Which tour to take?

[sjde]

We will have 12 hours here on a cruise and are trying to decide which excursion to take.

 

The 4 hr one goes to Knip Beach, Boca Tabla Natl Park, the salt lakes of Jan Kok and the Jan Kok estate (plantation?) and gallery (Nena Sanchez).

 

The 3 hour excursion goes to the herbal/botanical garden and a distillery to see how curacao is made.

 

The 2 1/2 hour one goes to the old fortress, a handcraft shop the island's high point (view of Spanish water lagoon), shops and a liquor distillery (Chobolobo).

 

Thanks for any input!

[Bertaelflamingo]

If you look on Trip Advisor, there are private tours where you can customize your itinerary.  I booked one through Gone Caribe for our cruise in 2 weeks. 

[sjde]

I’m trying to determine which are the best sites to see.

[Bertaelflamingo]

If you go to the Gone Caribe website and click on the custom tour option, you will see a list with sightseeing options and descriptions.  I’ve attached the options we chose.  Hope this helps!

[sailorfool57]

I’m happy to see someone else is on this cruise besides me and my crew. We’ll be flying in on the 8th from East Texas. There are 6 of us. One of the ladies in my group wanted to see the butterfly farm in Aruba (I think.). It shows sold out on the RC excursions. Is there a small chance we can do that tour with another company? Thanks and maybe I’ll meet some of you on the ship. 

[Bertaelflamingo]

We are flying in the day before as well.  We’re from Tampa.  When you get off the ship, there are usually plenty of private vendors offering tours.  Or you may be able to hire a taxi and go to the butterfly farm on your own.

[Wishing on a star]

Flalmingo,  PLEASE, pretty PLEASE come back and post after your visit with Gone Caribe.  

 

SJDE,  We have friends planning a visit to Curacao, and might also consider an ABC Island cruise.

 

The thing is,  which sites are best are which ones YOU are most interested.

Of the ones you mention...  the first tour would def. be the one I would choose.

Knip Beach. (which one???) nice and beautiful little beaches,  and Boca Table (aka Sheet Boca Nat. Park) With the crashing waves and water 'geysers'.

Those are the things that interest me...  the natural beauty of the Island.

If I got to choose, on a private custom tour,  I would add Playa Piskado.

For me, plantations and distilleries would be lower on the list.

 

The web-site for Gone Caribe, as mentioned, might be very helpful, with that click-able list of sites and points of interest.  You can look thru those to see what is what.

From what I am seeing, they offer a private tour, up to 6 hours, where you select and prioritize the places you want to see.

 

[Bertaelflamingo]

I will definitely post about my tour with Gone Caribe!

[Bertaelflamingo]

We had a fabulous tour with Gone Caribe!  We met our guide Sherwin at the Starbucks which is a very short walk from the ship.  The van was clean and comfortable with great air conditioning.  Sherwin was so much fun!  He had so much information about the island and had plenty of interesting stories to share-I would love to meet his grandmother.  We went to Hato caves, a lookout point over Santa Martha Bay, Shete Boka, and Playa Piskado where we swam with the turtles-a highlight for us.  Then we had a delicious lunch at Playa Forti where we watched people jump off the cliffs.  And Sherwin got us back to the port with plenty of time to do a little shopping.  I would definitely book with them again!