What can you walk to from the pier?

[Lsimon]

Isa65 (or anyone else) - we are interested in snorkling right from the beach. We were actually thinking about the area near the Sea Aquarium but I'm wondering if there is a better area for good snorkling from the beach? We would like a few amenities and need to rent snorkle gear. We are in port (Willemstad) next Feb. 3rd from 9 am until 5 pm. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Teri:D

 

Playa Porto Mari!! But it is not within walking distance - cab is $10/pp each way and about a 20 min ride.

Look for old threads discussing this port.

Also photos here, here and here.

 

I've also read some nice posts about Cas Abao but haven't gone there. If you have more questions you'll do better asking on a separate thread than this one - unless you want to limit yourself to walking.

[Isa65]

I second that. For the best snorkling, get in a cab and head over to Porto Marie. You can spend all day there (chairs, umbrella's, restaurant, rest room and a dive shop where you can rent all gears).

Try to find more people to go with you and share the costs.

 

You'll have a great time! Don't forget to take pictures of the iguanas!

[RumpunchGirl]

Thanks for the suggestions! There are 4 of us traveling together, so it would be $40 each way for all of us to take a cab? Is Porto Marie a public beach, how much to rent chairs and umbellas, ect.? It sounds like a great option.:D

[RumpunchGirl]

Lsimon - Grea

t pics!! I'll start researching this beach!

[Lsimon]

Thanks for the suggestions! There are 4 of us traveling together, so it would be $40 each way for all of us to take a cab? Is Porto Marie a public beach, how much to rent chairs and umbellas, ect.? It sounds like a great option.:D

 

Yes on cab fare. Think of it as $80 round trip for a group of 4. The driver will probably not even want to be paid until the end of the return trip. And you will need to arrainge a pickup time, not a lot of extra cabs there. It is a privately operated beach and was about $10 total for two people for admission and chairs. They don't have umbrellas but there are palapas and also shade by trees at the back of the beach if the palapas are taken. Pleanty of shade.

 

3.50 NAF per person for admission and 5.50 NAF for a chair. NAF = same as ANG = about $0.55 to $0.60 The'll use a round dollar amount when they come by to collect for admission and chairs - no one will be there when you walk in but they'll come by some time during the day.

[curacaoqueen]

Renting a car is the best way to go to the beach .Taxi's are expensive. Cas Abou is $10 a car entrance fee.

[Isa65]

Renting a car is the best way to go to the beach .Taxi's are expensive. Cas Abou is $10 a car entrance fee.

 

 

They charged you 10 DOLLARS??? It should be 10 guilders on weekdays and 12,50 guilders in the weekend...

http://www.casabaobeach.com/

[RumpunchGirl]

I looked at the website for Porto Marie. I see they have locker rental,which is good. I don't think we want to bother with car rental. I think we will head for the beach in the morning and come back to port/town shortly afternoon. Then we just want to walk around and sight see. I'm so excited for this cruise! :D

[curacaoqueen]

They charged you 10 DOLLARS??? It should be 10 guilders on weekdays and 12,50 guilders in the weekend...

http://www.casabaobeach.com/

Sorry Isa, guilders is what I meant.

[COTINGEY]

We are a family of four that would like to walk to a nearby beach. Our 15 year old DD is confined to a wheelchair - cannot take any steps. Is this doable or should be find transportation and go somewhere else? If so recommendations would be wonderful. Also things to do in the area would be helpful to plan the day. We are in port from 1-10 on the Grand Princess.

 

Thanks so much,

Robyn

[Isa65]

Unfortunately there are absolutely no beaches you can get to with a wheelchair close to the pier.

The nearest beach would be at the Holiday Beach Veneto resort and that is about a 20-25 minute walk. The road towards the hotel is not nice (cars race by fast) and the beach itself is not very nice.

 

You could contact the Curacao Renaissance Hotel (which is located right at the pier) and ask whether you can buy day passes for your family. They have a salt-water infinity pool with real beach sand. That would be safe, near and pleasant for your daughter.

 

Have a great cruise!

[WouldBeCruiser]

We will be in Curacao ( Willemstad) for the day, in Feb 2012, and I got the impression from looking at Tourist Info sites, that the floating bridge and some markets and restaurants were within easy walking distance of the pier.

We are not "beach" types, and dh is mildly disabled ( uses a walker, but easily, and walks at a good pace) so I am reluctant to book any shore excursions, but we'd still like to get off the ship and look around.

Is this do-able or will we need to get a taxi?

I am also interested in the Ostrich farm tour, (my grandchildren loved it when they were there) but I am not sure how much walking would be invoolved.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Isa65]

If you have a (mild) disability I would go by taxi or walk at your own pace to the downtown Willemstad area and book the trolley train tour. This way you get to see much of downtown with an excellent explanation of everything.

 

Should you wish to go to the Ostrich Farm - they have guided tours on a safari-type bus. So not much walking involved.

 

Have a great cruise!

[severna]

If you have a (mild) disability I would go by taxi or walk at your own pace to the downtown Willemstad area and book the trolley train tour. This way you get to see much of downtown with an excellent explanation of everything.

 

Should you wish to go to the Ostrich Farm - they have guided tours on a safari-type bus. So not much walking involved.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Hi. I am new to this site; we will be arriving there in January. Thanks for the great info about how to get around on your own. I have now mapped out what to see...walk to town and take the Trolley Tour. We are also interested in the Ostrich Farm. Is there enough time to do both as we arrive at 7 and leave at 5?

[Isa65]

You sure do!

 

The Trolley Train shouldn't take more than 1 hour and starts at 10.00 am

http://www.tourism-curacao.com/tours/active/Trolley%20Train.htm

 

And then you can head over to the Ostrich Farm. You can have a real African lunch over there or grab something at the Iguana Cafe downtown and then go to the farm.

 

http://www.ostrichfarm.net/Eng/

 

Have a great cruise!

[Essexlass2]

Where is the Iguana Cafe please, how would we find it? We plan to do a Samba Bus tour in the morning then grab some lunch and walk around town in the afternoon. I have seen this cafe mentioned some time ago but not the reason why so maybe its a good place to go?

 

Any info or advice would be appreciated :)

[Isa65]

When you walk towards downtown from the pier you need to cross the pontoon bridge.

Iguana Cafe is immediately at your left hand side. It's a canal-side terrace, so you can sit, have a drink (or eat), watch people and watch the ships as the enter/leave the St. Anna Bay.

 

Should you want a higher quality of lunch, you can stay on the Otrabanda side and have lunch at restaurant De Gouverneur (right at the ferries).

Some cruise ships dock right at De Gouverneur, so it's a shorter walk towards downtown.

[COTINGEY]

Unfortunately there are absolutely no beaches you can get to with a wheelchair close to the pier.

The nearest beach would be at the Holiday Beach Veneto resort and that is about a 20-25 minute walk. The road towards the hotel is not nice (cars race by fast) and the beach itself is not very nice.

 

You could contact the Curacao Renaissance Hotel (which is located right at the pier) and ask whether you can buy day passes for your family. They have a salt-water infinity pool with real beach sand. That would be safe, near and pleasant for your daughter.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Isa65

 

Is is smart to rent a car and go at our own speed? The Renaissance does not do day passes. I've read good things about the Playa Cas Abou and Knip Bay. Would either of those work to get our daughter to the beach?

 

Any thing I should consider and I haven't yet? Or should we save the beach for another trip and just walk around and experience the local sites and beauty? :confused:

 

We'll be in port from 7am-1pm so not much time. :(

 

Thank You So Much!!!

Robyn

[Lsimon]

Isa65

 

Is is smart to rent a car and go at our own speed? The Renaissance does not do day passes. I've read good things about the Playa Cas Abou and Knip Bay. Would either of those work to get our daughter to the beach?

 

Any thing I should consider and I haven't yet? Or should we save the beach for another trip and just walk around and experience the local sites and beauty? :confused:

 

We'll be in port from 7am-1pm so not much time. :(

 

Thank You So Much!!!

Robyn

 

7AM to 1PM isn't much time for a beach trip to one of the further beaches like Cas Abou and seeing other sights. The downtown area of Curacao is very unique in the Caribbean ports frequented by the big cruise lines. The architecture and colors of the buildings are famous and a few of the streets resemble small older towns in Europe more than a Caribbean island. For a short stay I'd recommend walking around town a bit. If that doesn't fill your day there will be lots of cab drivers seeing people to take on a tour around the downtown area and you can hire them and ask to be returned to the ship when the tour is done.

 

If you do want to go to the beach then I'd call the beach and ask about accessibility. For a short stay you might want to head for one of the closer beaches and Kontiki comes to mind: http://www.kontikidiveresort.com/nl/page/beach

(Use Google to translate the web page)

 

Also near Kontiki beach is a facility called the Curacao Sea Aquarium which might be of interest to your children and worth looking into. http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/en/index.html

[Isa65]

I second that. Depending on your cruise itinerary you could probably go to a beach on a different island which is closer to port.

Renting a car + going to the west side will probably take 1 hour each way.

 

You could take it easy by walking around Willemstad and indeed take a cab for a short sightseeing tour.

Should you still wish to get wet, tell the driver to take you to Seaquarium Beach (skip the Seaquarium) which is wheelchair accessible. This is located next to Kontiki.

You can have something to eat/drink at Hemingway's, have a swim and then head back to the ship.

 

Have a great cruise!

[chewap]

There is a beach close by the MegaPier. Just to the left about 4-5 blocks. it is the Holiday Beach area. Get off the ship, walk to the main street and turn left. Denny's restaurant is in the same area. They do have a dive shop, bar and restaurant, casino and shower and restrooms. When I was there just last month, there was still no charge. But I did eat there and I did indulge in the peach daiquiries.

 

never went to the liquour factory as I do not like that type of alcohol. Taxi to get there if you go.

 

I WAS AT THE Holiday BEACH LAST YEAR-CHARGE $10/person at the front desk. Not a very big beach, No snorkeling.

[LKYGSR]

Wow, tons of great info here, much appreciated. Will be arriving in March and after much deliberation, for our 2-10pm stay, we would like to enjoy a few hours of breach time, and sunset on same beach. Facilities and a bar. Then head back to ship, clean up and hit the casino for a bit.

 

So, which beach do you reccomend for a couple lazy hours of sun and then a beautiful sunset, with a secured taxi ride back to port after dark?

[Isa65]

In your case I would plan on visiting Blue Bay or the Seaquarium beaches. Return to ship after sunset, eat and then hit the casino in the Renaissance Hotel at the pier.

[AmandaKaye79]

Is it still true that the shops close at 6pm when a ship is in port until 11? That seems kind of strange to me. Most of us are planning a little bit of time at the beach or touring for a few hours. By the time we do that and get back to the pier, everything will be closed. You would think with so many people getting off a ship, that the business owners would plan to stay open just an hour or two later on days when ships stay until 11.

[Isa65]

And still, this is the case...

 

After 6 or 7 o'clock you will find no stores open in the downtown area. During Christmas season some clothes will stay open on Thursday evenings until 9 p.m. But regularly, no.

 

The shops near the ships in Riffort Village will be open till late - upscale clothing, designer bags, jewelry, perfume, designer sunglasses, souveniers.