Diff between Hato Caves and Boka Tabla Cave?

[Terry in NJ]

We have booked a private half day tour, with tour guide Ida for March 26th.

I originally inquired about going to the Hato Caves. Ida said that tour is about 30 minutes. There are 9 of us, ages 10, 11, 17, 4 adults and 2 seniors.

I have read that Boka Tabla and the park is not to be missed, so now I'm in a quandry... what to do.

We also want to go to Porto Marie beach for 2 hours, so that limits our tour schedule.

Any differences between the two sights would be appreciated.

Any touring suggestions will aso be HUGELY appreciated !

Thanks in advance.

[daryleann]

Try googling the two sites. I thought the Boka caves were on a beach, and the Hato caves have about 60 steps up and have bats (fruit bats) ; someone mentioned the guano gave her an infection so if you go there, might take a bandana for mouth/nose.

[carib_traveler]

Shete Boka National Park is indeed one of the coolest things to see on Curacao. A "Boka" is a place in the coastline that has eroded away (how many of beaches on the south side were formed), like a small fjord and "Shete" means seven. So, at this park there are 7 of these small fjords which all have their own characteristics.

The first one (Boka Tabla) has a small cave you can look into, but you're not supposed to go in there because it's quite dangerous.

Another one is Boka Pistol where the sea is thrusted into a small blowhole creating spectacular "geisers". There is also a natural bridge and some other sights, but no real caves.

The Hato Caves really are caves (with guided tours, bats and all the customary cave stuff). There's some information, including a beautiful picture, about it here: http://www.curacao.com/ActivitiesEvents/Attractions/HatoCaves.aspx

 

Talking time-wise: Shete Boka can use up a big amount of your time because it's quite out of the way and you can literally spend hours there. If your time is limited I would advise going to the Hato Caves and not Shete Boka (although especially Boka Pistol is very cool; http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=boka+pistol )

 

You might also want to check out the attractions page on curacao.com for more sightseeing ideas: http://www.curacao.com/ActivitiesEvents/Attractions.aspx .