Unspoiled Beaches & Colorful Towns: This Offbeat Caribbean Island Is Seeing Record Breaking Visitors
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Not Cancun and its jam-packed Hotel Zone, Punta Cana, and its bar-lined waterfront, and that is most positively not Jamaica with the reggae golf equipment and beachfront villas:
Fast-approaching the pantheon of Caribbean Greats, Curaçao is one of many fastest-growing locations within the area proper now, bringing in a document 1.57 million guests final yr and with a major 30 p.c enhance in U.S. arrivals.
If it does not sound like all that many, enable us to remind you it is a tiny island, solely 171 sq. miles in dimension and with a inhabitants of roughly 147,000: in different phrases, over one million friends in a single yr is large.
So, what’s driving this unprecedented development?
One Of The Caribbean’s Truly Unspoiled Gems
Curaçao could also be small, however it’s in no way missing in pure and cultural choices:
Belonging to the Netherlands’ Caribbean territories––as in, it is formally part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and its residents are Dutch––it’s markedly distinct from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and different Latin-majority islands.
It has a colonial capital in Willemstad, however not of the type you’d look forward to finding round right here: as a substitute of ornate Baroque church buildings and Spanish-style plazas, anticipate rows upon rows of Dutch-inspired, Northern Mannerist facades, and canal-traversed middle.
Unlike Amsterdam’s, nevertheless, homes right here usually are not constructed with darkish bricks and have brightly painted exteriors as a substitute: likewise, the road meals stalls lining the canal fronts are way more prone to promote native pumpkin pancakes or papaya stew than stroopwafels and gouda cheese.
There aren’t any towering Gothic cathedrals both, although you’ll be able to marvel at a Seventeenth-century Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, one of many oldest within the Americas, established by Jewish settlers on the peak of the Transatlantic Trade.
It’s nonetheless the Netherlands, type of, only a totally different taste of it.
What To See In Curaçao In 2025
Curaçao is related to unspoiled white sands and flamingos, and should you’re in search of flocks of the gracious pink-feathered creatures, the Jan Thiel flats are the place you may discover them.
For paradisiacal Caribbean seashores, among the prime picks embrace Carcasbaai, a deep-water bay hugged by teal seas, Mambo Beach, a stylish white-sand strip boasting many facilities, together with Bonita Beach Club the place nice seafood is served, and Playa Grandi:
Backed by a laid-back fishing village, it has a compact sandy expanse that hardly ever ever feels crowded, and it is a in style hotspot for sea turtle hatching.
If you are based mostly in Willemstad and also you’re down for a little bit journey, we suggest you guide this electronic scooter southeast tour, with stops in Carcasbaai, the historic Fort Beekenburg, an 18th-century Dutch stronghold, and many diving websites round Tug Boat Beach.
Nearby, you may additionally get to go to one of many island’s prime points of interest, The Quarantine House, a former leper colony the place incomers who had fallen sufferer to the plague can be positioned (don’t fret, it is completely secure now)––and all of this from solely $59 per particular person!
Why Do Americans Love Curaçao
Cultural gems apart, Curaçao is primarily a resort destination, and that is why Americans are loving it on the minute:
What with the loopy world of politics again house and the restricted paid trip days they get yearly, it is no marvel they’re favoring a Caribbean island like Curaçao: it is normally a stress-free escapade, and there is lots of pampering concerned in these luxurious resorts.
This February, an all-inclusive, week-long keep for two at The Rif At Mangrove Beach will set you again $3,523, in step with the common worth for five-star Caribbean stays.
There’s a much-cheaper, equally wonderful Tropical Breeze Curaçao for $639, that includes an out of doors pool surrounded by lush vegetation, a spacious bed room, and a hammock-equipped backyard, and the perfect half is that it has its personal non-public beach.
Curaçao is not precisely an inexpensive vacation spot, with the common value a funds week-long journey for 2 being $2,235 (comprising lodging, meals, transportation and sightseeing prices), however the expensiveness is essentially offset by the larger sense of exclusivity it provides, in comparison with a jam-packed Cancun, and exquisite sights.
In truth, Americans find yourself staying a mean of 6.4 nights on the island, because the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) experiences, with most vacationers hailing from New York, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, and Georgia, so it isn’t like they’re in a rush to pack up and depart.
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This article initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
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