Renting car...must sees?

[Heatherco]

We are renting a car for the day and will be in port from 8-5.  Would love suggestions in places we should try and see.  Also any beach recommendations and places for lunch would be great too.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[bup1224]

3 hours ago, Heatherco said:

We are renting a car for the day and will be in port from 8-5.  Would love suggestions in places we should try and see.  Also any beach recommendations and places for lunch would be great too.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Are you more interested in snorkeling,  a full service beach, historic sites, hiking?

[Heatherco]

We are open to anything.  We are snorkeling on Bonaire so don’t have to on Curaçao.

[bup1224]

1 hour ago, Heatherco said:

We are open to anything.  We are snorkeling on Bonaire so don’t have to on Curaçao.

I still say snorkel here too.

Playa Lagun,  Playa Piskado for the turtles (go there first), Grote Knip (Kenepa Grandi) is a beautiful beach (not the best snorkeling though).

Klein Knip is next door and a smaller beach.

There are restaurants at Playa Forti (where the cliff jumpers might be). I like Blue View Terrace there.

[Heatherco]

Thank you bup1224!  Will check these places out.

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

11 hours ago, bup1224 said:

I still say snorkel here too.

Playa Lagun,  Playa Piskado for the turtles (go there first), Grote Knip (Kenepa Grandi) is a beautiful beach (not the best snorkeling though).

Klein Knip is next door and a smaller beach.

There are restaurants at Playa Forti (where the cliff jumpers might be). I like Blue View Terrace there.

Bon dia. What is the parking situation like at Grote Knip, Kleine Knip, Playa Lagun, Playa Piskado, and Playa Santa Cruz? Is it plentiful, or do I have to worry about finding a place to park? How much does it cost? Is it safe? Do I have to worry about it being broken into or stolen? Should I lock the car, or leave it unlocked?  Danki, Scarecrow.

[floinnc]

20 hours ago, Heatherco said:

We are renting a car for the day and will be in port from 8-5.  Would love suggestions in places we should try and see.  Also any beach recommendations and places for lunch would be great too.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

From what company are you renting the car?  I'm having trouble finding one that is near the port. Budget has one at the Renassaince hotel nearby but won't do a one day rental. Thanks for any info you can give me. Needed for Feb 5!

[Heatherco]

52 minutes ago, floinnc said:

From what company are you renting the car?  I'm having trouble finding one that is near the port. Budget has one at the Renassaince hotel nearby but won't do a one day rental. Thanks for any info you can give me. Needed for Feb 5!

 We are using Advance Car Rental.  $75 for the day with cell phone for emergencies and gps.  They are very highly recommended.  I reserved it online and within an hour Constantine responded.  He will meet us outside the gate.  They only take cash though.  Hope this helps!

[floinnc]

36 minutes ago, Heatherco said:

 We are using Advance Car Rental.  $75 for the day with cell phone for emergencies and gps.  They are very highly recommended.  I reserved it online and within an hour Constantine responded.  He will meet us outside the gate.  They only take cash though.  Hope this helps!

Thank you. Sounds perfect for us!

[the_scarecrow_in_oz]

2 hours ago, floinnc said:

From what company are you renting the car?  I'm having trouble finding one that is near the port. Budget has one at the Renassaince hotel nearby but won't do a one day rental. Thanks for any info you can give me. Needed for Feb 5!

We're renting from Advance also. So far everything has been as smooth and forthright as Heatherco and others on this board have reported.

[bup1224]

8 hours ago, the_scarecrow_in_oz said:

Bon dia. What is the parking situation like at Grote Knip, Kleine Knip, Playa Lagun, Playa Piskado, and Playa Santa Cruz? Is it plentiful, or do I have to worry about finding a place to park? How much does it cost? Is it safe? Do I have to worry about it being broken into or stolen? Should I lock the car, or leave it unlocked?  Danki, Scarecrow.

Bon Nochi Scarecrow! Imo, Playa Piskado is very popular now so parking might be crowded, go there first if possible. 

Don't leave anything in your rental car (I live here and don't leave anything in mine). I always lock my car.

All the beaches you mentioned are free, Santa Cruz is still a more local beach so be aware of what is going on.

[prekcruiser]

Hi, we are also renting a car from Advance and have the same plan....to visit several beaches on our own.  Our ship is in port from 8-4 so we have a little less time.  I am planning on starting the day at Playa Piskado with the turtles, then moving on to Grote Knip ( Kenepa Grande) then going to Grote Knip or Playa Lagun, then on to Porto Mari, then Playa Daaibooi.  Then on back to the pier.  Bup1224, does this sound doable in the amount of time we have?  We are planning to snorkel a bit at each beach.  Also, which beach has the best lunch in your opinion?  Also, how bad would the traffic be around 3:00 when heading back to the pier?

Edited January 22, 2020 by prekcruiser
additional question

[jean87510]

We just did this yesterday.  We had our rental from Avis at Mambo Aquarium/beach which did not open until 10am but allowed us to drop off at Avis at port.  Cab ride there was $25 so try to rent at port!!!  This was 3 miles.  Later we found out there was a bus there for much cheaper.  

We headed to the Tugboat beach which is to the south.  We also drove up to Kenapa Grande and Playa Lagun.  All 3 were nice but in my mind the Tugboat was the best.  Simply amazing for snorkeling.  We did deal with a lot of ridiculous traffic in the city but once on the "country" roads, it was smooth driving.

Parking was a little tight at Kenapa but we had arrived there around 1pm.

[bup1224]

On 1/22/2020 at 2:24 PM, prekcruiser said:

Hi, we are also renting a car from Advance and have the same plan....to visit several beaches on our own.  Our ship is in port from 8-4 so we have a little less time.  I am planning on starting the day at Playa Piskado with the turtles, then moving on to Grote Knip ( Kenepa Grande) then going to Grote Knip or Playa Lagun, then on to Porto Mari, then Playa Daaibooi.  Then on back to the pier.  Bup1224, does this sound doable in the amount of time we have?  We are planning to snorkel a bit at each beach.  Also, which beach has the best lunch in your opinion?  Also, how bad would the traffic be around 3:00 when heading back to the pier?

It's alot but can be done with short stops at each. 

Porto Mari has a decent restaurant. 

Traffic normally is not terrible at 3 pm.

[prekcruiser]

Bup1224, thank you so much!!