Paul and I have been in Spanish Waters, Curacao for 8 days now. Here are our first thoughts on this place.
Its very acrid. Grenada was humid, green, and wet with lots of rain. It hasn’t rained on us once since we’ve been here, and there was a heat wave last week when the wind stopped blowing, and it was in the 90’s. There are actual cactus here. I was joking with Paul that where we are looks like Palm Springs, but next to the sea.
Palm Springs aesthetic- It’s not just a Palm Springs desert climate. Its a Palm Springs color vibe too. Mix the bright colors of the Caribbean, amazing murals all over, and the pinks, turquoises, and rainbows of the fences-with the teal of the sea, and its just so reminiscent of Palm Springs.
Extremely multi cultural- Almost everyone from here is bilingual or multilingual. Most people can speak Dutch, English, and Papiamento. There is also a lot of Spanish speakers. When you sit at a restaurant or bar, they first ask you which language you prefer. The food is a big blend. The only grocery store we’ve been is a huge dutch store with amazing cheeses, bread, beer. The food is a mix of Caribbean and European.
An old European city in the Caribbean.- Willamstad is a very European port city. Small, tall buildings, colorful, small cafes around, murals, benches, shops. The whole city is very walkable on cobblestone streets. There are great bridges, including the famous floating bridge. You can see the infrastructure from centuries ago, including old coral concrete walls.
Local beaches are beautiful and family friendly- we’ve been walking to the local beach from the dinghy dock the past few days, and especially on Saturday and Sunday, there are so many local families enjoying the beach. We saw family birthday parties, friends gathered listening to music, parents dipping babies in the water, grandparents grilling, and couples on dates. Its always a pleasure to find a spot that local islanders especially enjoy. This beach currently has a giant oil platform that’s on island for repairs, so while we snorkel beautiful reefs and hear birthday songs, we also see a giant rocket ship (that’s lit up like the sun all night long)
IN short- we love it. Its beautiful here and we can’t wait to explore even more, and especially- TO SCUBA DIVE!
Warmly
Lindsay
TIBURON MARINO 