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Playa Porto Mari in Curaçao with palms, white sand and calm blue water
Playa Porto Mari on the west coast

Americas · Dutch Caribbean

Curaçao

A painted Dutch harbour, forty beaches and a remote-work permit outside the hurricane belt.

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Willemstad looks like Amsterdam painted by a child: gabled houses in yellow, pink and blue along a harbour crossed by a swinging pontoon bridge. The rest of Curaçao is dry scrub, salt flats with flamingos and a west coast of coves, each with its own beach and reef. It is quieter than Aruba, cheaper than most of the Caribbean and safe from hurricanes.

The palm: Coconut palm

Curaçao is a dry island of cactus and divi-divi trees, which makes its palms deliberate: coconut palms planted at Porto Mari, Cas Abao and Kenepa, and the tall royal palms in the gardens of the old plantation houses. Where you find palms here, someone brought water, and the beach is usually good.

When to go

°Crainsea January: 29°C by day, 11 rainy days, sea 26°C29°February: 29°C by day, 7 rainy days, sea 26°C29°March: 30°C by day, 4 rainy days, sea 26°C30°April: 30°C by day, 3 rainy days, sea 27°C30°May: 31°C by day, 3 rainy days, sea 27°C31°June: 31°C by day, 4 rainy days, sea 28°C31°July: 31°C by day, 7 rainy days, sea 28°C31°August: 32°C by day, 6 rainy days, sea 28°C32°September: 32°C by day, 5 rainy days, sea 29°C32°October: 31°C by day, 9 rainy days, sea 29°C31°November: 30°C by day, 14 rainy days, sea 28°C30°December: 29°C by day, 14 rainy days, sea 27°C29°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Typical daytime highs, rainy days per month (one drop is about four days) and sea temperature. Green bars are comfortable months, amber bars are hot or wet or cool, and the darker bars mark the best time to go.

Sights

Willemstad

Punda and Otrobanda on either side of the Queen Emma bridge, a UNESCO old town.

Shete Boka

Waves crashing into limestone caves on the wild north coast.

Klein Curaçao

An uninhabited island with a lighthouse and a beach, a boat day trip.

Landhuis plantations

The old estate houses, some with rum, some with art, on the way west.

Beaches

  • Playa Porto Mari

    Palms, a double reef and resident pigs on the sand.

  • Grote Knip

    The postcard beach: a cove of white sand below a cliff.

  • Cas Abao

    Coconut palms, loungers and easy snorkelling from the shore.

Events

  • Feb

    Curaçao Carnival

    A month of tumba music and parades ending with the Gran Marcha before Lent.

  • Aug

    Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival

    International headliners at the end of August.

  • Apr

    Seú harvest parade

    Easter Monday folk parade in Willemstad.

For remote workers

Internet4/5

A comfortable month: about €2,200

Curaçao runs an @HOME remote-work permit that allows stays of six months, and the island sits south of the hurricane belt, so the season never closes. Fibre is good, the capital has coworkings and Dutch and English are everywhere. Direct flights from Amsterdam make it the easiest Caribbean base for Europeans.

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For families

Calm water5/5
Shade3/5
Medical care4/5

The west coast beaches are inside coves with no waves: Porto Mari, Cas Abao and Grote Knip are calm, clear and full of fish for first-time snorkellers. The sea aquarium lets children meet dolphins and flamingos, and the hospital is modern.

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Three things to know

  1. Rent a car; the best beaches are forty minutes west of Willemstad and the buses are slow.
  2. February to June is the driest, calmest stretch; the island stays warm and mostly dry all year.
  3. Try keshi yena, cheese stuffed with spiced meat, and a Blue Curaçao made from the island’s own laraha oranges.

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