Date: 25-30.04.2025
Route: Willemstadt-Barcdera-Oranjestad
Miles/hours: 74Mm/23h
Curacao
Aloe Vera Farm
Tour $10 per person.
The lady talks about aloe cultivation, then about production. First she demonstrates on a leaf how it is done, then she gives you a taste and finally we tour the factory. Everything is very interesting, of course we buy their products (you can test them beforehand).
Ostrich Farm
Admission $20 per person.
We travel around the farm by bus, stopping in several places (the whole tour lasts about 1 hour). The guide talks about ostriches, the farm, they breed ostriches for eggs and meat. They have special incubators, but during Covid the number of ostriches dropped a lot and now they are trying to rebuild it.
Hato Cave
A cave near the airport, admission $15. The cave is visited with a guide, groups every hour. The cave is large with beautiful dripstones, interestingly lit. In addition, there is an “Indian path” on the premises – to walk in about 15-20 minutes with interesting plants marked (first you have to take a photo of the board with the description and numbers and then look at the given plant by the number on the route).
Christofferberg
The highest mountain on the island – 375m. You have to buy tickets to enter the Park ($15 per person) then you drive to the parking lot before entering the trail. The entrance takes a little less than 1.5 hours. From the top there is a beautiful view of the entire island. The descent takes about 1 hour.
Blue Room Cove
A cave on the edge of a cliff near Santa Cruz. You can swim inside, but fins are recommended. You have to swim under the vault for about 3m. The cave is tiny, but on sunny days the water in it is beautifully blue.
Captain Goodlife Restaurant
Captain Goodlife is a legend on Curacao. He runs a diving office, kayak rental and boat trips to the Blue Room cave.
In addition, he runs a restaurant with his family, where you can have a delicious dinner. The owner himself is very cordial and open to guests. Payment only in cash.
Aruba
Marina Renaissance
A nice marina in the center of Oranjestad. THIS is a hotel marina. Above 5 days they charge 0.8$/foot of yacht length (below they charge 1.2$/foot) the effect of this is that 6 days is cheaper than 5 days :-).
Additionally, water and electricity are paid.
In the marina fee, we get free entry to the hotel pool, a free ferry to the island with flamingos (it sails every 15 minutes), a shower for employees (they give you free shampoo, shower gel and, if you ask, a towel) and a private hotel beach.
Diving with Divers of Poseidon
We arrange a dive at 7:15. A bus arrives for us immediately with equipment (we gave the sizes in advance). Diving is from the shore ($130 per person with equipment). Marcin dives with us – for the first time in his life. The intro costs $110. We dive from the shore, swim out beyond the lagoon stones – the reef is beautiful with lots of small fish. We meet a lobster and a lionfish (it’s a parasite here).
Renaissance Island
An island belonging to the hotel complex. As part of the marina fee, we get free transport to the island. Boats leave every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On the island, guests have access to sun loungers and towels on the beach (it’s free), as well as numerous bars, 2 nice beaches, flamingos (probably local) walking along the beach, iguanas, a path through the mangroves (watch out for mosquitoes and crabs in shells walking along the path). Generally nice and chill-out. You can also use hammocks – both on the beach and by the water. For a fee, you can also rent a shelter with sun loungers, a table, a fridge and your own entrance to the water.
San Nicolas
A nice town in the south of the island. It’s the cultural capital of Aruba. Where art fairs are held. The entire town is painted with beautiful murals. Most of them have the date of painting and the artist’s name. Murals are even painted on the police building.
Casibari Rocks
A group of rocks in the middle of the island, divided by a gravel road. Paths lead through the rocks to viewpoints. Free admission. Numerous souvenir shops surround the complex of rocks.
