First time with a 2yo and so many beach options. Please help narrow them down.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

We will be in Curacao from 2pm-10 at the beginning of May and our 2 year old LOVES the beach. I've been reading through posts here on the boards and there seem to be sooo many options. I don't even know where to start or how to narrow the choices down so I'm hoping that someone can chime in and recommend the beach that they think is the easiest to get to and find a ride back to the port from. We have considered just walking around downtown and grabbing a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants for dinner, but we would really prefer a beach with chair rentals, good food/drinks, and restrooms available. What beaches would you recommend?

[curacaoqueen]

Blue Bay is a pretty beach and has everything you want. Easy taxi ride too.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Oh my. I hadn't even considered that one. I will definitely add that to the list and do some research this evening. Thank you.

[Shutterbug999]

With a little one go to the Sea Aquarium beachs ( whole row of beaches hotels bars etc)- and there is always the option of the sea aquarium as well - these are the closest beaches - but not natural and beautiful like some of teh others

There has been negative comments about Blue bay - being too rocky for young children

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Thank you for that information. The Sea Aquarium beach area was one of the main ones we are considering, but I think we've decided to just walk around downtown and grab some local food for dinner before heading back to the ship. We really just don't know enough about Curacao to make a decision yet. Hopefully we will get some time to sit down this weekend and do a little more research since I finally have a weekend day off and the weather will be bad.

 

Thank you both for your suggestions!!

[sailawaybellaluna]

We will be there with our 4 year old in a few weeks, and have been wondering the same thing. I posted a similar question here and received some great feedback. Since we'd really like some time to explore the downtown area, we've narrowed it down to three options:

 

1. Lion's Dive Resort near the Seaquarium. It is a $20 taxi ride each way, and only about 15 minutes from the port. They just wrote to me this morning and said their day pass for cruise passengers is $12 per adult and includes the beach chairs, beach access (which you can snorkel from) and shower facilities. They also have three different restaurants. The price does not include access to the pools though.

 

2. Hilton Curacao: This seems to be about 10 minutes from the pier and a $15 taxi ride. The day passes are $25 each and include access to the amenities + wifi. They also have restaurants and you can snorkel directly from the beach.

 

3. Blue Bay: From my research, this seems to be the most natural/beautiful and also the best deal. I think it's slightly further (15-20 minutes from the port) and the taxi fare is $15. The day passes are only $8 each and include beach chair and umbrella if available. They also have a restaurant called Tulip and free wifi.

 

Good luck! I'm planning a trip report when I return, so hopefully I will have some better insight!

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

I will have to look for your trip report on the RCCL boards. I hope I remember to check for it because I would love to see what someone else with a little one has to say about their experience.