybe…)…
Later in the week we decided to visit the much talked about Tugboat Beach. Located on the eastern side of the island, you have to drive through the more populated urban area to reach it. The facilities have recently been upgraded and now include a nice shop, a small restaurant/bar where you can buy a sandwich and beer if you like, and some nice decking and chairs. Access to the beach is free, but there are nice local crafts in the shop and the guy running the place was super nice.
Access to the “Tugboat” wreck is pretty straightforward. Walk into the water and swim to the last massive concrete piling and you’ll spot it in the shallows. The wall drops off quickly into the depths…making for a cool and spooky snorkel along the abyss…
Water clarity was exceptional – and since we got there early, we had the wreck all to ourselves. About an hour later, an entire catamaran cruise showed up and the site was filled with people, so it pays to get there in the morning…
Kai was starting to get cold, so I took him back to the beach while Marisa and Rose continued on around the corner. Judging from their photos, the coral formations were about the best on the island just beyond Tugboat toward the next cove…
Meanwhile, Kai and I worked back toward the beach, taking a short detour to the boat maintenance dock/wharf that borders the beach area. The dropoff looms all along, just beyond the short shelf where the Tugboat sits on the bottom…
Making some adjustments…
The beach is popular for shore divers, with easy access to the depths…
We spotted the massive ship anchor on the bottom…
Kai and I snorkeled along what I called “Sherwood’s Forest” that hold the pier up. It is pretty spooky under there with the bottom dropping off quickly to allow for deep draft ships to tie up…
Back at the beach…it was a beauty and the beast situation as the resident iguanas descended out of the hillside to try to claim our bananas and fruit…
While we were on the “civilized” side of the island, we decided to drop by Jan Thiel beach…and found the resort crowd. You can’t take coolers to the beach, you must pay an entry, and it is pretty much perfect for those looking for the “resort” type atmosphere (not us). The snorkeling was not very good, but that may have been because the water was a bit rough and visibility wasn’t the greatest.
The next day we decided to take the advice of the guy that rented us the car and visit “Captain Goodlife” at Playa Santa Cruz. The Trip Advisor reviews for the Captain are hilarious to read because people seem to have either an awesome experience with the quirky guy, or an absolutely horrible one. There doesn’t appear to be much middle ground. We were warned that showing up prior to 10am was not a good idea…and that we’d be run off, so we respected that and waited until 10am before running up on the Captain’s compound. His wife told us the boat trip for the day would be at 1PM so we headed back over to Playa Lagun to snorkel there and enjoy the beach…
Playa Lagun is a great beginner’s snorkel spot because it is so calm and sheltered. The fish are plentiful and the coral formations are fair along the walls. It is a good place to go to get up close to the coral and really study the intricacies because it is so calm…
Flying Gurnard putting on a cool display…whenever they do this I think of Nedry’s demise in Jurassic Park…
So we killed some time at Playa Lagun, then headed back over to Playa Santa Cruz to await the 1PM boarding time. Captain Goodlife’s compound is “unique”…part pirate haven, part watersports center, part restaurant, park junk heap, part art gallery…it really is a sight to behold.
It was interesting to see people drive up, walk into the compound, only to be hustled out by the Captain. He seemed to be an equal opportunity kind of guy and even the folks that arrived via dinghy got moved out of the compound to await the proper boarding time. He is quite the character – he doesn’t advertise, doesn’t accept reservations, and only gets his business by word of mouth.
Near the appointed hour, we headed into the compound with our trump card in the lead – blond haired, blue-eyed Kai in his flip flops and rash guard is the most effective ambassador to walk the planet. On approaching the Captain, Kai immediately disarmed him with a handshake and to our great wonder and amusement, Captain Goodlife ushered us upstairs to the restaurant/living room and proceeded to give us a fascinating twenty minute verbal history of the compound and how his family came to operate it. It was really cool and interspersed with the Captain’s salty language were some real nuggets of how one should live their lives. The Captain has a very stream of consciousness delivery which is highly entertaining, probably offensive to some, and very engaging. We were delighted with the background and special treatment and really appreciate his hospitality. You get the feeling that it could have gone the other way and he could just as easily have pitched us off the dock into the water and told us to get out…LOL…
It was interesting to hear the Captain’s take on his business success. Despite not advertising, his business is booming, and as a result his life can be a bit hectic because I think he does try to do everything for everyone. It probably doesn’t help when you share your business address with your home residence, so no doubt he has clients knocking on his door at 7AM wanting to go on boat rides…which probably explains his rather abrupt approach to communication. It was funny to hear him say “this is what you wished for…to have a successful business and to carry forward the legacy of my father…so I can’t be mad…I can’t confuse God” after having his wish for success granted. I could have listened to him talk for hours…
Soon we, along with about a dozen other people, were loaded up on his boat and headed toward The Blue Room just down the coast. You can actually walk there, but the boat ride with the Captain was worth it. He trolled a fishing line behind the boat with several lures attached, and most reports indicate he is pretty good at snagging some fish, but we were hitting Curacao at a bit of a dead season between tuna and other gamefish that would be moving into the area. I was hoping we’d see him hook up to something big…but that’s why they call it “fishing” and not “catching” as the saying goes.
Captain Goodlife letting Kai man the helm…
After a short boat trip where we dropped off some SCUBA divers (to be picked up in an hour) – we reached the Blue Room. Over the side we go…
The Blue Room is a huge cavern that has a low entry just above the waterline. Apparently it went unnoticed for years until someone happened upon it. The result of the light bouncing off the sand outside and the filtering effects of the water makes for a truly incredible experience. And yes, if some bigger waves come rolling in, you can bounce the top of your head off the low entry…so be careful when entering and exiting…
Kai and Rose chasing schools of fish in the Blue Room…
Me and Marisa checking out the sandy bottom…
Looking out toward Captain Goodlife’s boat…
The Blue Room was really cool…and I highly recommend going with Captain Goodlife. Unless he makes you walk the plank or something…then, well, you should have walked. After cruising up and down the coast a bit, we ended up back at the Captain’s compound a few hours later. He invited us to stay for dinner and told us point blank that his wife made the best food on the island. While we waffled on what to pick off the menu, his patience wore thin and he assessed us through those thick glasses of his and assigned each of us a plate of food that he decided would suit each of us. It was an amazing display of confidence in his product…LOL… In the end, Kai got a handmade pizza, while Rose, Marisa, and I received tuna, mahi, and grouper respectively…and it WAS the best meal we had on the island. It was phenomenal in both taste and presentation. Made even better by the Captain’s quirky company. It was a real family affair in preparing as well, with his wife, son, and daughter all participating in the cooking.
Kai loved his homemade pizza…hand tossed crust with some local made flour/meal sprinkled on the bottom – it was awesome!
The Captain’s wife served up the adults with these spectacular dishes. I ate every scrap on my plate. It could not have been better. The fish was perfect, and the fries were the Captain’s own specially grown orange potatoes of some sort.
Prior to ordering, I was going through my cash on hand to figure out if I had enough money for all the food, beer, etc…and the Captain waved me off – if I didn’t have enough, it didn’t matter, he wanted me to try his wife’s food, and if I needed to come back some other day, I could pay him then. It was pretty cool. Turns out, I had plenty of money…so it wasn’t a factor… Although his wife probably would have made me wash the dishes because she looked like she was a no-nonsense operator (the Yang to the Captain’s Ying or something…)
The day couldn’t have gone better with Captain Goodlife…and we had an awesome time.
We returned home with full bellies, worn out, and ready to sip drinks on the patio and watch another flaming sunset…
The next day we headed back over to Playa Santa Cruz and walked the trail behind the Captain’s house around ten minutes to the volcanic black sand beach of Playa Boka Santu Pretu. You can continue down the trail and eventually make it to the cliffs above the Blue Room if you wanted. The black sand beach is a neat change and the small rocks and sand are very unique and fun to sift through. As well, the small shelf reef guarding the east end of the cove has some nice fish and coral on it.
The reason we went to Playa Boka was that while on the return boat ride with Captain Goodlife, we overheard the conversation about another shipwreck a bit off the cove. He gave us a bit of a bearing off a white cliff face but it would be up to us to find it. Another couple had tried after getting off the boat the previous day, but had not located it, so I wasn’t sure if we’d spot it or not.
I donned my fins, and headed out across the middle of the bay into the open water. Looking back toward the cliff faces, I spotted the whitish area that the Captain pointed out the day before and I swam that bearing outward toward the deeper water. After just a few minutes of swimming, the hulk of the wreck “Catherine” came out of the blue. I waved Marisa out and she joined me a few minutes later. The wreck is inverted - split into two sections. I couldn’t find any history for the wreck, but visibility was incredible and it sits in about 25’ of water…
Kai looking tiny hovering over the wreck – the kid is fearless though…
I spotted a nice conch on one of my dives down to photograph the wreck…but it still had a tenant, so we put it back…
I counted at least three Lionfish hovering under the wreck – hopefully some divers take them out…
Enjoying a beer and hotdog on black sand beach…
After spending some time on black sand beach, we walked back over to Captain Goodlife’s lair and Kai and I rented a kayak for a bit to explore the bay and lagoon. It was a bit too windy to do anything other than cross over the bay and check out the lagoon…but it was a fun diversion…
Toward the tail end of the week, someone snuck into our car overnight, and left Kai a treasure map in his seat pocket. It is a really funny thing - pirates are attracted to Kai for some reason, and nearly every Caribbean island we visit he somehow comes into possession of a treasure map.
With a bit of Myst like puzzle solving and high grade map reading, we finally interpreted the ancient, hand drawn map and discerned the treasure might be buried on our own coral beach. Kai led the way - keeping a keen ear out for guardians of the pirate treasure that might be waiting to spring a trap. The graves of other intrepid pirate treasure hunters served as a warning on the treasure map…
After finding a special landmark, we paced off fifteen pirate steps in the proper direction and Kai started digging…
We must have read the pirate map correctly - because we found the loot in a sealed glass container. It contained pirate money (Netherlands Antillean guilders), some pirate trinkets, a spine from a fish, and some cool shells. We made our escape before the pirates realized their booty had been seized…
We headed about ten minutes down the road to the east to the well developed beach at Playa Porto Marie. The beach is beautiful, although it is crowded and arrayed with rental chairs and umbrellas - but not nearly as “resortish” as some of the eastern beaches.
My girl above Playa Porto Marie…
Marisa and I swam down current (northwest) toward Cas Abou. The current was pretty swift and we had to fight a bit to get back. The conditions were cloudy and choppy - but we did spot this beautiful little hut in an idyllic setting the next cove over.
I spotted this anchor on the bottom - it will soon be unrecognizable as the coral encrusts it…
Just offshore from the hut beach the water was a good bit clearer, but the current was still whipping along at a fair pace…
Marisa motoring back against the current - it was pretty slow going…
Once we got back, Marisa took a break on the beach and I headed out to the steep drop off a couple hundred yards off the beach at Playa Porto Marie. Divers were on the way over the wall and the coral along the drop was fantastic, but too deep to appreciate as a snorkeler…
I free dove down a ways and got a picture of this huge mooring rope draped across the reef…
Mooring buoys…
We spent a bit more time over at Playa Lagun - enjoying the mild current and focusing on the little details…
Kryptonite Coral (uh…sure…)
File fish…
A picture of Kai and Lewis…partners in crime…
I finally let Kai go on the edge of the pool - this picture is for Nana…
I also let the girls go out on the edge of the pool since they didn’t have any margaritas in hand…
Due to a big snowstorm on the East Coast of the U.S., our flight got cancelled, so we scored one extra day in Curacao, but then had to go through the trial of finding a flight. We ended up going to Miami, having to spend an additional night there, before squeezing on a flight the next day back to Charlotte…
Weary world traveler, shipwreck explorer, wildlife interactor, assistant boat driver, and pirate treasure hunter sleeping in Miami…
Waiting for our flight in Miami I saw the lineup of tails…
We finally arrived home - with a trace of snow left in the area…
We had a great time in Curacao and highly recommend it for some fun Caribbean travel…
BeachAV8R
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