The 8 most beautiful beaches of Curaçao

If you’re reading this, you might just be planning a visit to the island of Curaçao to do some serious beach bumming, right?

Great idea. It’s hard to resist those beaches after all and for many travellers catching some rays is thé number one reason to visit this Caribbean island. The shorelines already seem so tempting from above upon arrival ↓

Once landed however you’ll see soon enough that every beach has quite a different vibe. Moreover, not all of them are publicly accessible. 

I personally have been searching for a week to find the most perfect spots on the island. Just so you know what my framework is like: I’m a fan of secluded beaches, located in bays, with tropical blue water, palm trees providing enough shade, marvellous underwater worlds and a bit of quietness. That kind of stuff.

Therefore the most popular beaches, Jan Thiel Beach (picture 1 ↓) and Mambo Beach (picture 2 ↓), of the island were a little too overwhelming for me. 

That said, I thought it was still quite fun to walk around over there, if only to observe my fellow (Dutch) countrymen. But personally I prefer the more quieter places.

As soon as I left Willemstad I realized there are a lot of other beaches to be enjoyed on the northern part of the island.

How to get there?

Note that although there’s a bus going to the north of the island it’s quite an unreliable one. You might have to wait for a long time to return to Willemstad, plus it can get take a while as the bus often needs to stop. Also, not all of the beaches are easily reached by bus. 

All in all it’s just way easier to rent a car.  

Also take note that although the beaches won’t be as packed as the ones in Willemstad, you won’t be alone on any of the beaches listed down below either. In fact, on certain days (especially during the bigger holiday breaks) there might be quite a few people around. And still, all of these beaches were quite appealing to me. Plus all of them – except Cas Abao – were free to enter. Keep in mind though that the use of one of the beach beds obviously does involve a bit of cash. 

So here you go: from north to south – these are all my breezy favourites of Curaçao!

Playa Kalki

Drive as far as you can on the western road up to the north and you’ll end up at Playa Kalki, nearby the fancy Kura Holanda Resort. Kalki was one of my favourite beaches because of the nearby snorkelling opportunities, so it makes sense to start the list with this beach.

This small beach of Kalki can be reached from the parking lot – which is so small that it can easily be missed btw. Climb down the stairs and soak up the view as it’s pretty idyllic from the viewing point in here. Beach beds are for free at Kalki, but come early in the morning or late in the afternoon to secure a seat.

The beach is quite and cozy and there are loads of funky fishes swimming out there close to the beach. You’re even able to deepen the underwater experience at the diving school which is located on the edge of the beach ??. 

There’s also a little restaurant on the spot and although the view from the deck is really nice and shady, the food and drinks are expensive. So act like a true Dutchie and bring some yourself (I saw a couple of visitors who brought some snacks from the big market in Willemstad) or visit nearby Jaanchies for a one-of-a-kind local experience! 

Grote Knip (or Playa Kenapi Grandi)

The best feature of Grote Knip is its waters… it’s just ridiculously blue! Note that I never photoshop my pictures, so the blue hues in the pictures are absolutely real. Stunning right?

Understandably the beach of Grote Knip is popular, especially with locals. Therefore, expect the beach to be swarmed with families and filled with the smell of barbecues in the weekend. During week days not so much though. I visited the beach on a Wednesday and this is the amount of people I encountered (picture 2) during my visit, which made the beach still quite liveable despite its popularity.  

Don’t forget to snap the bay from its southern outcropping. A little platform provides a superb vista on the area (second picture↑). 

Kleine Knip (or Playa Kenapi Chiki)

Close to ‘Grote Knip’ you’ll find the beach of ‘Kleine Knip‘. ‘Grote’ means ‘big’ in Dutch and ‘kleine’ means ‘small’. And indeed, sometimes things just are simple in life; this beach is a lot smaller than previous one :).

For some kind of reason I had the feeling this beach was especially popular with families. Perhaps it has something to do with the sand – this beach has the softest of all in my opinion. So that makes for smooth walkies along the shores. 

I visited Kleine Knip at the end of the day and during that time there weren’t that many (families) around anymore. Its secluded location also made it feel kind of cosy. Iguanas are crawling along the rocks and the fishes keep on swimming in here too. All in all Kleine Knip is definitely a beach I’d recommend you to go if you’re heading north. 

Playa Laguna

I’m writing this piece on a very cold day in March and I’m thinking that if there’s one beach I’m longing for right now at Curaçao then it would be Laguna beach.

Thankfully this beach has nothing to do with the MTV reality series of the ’00s :).  

I personally thought that Playa Laguna was located in the most idyllic bay of all. On top of that, the snorkelling opportunities in here were the best. You can basically lay in the water all day long and still be constantly amazed by the creatures floating by.

There’s also a fat chance of spotting turtles in here, even though I haven’t seen them myself ?. Parrotfishes, angelfishes, groupers, octopus, trumpetfishes, sand divers, reef quid, moray eel.. the list goes on and on and they’re all in here!

The only downside of this beach is that there’s few opportunity to park your car right in front of it.. but a little walk won’t harm you after all of that cooling down in the sea! 

Playa Cas Abao 

The beach of Cas Abao is another absolute beaut and I heard many people saying this was their favourite. 

I can understand. This beach is broad, with very bright waters, good vibes and 

The only downside in here is that you have to both pay to enter the road to the beach ánd for a beach bed. Therefore it is the most expensive beach of all. However, if you come here by foot (that is, public transport – or leave your vehicle at the start of the beach road) you can enter for free.

Note that the road is quite long and hilly, but you can easily catch a ride with someone who’s going up or down.  

The beach is a dream. And even if there are quite some people around you can still find a neat spot to enjoy those intensely blue waters. 

Playa Porto Mari

Playa Porto Mari was my second favourite beach of the island. 

I mean… look. at. that. ↓

Drop dead gorgeous. 

The upsides of Playa Porto Mari is that the beach is quite long, that is has ample parking space, a neat restaurant, quite comfortable beach beds and a big floating device in the middle of the sea where you can relax at in between swimming. I even saw a free little library near the entrance – bonus points!

The biggest downside may have been the snorkelling in here. It just wasn’t as impressive as I had hoped it to be. 

Also, there are some pigs roaming the grounds around the beach. Not sure if they enter the waters, but it was still quite fun to see them playing around!

Daaibooibaai

Although its pronunciation might be though (even for Dutch people), the Daaibooi bay is way more than a tongue twister; it’s an extremely relaxed place to chill out for a day. Parking is free and palm trees provide shade to those in need of it (but remember never to lay down directly beneath the coconuts..).  

This might also be a splendid opportunity to try out some typical Dutch fried food, as there’s a little shack selling all the Dutch goodies. Broodje kroket (a bread with a fried meaty substance), bamischijf (fried bami), bread with fresh fish, fries drowned in mayonnaise or peanut sauce – it may not be a very culinary experience, but it’s a damn good break in between all of the relaxing and snorkeling. 

As picture 3 says: life is good at Daaibooibaai. 

You’re also able to release your inner ornithologist in here, as I saw the greatest amount of birds at this beach. The trees are covered in bananaquits (or Suikerduifjes in Dutch; which means ‘little sugar thieves’ – picture 1) and troupials (picture 2). ↓

All are waiting for a little snack, dropped on the ground by visitors. 

All in all Daaibooibaai was my third favourite beach. 

Kokomo Beach

Located a 15-minute drive from Willemstad, this little beach in the Vearsenbaai (Vearsen Bay) is a popular destination during the weekend. However, I visited the spot during a week day – at the end of January 2019 – and I have to say that there were very few people around!

Kokomo Beach used to be a bit of a neglected beach, but the restaurant has been renovated and that gave the area a big boost. I personally quite liked vibe in the bay.

Even though the beach is small, it’s a great area for snorkelling. The beach even has its own diving school (and I ❤ their painted scuba gear – second picture ↓ :))

Sunday is promoted as a family day at Kokomo, with a DJ providing music as well. Both the monthly Full Moon Party and Woodstock festival are celebrated in here. 

That’s all folks, for now! 

Stay tuned for more sunny vibes from Curaçao!

Here you can find my recommendations ↓