Why Curaçao
The island is the largest of the former Netherlands Antilles and the most urban. Willemstad and its coloured facades along Sint Anna Bay are World Heritage listed — a complete colonial port city, not a picturesque village.
Like Aruba, Curaçao lies outside the hurricane belt and the climate is dry and desert, with a permanent trade wind. The south coast lines up dozens of coves — the playas — each with its own character, some reached by unsurfaced tracks.
No marked season: twenty-seven to twenty-nine degrees all year, with brief rains from October to February.
Entry and stay
Curaçao is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, outside the European Union and outside the Schengen area. Its entry rules are its own.
Requirements depend on nationality. Check yours with the local authorities before booking.
No duration is quoted here, for want of an official source verified at the time of writing — 22 September 2026.
Getting around
A public bus exists but frequencies are low outside Willemstad. A car is the realistic mode for reaching the western coves, some of which require a track.
Driving is on the right.
Money
The Caribbean guilder, or the Antillean guilder depending on the period — the monetary system has changed. US dollars are widely accepted.
Cards work in established businesses; small coves and beach kiosks stay in cash.
Health
No vaccination required from Europe. Malaria is absent.
The hospital in Willemstad is the best equipped in the ABC islands.
Before you go
Papiamento is the language of daily life, Dutch the administrative language, and English and Spanish work everywhere.
The Queen Emma Bridge, Willemstad's floating walkway, swings open several times a day to let ships through: a free ferry takes over while it is open.
The best diving and snorkelling sites are reached from the shore, without a boat — that is the island's particularity, and it is rare.