The best CURACAO ISLAND BEACH TOUR! Amazing Beaches, beach pigs and cliff jumping! Must-do Tour in Curacao
We spent a day touring around the west side of Curaçao visiting multiple beaches and sites on the west side of the island with Irie Tours. We started at Shete Boka National Park to see the incredible waves! We then went to Playa Piskadó where the fisherman bring their daily catch. There are also many snorkelers here. Next up we went just up the road to go cliff jumping in the crystal clear water. After that, we go to visit one of the best beaches on the island, Grote Knip where we went swimming. Lastly, we headed to Playa Porto Mari to have some lunch and lounge on the beach, where we also encounter some beach pigs! Curaçao has some of the best beaches in the Caribbean and it’s well worth taking a day to tour around the beautiful island.
We’ve been staying on the incredible island of Curacao but today we’re talking a full day tour to explore some other areas of the island (outside of the capital of Willemstad). We're with Irie Tours and they're going to take us around the island. Irie Tours has a super fun converted bus, today we’re on a group tour. Many of the other people on the tour are visiting Curacao for just the day on a cruise ship.
Our first stop is Shetty Boca National Park. We can see crazy waves hitting rocks behind us (this spot is definitely not for swimming!). The terrain is rough so they carved some stairs out of rocks so people can walk around easily. This area itself takes up more than 10 kilometres of the north coast of the island and feels unlike any of the terrain we see on the rest of the island. We spend a short amount of time here, just enough to walk around, see the terrain and catch some pretty epic waves hitting the landscape.
After visiting Shete Boka, we hopped back on the bus which is, by the way; so colourful and fun and headed to Playa Piskadó. There is a bunch of people snorkelling and diving over here. Also, we found quite a few tour buses but we do not know if they all must be snorkelling here. If you are in Curacao, you have to visit this beach since it is not crowded. This tiny fishermen's beach is popular for snorkelling and diving and has some good photo ops of the boats and nets. The entrance to the water is somewhat rocky so water shoes could come in handy.
After that, we did another stop just up the road where we saw some people gathered around the cliff to watch people jumping. Everyone got to take turns jumping off the cliff and swimming to shore. It’s quite a bit jump so we opted to just watch!
Our next stop was a beach called Grote Knip which was absolutely stunning. This has to be considered one of teh best beaches in the Caribbean with crystal clear, blue water. The beach is warm and sunny and also we found cacti just growing up there on the cliff. Grote Knip literary means Beach in a valley. The beach is often used as a starting point for snorkelling trips as there is a nearby coral reef. We were on the island for about a week and the whole time we were there, everybody kept saying that we have to visit the west side. Now, we can see why as the beaches over by the city of Willemstad are nothing like this. We jumped in the water and it was very warm and refreshing. The beach is busy but not packed. It is a Tuesday and there are at least two cruise ships visiting the island. We bet when there are no cruise ships, the place would be quieter.
Wondering where to stay on the island? We have a full post to help you decide (it also includes all budgets)
Our next stop is the famous Porto Mari. Since food is not included on our tour, we are going to grab something to eat so we headed directly to the restaurant after getting off the bus. First, we had some beer while waiting for our wraps to come up. We got some spicy chicken wraps which we’re quite good. This is the epitome of beach food.
After lunch we make our way to the beach (Playa Porto Mari). We cannot get over how amazing these beaches are. if you come to Curacao, you have to check out the west side. We spent the final part of the day lazing on the beach, enjoying the clear water and checking out the beach pigs! Yes, they have pigs on the beach (and we’re not even in the Bahamas).
This area has the best beaches on the island. The tour was so good, if you’re visiting it’s a must-do, especially if you don’t have a rental car. Moreover, they give you lots of drinks and refreshments. The tour guide was great and we got to hear about the history of the island and to see all these beaches.
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Watch the full YouTube video of our amazing day in Curacao!
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