Curaco questions

We are going to Curaco for the 1st time since Irma damaged the island and more importantly the people of SXM. Could anyone help us on where/ the names are of large grocery stores on Curaco? We've found a place that has a nice kitchen and intend to eat breakfast and lunches.
Also any favorite beaches?
SXMFOX and Irish1223 we've read your reports and thank you!

Centrum market is one. Where are you staying? Best beaches are on the west side of the island.

In the Piscadera area. Still haven't figured out whether thats on the west/east/north/south side.

Piscadera is west of Otrabunda (part of the capital Willemstadt). It's close to town and there are a few hotels in the area (Marriot, Floris Suites, Hilton). The Centrum Market is west about a few miles. It has everything you may need, similar to stores in the US. If you go further west, you will hit the best beaches. Some are hidden in coves. Cas Abou is great, snorkel from the beach, restaurant and restrooms available. Also Porta Marie is very similar. Further west is Grot Knip and other small beaches which are gorgeous but no food or shade. If you get a chance, go to Karacter in Coral Estates. Food is fantastic better than their place when they owned it in SXM. Have fun, Curacao is nice, been there 7 times and would go back in a heartbeat!

The larger of the Grote Knip beaches (Playa Knip) does have food and shade. They have a small snack shop that sells both snacks and some hot food (mostly Dutch in nature). There is also a smoothie truck at the entrance. It turned out to be our favorite beach. There is a man there who collects money for the chairs and umbrellas. Entrance is free. There are bathrooms that cost 1 guilder. Lovely water, beautiful area.

Do you rent a car and if so, from whom? Going on a cruise and will be there 7 Feb.
Thanks,
Chuck

We rented from a local guy (Daniel) at D&D car rental. Nice guy, not sure if he does day rentals, but you can ask him.

http://www.ddcarrental.com/

Chuck, I answered your PM. Did you get it? I am lost with this new forum.

The island is super easy to drive around. We like Irish, also rented our car from Daniel, super super nice man! The easiest way to explaine about the grocery store (Centrum), but there are many more, is this. Reguardless of where you are staying, everyone fly’s in to the island. So think of it like this, very simple, when you leave the airport, go right, continue down that road. You will run into the first round, there are three between the airport and Centrum. At the first round as with the rest, take the second turn off or road, as if the main road goes righ5 through the round. Continue that way until you reach a normal intersection with traffic lights. At this intersection turn right and you will see Centrum on the left. Most all roads lead to the same same place! And from there just continue on to your destination and you will always find the grocery store. Also most rental car agency’s have a GPS with all this info in it, super easy to use. Hope this has helped

Thanks, SXMFOX, for adding the info about the GPS in the rental cars. Daniel's GPS had just about everything we needed pre-programmed into it. Wanted a beach? Just look it up and it was there. Same thing with grocery stores, historic places, entertainment, etc. Made it so very, very easy.

I totally agree, it was super easy, and the island wasn’t bad to drive around. I think after about the third day, we stopped using the GPS!

We are going somewhere different this year, wondered what made you chose Curaco? Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

Sandysnow, we chose Curacao after much reading and research and based upon others' recommendations. We knew it wouldn't be our usual St. Maarten, but we certainly enjoyed our trip and will definitely go back at some future point. Curacao is beautiful and fun in its own right.

If you scroll down further (right now on page 2), you will see our trip report from October. Excuse all the '?' marks, where the letter 'T' is supposed to be, if they come up. I have no idea where they came from. They weren't there when I originally posted.

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/ubb...o-oct-28-nov-7-2017-long.html#Post148414

Well, thanks for your input! I am already looking around for next year, & that was one of my maybe's!

Reserved the car from D&D and anxious to go. Thanks for all the information!

Awesome! Tell Daniel that Robin and Ed said hi. Have a great time!

SandySnow we looked at a number of islands includin Guadaloupe (sp?) and Martinique. We've been to Aruba and Jamaica and found no reason to go back. (We did all the things we wanted to do in Aruba. Jamacia was an AI which and ok but missed being able to drive to other towns like we could in SXM). Cancun and other Mexican resorts didnt appeal to us and Punta Cana didn't offer enough to attract us. So that's how we selected Curacao. Will post a trip report when we return.