Playa PortoMari?

[Arubalisa]

I finally had time to go through of my pictures. A photo is worth a thousand words. As long as you do not go expecting soft white sugary sand, this is a great place to spend the day.

 

[Sandytoes]

Thanks for all your info.

This is exactly what I was looking for - Beach, chairs, snorkeling.

Read that the beaches aren't that nice in Curacao, glad I found this thread.

[mslaabs]

How difficult is it to get a taxi back to the ship? Are there taxis waiting around to take you back or do you need to pre-arange for one to come back to get you?

[Arubalisa]

How difficult is it to get a taxi back to the ship? Are there taxis waiting around to take you back or do you need to pre-arange for one to come back to get you?

I doubt it is difficult to get a taxi back. We had made arrangements for our drivers (10 of us, so 2 taxis) to come back to pick us up at an appointed time. If we had not done so I am sure that the folks at the bar/restaurant could have telephoned one for us. Enjoy Playa Porto Mari!

[mslaabs]

Thanks Arubalisa. We've been looking for a place to snorkle from the beach and this looks like a great place. Our main concern is always easy transportation to/from. Running down the dock as the ship pulls away is not something we want to find ourselves doing.

[Sandytoes]

Entrance fee is Naf. 3.50 (Naf. 4.—Sunday/Holliday) including one free soft drink. Children under 12 years free.

 

3.50 ANG

 

=

 

1.96629 USD

 

Netherlands Antilles Guilders United States Dollars 1 ANG = 0.561798 USD 1 USD = 1.78000 ANG

 

 

http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.php

[carbon]

How far is the beach from the cruise ship dock and how much is a taxi?

[Arubalisa]

The taxi driver said it would be a 45 minute ride, but it ended up being only about a half hour tops. He charged us $10 per person each way in December. Beautiful beach. :) Delta airlines even uses a small photo of it on their website.

[Arubalisa]

Finally got some pictures online, a couple below, many more at these links:

Playa PortoMari

Playa PortoMari Beach

Playa Porto Mari Snorkel Trail

 

 

[Arubalisa]

Could not resist adding another photo of this beautiful spot!

click on thumbnail to enlarge

[thatbloominplace]

just wanted to be sure that everyone understood the taxi rates. they charge by the vehicle, not the person. so.. $40 to the beach and only 2 of you is $20 each way pp. obviously, it is much cheaper if you can fill upthe cab or van. as for the beach, water shoes are suggested. the beaches in curacao are not the same as aruba. the sand is darker and coarser and tends to have lots of stones and coral as you enter the water.having said that this beach has it all: great setting, beautiful clear water, good snorkeling, decent facilities incuding food. don't miss the 15 minute trail hike up the cliffs that lead to incredible views. well worth the effort.

 

steve

[1fineday]

We are headed here (Curacao) in Jan 08, so we really appreciate this post! We will be visiting Playa PortoMari. :D

[cruiseapril]

Great reviews- we'll be spending the morning at Playa Porto Mari - taking a Westerdam tour to this beach.

[carbon]

what does it cost for a cab to PortoMaya?

[55J5-5]

just wanted to be sure that everyone understood the taxi rates. they charge by the vehicle, not the person. so.. $40 to the beach and only 2 of you is $20 each way pp. obviously, it is much cheaper if you can fill upthe cab or van. as for the beach, water shoes are suggested. the beaches in curacao are not the same as aruba. the sand is darker and coarser and tends to have lots of stones and coral as you enter the water.having said that this beach has it all: great setting, beautiful clear water, good snorkeling, decent facilities incuding food. don't miss the 15 minute trail hike up the cliffs that lead to incredible views. well worth the effort.

 

steve

 

So your saying the cost is PER taxi, NOT per person. I have a family of 7 and with the $10pp we were looking into renting a van from avis for a few hours instead of taking a taxi. But with the cost being per taxi then that is doable.

Thanks for the update.

[Arubalisa]

In December we paid $10 pp since we were unable to rent a vehicle due to it being Christmas week.

[cruisecookie]

Is it easy to catch a taxi from Playa Porto Mari back to the ship? Are taxis lined up on the road waiting for passengers or must we call a taxi? We are a party of 2. Will it be hard to find others to fill up a taxi or van on our return to the ship?

[mamaday]

We are looking to snorkle and this looks like a great beach. Thanks for all the info.:)

[Arubalisa]

We made arrangements for our taxi driver to pick us up at a specific time. It ended up that he just waited for us, but not sure that is always the case.

[rjscott]

cruisecookie, perhaps you could see if people on your roll call wanted to make up a group to go to Playa Porto Mari? That's what we did and we had a full van. We went early in the A.M. and let our driver know we wanted to spend about 2 1/2 hrs there and so he waited for us.

[cruisecookie]

Thanks, that sounds like a good plan.

[RustaRoo]

Arubalisa - yet another question for you. For those of us who are beginner/medium skilled snorkelers do they provide flotation vests? I have booked a HAL shorex to Playa PortoMari which includes equipment - I was just curious. Anyone else know about this? Thanks, looks like a great spot!

[rjscott]

Rustaroo, when we went, the dive shop that rented equipment did not have flotation vests. We have our own equipment, but one of the people who rode with us did not equipment and needed a vest, and so I loaned her mine to use. You HAL excursion will surely provide vests along with your other equipment.

[RustaRoo]

You HAL excursion will surely provide vests along with your other equipment.

Thanks for your response - I hope this is what happens too:)

[Starward_Girl]

just wanted to be sure that everyone understood the taxi rates. they charge by the vehicle, not the person. so.. $40 to the beach and only 2 of you is $20 each way pp. obviously, it is much cheaper if you can fill upthe cab or van. as for the beach, water shoes are suggested. the beaches in curacao are not the same as aruba. the sand is darker and coarser and tends to have lots of stones and coral as you enter the water.having said that this beach has it all: great setting, beautiful clear water, good snorkeling, decent facilities incuding food. don't miss the 15 minute trail hike up the cliffs that lead to incredible views. well worth the effort.

 

steve

 

So then what does the cab cost to this beach each way? Everyone keeps saying $10 per person. But they are not saying how many were in the cab (was it 2 or 4)?