Around Thanksgiving we found several interesting travel deals for 2013, and a return to Curacao for a long weekend was one of them. Since we had explored much of the island in 2007 we didn’t feel like we had to explore as much on this trip; consequently, we decided to relax and spent most of our time reading on the beach or by the pool. However, we did break free from our books occasionally to snorkel, enjoy the sights, and laugh at the politics of lizards.
Unlike our last trip, island maps at the car rental counter were $3 so we were quite glad we spent the $1 on an offline map for our phones.
Our hotel included access to the Pirate Bay Beach Club on Piscadera Beach so we walked down and stayed there until about 2:30p on Saturday.
our chairs were under the tree in the middle!
I went snorkeling off the beach and found the best spots to be around the docks where there quite a few invertebrates.
Christmas tree worms and corals
As the afternoon wore on shade was in short supply, so we returned to our room for a tropical drink, then found a shady spot by the hotel pool.
There were a number of lizards, of all different sizes, around the pool area, and the posturing and antics were quite amusing.
antics by the pool
On our way to diner we stopped to view the famous Handleskade after sunset.
On Sunday we decided to trying snorkeling at a few of the beaches we hadn’t tried before. Along the way we passed the Jan Kok saltpans where we were surprised to see flamingos!
From the saltpans we continued along the road to Daaiboi — a fairly quiet, free public beach with a few palm covered huts.
We snorkeled on both sides of bay, starting on the left which featured quite a few fish including a small moray eel and cuttlefish.
The right side of the bay had a few soft corals, but we liked the left side better.
We also drove over to Port Marie, but there were a lot more people on the beach so it didn’t look like it was worth staying on a weekend, especially considering the $4 fee.
beautiful view, better on a weekday
Church of Sint Willibrordus, at the interescetion of the roads leading to Port Marie and Daiiboi
Altogether we had a relaxing weekend which was surprisingly quiet given the time of year.