In Curacao - First Time - Irie tours?

[colesc15]

Hi all.

 

I'll be in Curacao for the first time in March. Wondering what would be my best option. I'm looking to see a lot of the island, as well as some beach time. Right now, I have the Beach hopping tour booked with Irie's tour, the shorter version for 75 a person. I'm wondering if I'll get to see much of the island, or if its just going to be beach after beach and seeing none of the island. Would I be better off finding another tour? To me, 75 dollars a person doesn't seem much cheaper than a ship excursion would be.

 

What do you guys think? Options? Ideas?

[Dabs01]

I'd highly recommend Irie Tours, we just went with them in mid January. We came off a Pullmantur ship and ended up being the only people that day so we got a private guide and driver for $75 per person which was awesome. We spent an hour at Playa Porto Marie, another hour at Knip, stopped at two different spots for flamingos, stopped at another spot for a photo op and finally at Shete Boka to see the caves and national park. I'm not a fan of ship tours (too many people, no one comes back when they are supposed to and there's always shopping stops), so this was perfect for us. We obviously had a little extra flexibility with the time since there was only two of us but I think we spend about the right amount of time in each place.

[colesc15]

Thank you for that. One thing I'm confused on, they said we meet at 9am local time. We're in port at 8am but that's ship time and I think curacao is an hour ahead of the ship time. If that's the case, our tour starts at 8 ship time just as we're docking. Any ideas?

[cherylroslyn]

Thank you for that. One thing I'm confused on, they said we meet at 9am local time. We're in port at 8am but that's ship time and I think curacao is an hour ahead of the ship time. If that's the case, our tour starts at 8 ship time just as we're docking. Any ideas?

We are the only ship in port that day. They will build the tour around the time the ship docks. they usually know more specifically than we do.....but just point it out when you email them.

[MKellyUtah]

We were on the 8 hour west side beach tour with Irie earlier this month and thought it was great. We had 10 people, enough to use one of their open-air school buses, and a driver / guide who was easy to understand & took us to a lot of different sites ... talked a lot about the island now and its history ... as well as taking us to beautiful beaches, all with chairs & facilities. I know you would be on a shorter version of that, but we were very happy with the tour. They were easy to find on the other side of RifFort, provided easy instructions on finding them (they even have a YouTube video that is devoted to that.) They also take either cash or VISA.

 

If I am in Curacao again, I'll look to go on an excursion with them first. Their communication & customer service was top notch.

[preschool teacher]

We just used Irie tours a week ago...it was great we made our own private tour as we had 8 people....it was great....guide and driver were super...we had the bus which was fun to ride in and cool with the breeze blowing...plus a ton of drinks...beer soda and water...we saw the synagogue and Shete Boca and a couple beaches and the flamingos....stayed at the beach for 90 mins. Still had time to shop and walk around.....Porto Marie snorkeling was good not great but still enjoyable....warm water....

[AmandaKaye79]

When you were at each beach stop, did you have to purchase chairs for the beach at each one? We went to a beach in Curacao on our last trip there and had to pay for the chairs/umbrella. With 4 beach stops, that would get expensive if you had to pay at each one...

[preschool teacher]

We did not have to pay for any chairs on our trip..we went to only one beach to swim and hang out...

[MKellyUtah]

When you were at each beach stop, did you have to purchase chairs for the beach at each one? We went to a beach in Curacao on our last trip there and had to pay for the chairs/umbrella. With 4 beach stops, that would get expensive if you had to pay at each one...

 

AmandaKaye79:

 

Good question & good point. Here's how it worked out for us:

 

the stop to see turtles didn't involve any real beach time, it was more a fishing beach with tiny sand area , and a few in our group who wanted to snorkel & look for turtles (saw some) just went in the water for about 15-20 mins (the rest of us stood & watched from the dock); the first beach stop, the National Park, it was first-come first-served for beach chairs if they were unoccupied (we used one, good condition under an umbrella) and no one was collecting any $$$; at the other two beaches --- Case Abou & Porto Marie --- our guide / driver told us that someone might want to pay for the beach chairs, but to tell them we were with Irie Tours and would only be there for an hour. After finding a lounger, I was asked to pay at both, told them we were with Irie Tours, at the first woman smiled and said okay & did not charge us; at the other, same situation and the person asked for $3 instead of normal $10, which I was happy to fork over. Also, at one of those (can't remember which one) there was a bar / restaurant with shade that some of our group went to ... ordered a beverage ... and sat in their chairs on their veranda.

 

I was glad we had the time to do the extended tour. With the different beaches & places to see & the very good plantation lunch with lots of food choice, we thought this was a very good tour.