Cruise Port: Curacao

TRAVEL

When my cruise itinerary included an island called Curacao, I was not at all excited to stop here. In my mind, it was just a pit stop before our final destination. However, it turned out to be one of the best experiences that I had while traveling. In this post, I will share what I did. Hopefully, you will find it useful in your travels.

First of all, transportation here is expensive. Ultimately, my friends and I decided to rent a car to get around. The taxies were charging $50.00 for every 1-4 people to get to the beach one way. That meant getting back and forth would have been $200 for us (we were traveling with six people). Obviously, this was a ridiculous amount of money, so we sat around to problem solve. That's when we thought about renting a car. 

To rent a car, just walk to Renaissance Hotel from your cruise ship. The walk will be at most five minutes from your ship. When you get to the hotel, walk up the stairs and you will see a car rental office. Some things you have to keep in mind is that the cars are tiny. They only have one model to pick from. Also, all the cars are manual. That means someone in your group has to know how to drive the tiny, manual car in a foreign country. Honestly, that's what makes traveling so memorable. You have to do crazy stuff that you can talk about years later! Renting a car cost us around $70.00. Obviously, if you are in a smaller group taking a taxi might be more worth it. 

Before you leave the hotel, use their wifi to download a map of Curacao. CLICK HERE to see instructions on how to download google maps, so you can use your navigation offline.

Once you are in the car, you are ready to go anywhere your heart desires. We asked the locals about beaches and they suggested Playa Porto Mari. On our way to the beach, we actually stopped along the road to see wild flamingos! Don't worry, you will see the flamingos right before the beach too.

I recommend Playa Porto Mari. It is beautiful and very relaxing. The admission cost is $3.00 per person and you can spend hours there. See photos below.

The car rental closes at 4:30, so make your way back accordingly. After you return the car, you can walk downtown. It is called Punda. They have a free ferry that takes you back and forth. In Punda, you can shop, take pictures, and explore. 

All in all, the day cost me less than $20.00. Let me know what you did on your visit to Curacao. Trust me, it will be a memorable trip:)  

To see what I did at the other ports, CLICK HERE.