It goes without saying that the beaches in Curacao are some of the island’s main attractions. When I was looking to go to the Caribbean, I chose Curacao because it kept coming up on lists of islands with the best snorkelling. They have a wide variety of marine life and still a decent amount of coral.

I did a week of great beach-hopping and saw tons of cool fish, lots of sea turtles, an eel, sea urchins, and more. It was a great week of snorkelling. There are about 40 beaches in Curacao so I’ve compiled my thoughts on the ones I went to in hopes that you can choose the best ones. For me, I like to look at snorkelling videos to get an idea of what to expect, so I’ve made & uploaded videos for each beach, as well.

Things to Know about the Beaches in Curacao

Curacao fish? He looks like the country’s flag.

Some of the beaches in Curacao have an entry fee and others do not. Generally both cards and cash are accepted.

Additionally, the beach chairs will almost always cost you. There are people who will go around and ask for payment for the chairs if you use them. For most beaches, you don’t have to use them and can put your stuff on the ground or bring your own chair, etc. (But you’ll notice that the beaches are stuffed with the chairs so they do want you to use them, of course.)

Lots of beaches have at least a snack bar and some have a full restaurant. If you want to bring your own food, you should check ahead of time that it’s allowed at the beach you’re going to.

Bring some change as the bathrooms usually cost a guilder or dollar. The beaches should take both.

Though many of the beaches have nice white sand, there are rocks going into the ocean. You might want to bring a pair of swim shoes. Be careful – as I sit here typing this, I still feel the pain of my wrist which I scraped against a rock when I fell to a wave!

You may not know that most sunscreens are actually harmful to coral reefs and marine life. You can read more about it here and find a good sunscreen that works for you. Additionally, rash guards are also great!

Blue Bay

Blue Bay is one of the poshest beaches I went to. It’s in a gated community so you need to pay to get in to park, plus you need to pay an entrance fee for the beach itself (though that does include access to a beach chair). The beach itself feels a bit artificial (palm trees are beautiful but they don’t naturally grow in Curacao).

But. Then you get to the snorkelling and it was amazing. The water gets really deep pretty quickly – you’ll see the dark blue/deep water starts only a little ways out – but the coral underneath is amazing. There’s lots of fish along the perimeter of the rocks but to the right, there’s a huge piece of coral and so much marine life. And though it’s deep water, it’s not that far out from the shore.

I would gladly pay the entrance fees to go back to Blue Bay because it was definitely one of the best snorkels I had – and though I didn’t see anything special this time around, I’m sure lots of different marine life comes to that coral.

You can see my clips of Blue Bay snorkelling here and here.

Tugboat Beach (one of my favorite beaches in Curacao)

Tugboat Beach is one of the most unique beaches in Curacao and it’s in the name: over 30 years ago (I can’t find a year – sometime in the ’90s?) a tugboat accidentally sank off only a few meters off the shore and 15 feet under the water. Thankfully nobody died, but this tugboat has been chilling there for a few decades and has turned into a reef for the fish. It’s a bit far out – I have a picture attached above. There’s a white buoy that’s more or less near the wreck. There are three pillars and the wreck is slightly beyond the third pillar.

I’m scared of sunken ships so I saw the tugboat and quickly swam away (lol), but even someone with an irrational fear of sunken boats can have a great snorkel at Tugboat Beach. There’s a lot of good coral and plenty of different types of fish between the land and the tugboat. I think the coolest thing I saw was a blue trumpetfish. If you’re not a great swimmer, you can also rent a lifejacket or buy a noodle.

On the land, the beach is very rocky but the vibes are fantastic. There’s a small bar there, a dive shop, an iguana feeding station etc. There’s also an artist area where you can paint your own driftwood. I painted some small magnet driftwood as gifts. It was all around a fun time.

Don’t forget to look up in the distance. You can see Fort Beekenberg, which is a picturesque fort that dates back to 1703. A reminder of Curacao’s fascinating history.

You can see my clips of Tugboat Beach snorkelling here and here.

Daaibooi

Daaibooi is not often listed as one of the best beaches in Curacao but it was actually the best snorkel experience I had the whole week. Every place has good and bad days but at Daaibooi, I got to see both an eel and a sea turtle (which was there organically, not because it was being fed). There’s a lot of fish habitat in the rocks so there are a ton of different fish there (I’m obviously not a marine biologist, lol). The two were the most unique things I saw on my trip.

Daaibooi is also a nice laid-back beach with a snack bar. It’s not got all the bells and whistles but I like that in a beach. I think the next time I go to Curacao, I’ll definitely be making a return visit to Daaibooi and hope that I can see some more cool things there.

You can see clips of snorkelling at Daaibooi here and here.

Playa Piskado (Grandi) (one of the most unique beaches in Curacao)

Playa Piskado, also called Playa Grandi, is one of the most popular beaches in Curacao because they almost always have sea turtles close to the shore. This is actually a fisherman’s beach and the fisherman clean their fish right there on the ocean and toss the leftovers back into the water. This attracts sea turtles who come to get a helping of fish for lunch.

I’m not a marine biologist so this seems natural enough to me. The unnatural part comes when people grab the meat (or worse, bring their own food) and feed the sea turtles themselves. They usually use food to lure the turtles close to them so they can get a cool photo. This is not good. Sea turtles have a protective layering that can diminish when people touch it. There are signs everywhere that tell you not to touch the turtles but if you’re luring turtles over with food, chances are they’ll touch you or instinctively you’ll push one away, etc. Do not do this.

Also, SEA TURTLES BITE! And they have bad eyesight which makes for a bad combination. A lot of people in one of my groups were shocked when they got bitten and complained that it hurt, and I was shocked they didn’t know that sea turtles can bite and bite hard. If you’re luring a turtle to you with food, you’re increasing your chances of getting bitten.

As long as you and other people make sure that you’re keeping a good distance from the turtles (they might come up to you – it happens), not following the turtles, and definitely not feeding or touching the turtles, you can observe them right there in the water in front of you. And that is magical.

I spent all my time around the docks with the turtles but apparently there’s some really cool snorkelling over by the cliffs on the right-hand side of the beach. I wish I’d checked that out because someone in my group saw some really cool fish like eels and pufferfish. But alas, time spent with sea turtles is never wasted.

You can see clips of snorkelling at Playa Piskado here and here.

Playa Porto Marie

Playa Porto Marie is probably one of the largest beaches I went to, and it’s quite popular. You do need to pay an entrance fee but there’s a bar, restaurant, etc. inside and if you’re lucky, you can see the beach’s resident pigs. There are two grown pigs that live on the beach and when I went, they had a few piglets. I did see the piglets from a distance (I love piggies) but didn’t get too close so as not to spook the mom.

If I remember correctly, they have a place to paint driftwood here, as well, but it was either shut or out of business when I visited.

Underwater, you can go pretty far into the ocean and still be able to stand up. The natural coral is not great but they do have a bunch of artificial coral dispersed throughout and there were a lot of fishies around there. I enjoyed Playa Porto Marie most because of the pigs, but on its own it’s a nice beach with some decent snorkelling.

You can see my clips of snorkelling at Playa Porto Marie here.

Mambo Beach (one of the most popular beaches in Curacao)

When talking of beaches in Curacao, Mambo Beach comes up a lot as “the” beach. I thought that maybe if it’s popular to swim, there might not be good snorkelling. But I was pleasantly surprised by the snorkelling! There are lots of rock formations along the shore and one that encapsulates the beach. It’s not a huge swimming area but there are so many fish that have made the rocks home and I think Mambo Beach was actually one of the best snorkels I had in Curacao.

Online, there are several conflicting posts that say “Mambo Beach is free” and “Mambo Beach is paid.” I had no issues walking in without payment, but I put my belongings on the ground like I did at other beaches and apparently that wouldn’t fly. It appears that each piece of the beach is owned by a different beach club and they require you to purchase a chair – and I’ve heard prices go as high at $18! I would go back if I wanted to spend a few hours there and really relax, but I’m not fond of paying $18 just to put my stuff down so I can snorkel.

Watch my videos of snorkelling at Mambo Beach here and here.

Cas Abao

I got to snorkel Cas Abao from a boat so I didn’t get to go on the beach (I assume it’s a paid beach as we weren’t even allowed to go ashore there). But I did get to learn that there’s some good snorkelling up close to the shore. There are several large rocks that people like to take their photos on but underneath the surface, they make a good shelter for tons of fish. I loved watching them! It’s also pretty shallow fairly far out from the beach, so it makes for good snorkelling for people who may not swim as well.

Since we were on a boat, a lot of fish also came over to swim underneath. I think that was the coolest part, but eliminating the boat from the equation, Cas Abao was still a cool place to snorkel.

See my snorkelling videos of Cas Abao here and here.

Grote Knip (Kenepa Grande)

Grote Knip (also called Kenepa Grande) is also one of the most popular beaches in Curacao. Underwater, it was OK. The snorkelling is decent and I got to see quite a few fish but it wasn’t particularly amazing.

I did like the vibe on land, though. Grote Knip had bathrooms, a snack bar, and a restaurant, but it’s pretty untouched and feels like a real local beach. I went on a Sunday so it was locals’ beach day, but there were so many people there who just brought their own chairs and food and were just hanging out – a different vibe from $18 beach chair rentals. While the snorkelling was not the best, I can definitely see the appeal of Grote Knip.

You can see clips of Grote Knip snorkelling here and here.

Kokomo Beach

Kokomo Beach was definitely one of my favorite beaches on land. It’s a cute, friendly, free beach with everything you need: food, shower, bathroom, a even a ladder into the ocean – without feeling too posh or like a resort. If I were just hanging out, I’d choose Kokomo Beach.

There’s a platform out a few feet from the shore that fish like to swim under and there’s some coral and rocks but I just didn’t see much – not even that many fish. I actually snorkelled twice at Kokomo. Once was from a boat and once from the beach. Both times I would say the snorkelling was just OK. But Kokomo’s definitely a place to still keep on your radar.

Director’s Bay

I was really excited for Director’s Bay since it had come up a lot on other lists of best beaches in Curacao. But I have to say, it’s at the bottom of the list and there’s absolutely no question about it.

Like I mentioned, the beaches in Curacao are generally sandy with rocks at the entrance of the water. The entire beach at Director’s Bay is just rocks. Pretty rocks, but it’s difficult to walk without shoes. Of course every snorkel will have good days and bad days but I didn’t see much of anything here. There were a few fish but nothing like I’d seen at all of the other beaches. It is also quite a small area.

Watch my video of snorkelling at Director’s Bay here.

Honorable Mention: Blue Room Cave

Blue Room Cave is a mostly underwater cave that naturally glows a vivid blue color! It has to do with the way the light hits the sand and reflects into the cave. It’s a really cool spectacle to look at, and one of the most unique places in Curacao (and also the world).

This is not a beach and needs to be accessed by boat. Not just any boat – you need to be completely submerged in the water to access the cave, so you can’t bring noodles, life vests, or be in a kayak, etc. I would 100% recommend going with a group tour because you’ll have a guide not only to show you to the Blue Room, but for safety.

We were lucky enough that we had a foot of space between the water and the top of the cave entrance but this rarely happens. Usually the entrance is underwater so you need to swim down a bit to get there.

I read another blog that said you can hike and then jump into the water, but that’s a huge jump. I’d only recommend that for people who know what they’re doing and have already inspected the area.

See my videos of snorkelling at Blue Room Cave here and here.

I hope this list helped you choose which of the beaches in Curacao to visit. And I hope when you go, you get to see lots of cool things! Leave a comment below of the coolest animal you’ve seen in the water of Curacao because I’d love to hear what you’ve seen!

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