Our Curacao vacation 10/27/17 -11/04/17

When traveling to Curacao, we highly recommend that you go on line and get ED forms so you do not have to spend a long time in the airport. (Passport Readers) We were very surprised that the airport looked as if it had not been renovated in many years. The bathrooms reminded me of the first time we travelled to St. Maarten back in the 90’s, when most sinks and soap units did not work. (Reminds us of the old SXM airport)
We rented our car from D&D, you walk out of the airport and walk about a block to the right and one of his staff will be waiting for you. He will drive you about 2 minuets to their office. The car was nice, Daniel was very nice and the car came with a free phone to use and a gps that had all points of interest for the island. This was very useful during our vacation.
The most popular grocery store is called Centrum, about 10 minutes from the airport. It has many meats, fruits, wines, liquor and more.
We stayed on the north side of the island in an estate called Coral Bay in a villa on the ocean. We rented here because the sight we rented the villa; said you could walk to Karakter’s restaurants. We could of walked but it would of taken us about 10 to 15 minutes, so we chose to drive 2 minutes. The food and atmosphere is great. We ate there at least 3 dinners and 2 lunches. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food on the island we thought was expensive.
We went to Blue Bay resort where we told the security at the guard shack we were eating lunch and they let us right in. (No charge) We had an amazing hamburger with sautéed onions and my husband had a pull pork sandwich for lunch and then went and easily laid in the many beach chairs they had and swam in the bay. All the waters are rocky so I do recommend Beach shoes. We never did have to pay extra to go to any resort but many of the man made beaches did have algae in them that made me somewhat concerned. We went to the Lions Dive resort, it is very big with two or more bays but was very crowded. We also went to Paypagaya Beach and Mambo beach on the South of the island. One of the reasons we went to this island was for the man made beaches. The videos we saw looked amazing. Up close and personal I thought the waters looked dark and not sure about sanitation.
We loved downtown, it looks just like the pictures. The swing bridge was great many places to shop and eat. We ate at the Rif Fort at Steaks and Ribs that looks over the ocean and had a great breeze. We do have to say that everyone was very friendly and we always felt very safe no matter where we went.
The roads are good and it is easy to get around if you know where you are going. We did think their churches and grave sights were impressive.
I do not recommend Dina Vera’s herb garden, we drove an hour to see a run down garden, and Dina was not there. There was a building with serums in bottles on site.
The island is large and we only saw a small portion, many of you have always been able to find that shack off the side of the road and tell us how wonderful the food was. We are not that couple to do that, so sorry. You will love this place if you like very hot weather and many resorts to look at. This island was just not something we are dying to go back to. (Just our opinion) I just can not wait to get back to St. Maarten. We have many pictures in an I phone but do not know how to put them in on the form. If anyone wants pictures send me your email and we will be happy to send them. These are just our thoughts alone. We know there are many who love Curacao, it’s just not our cup of tea. We are a couple that has been married for 25 years and still stay active, but Curacao is extremely hot, and not a lush tropical island. We really do not need a lot of amenities, just things that make us comfortable! So please don’t beat us up on the report, but I guess the search continues until SXM is somewhat back to normal, in a sense.

Gary & Catherine