Wonderful, you have a vacation to Curacao ahead of you. But often your vacation begins with ‘packing stress’. Have you taken care of everything?
1- Activate debit card for payments abroad
If you want to pay with your debit card in Curacao, you must make your debit card valid for payments in the Caribbean. Depending on your own country, this could be “pay outside Europe” or “pay in Middle or South America”. If you don’t do this, you card might not let you withdraw money on Curacao! With most banks, you can easily do this yourself in the secured personal area on your bank’s website or in the bank’s app.
Paying on Curacao
You can use all regular means of payment in Curacao without a problem. Paying by card is possible almost everywhere, credit cards are accepted at most shops and all restaurants, and getting cash is possible via the many ATM machines you’ll encounter throughout Willemstad. At Curacao cash payments are accepted in ANG (Antillian Guilder) and in a lot of places also in US Dollar. More about paying on Curacao
3- DI Card
To travel to Curacao, you must get a Digital Immigration Card online in advance. If you have not done this you will not get through customs on Curacao so do not forget this!
DI Card (Digital Immigration Card)
Curacao Customs wants to know who is coming to the island, for how long you are staying and where. To do so, you need to complete the Digital Immigration Card (DI Card). This can be done no earlier than 7 days before departure, but do it no later than 24 hours before departure.
E-gates on Hato
Completing the digital immigration form has another advantage: at Curacao, you can use the eGates at customs at Hato Airport. You no longer have to wait in line for a long time to be allowed to pass the traditional customs booth where a customs officer checks your papers, but you can use the eGates to complete everything electronically much faster. However, if you have children under 18 years old in your travel party, you cannot use the Egates. Some more “ground rules” apply to eGates, see this video:
4- Activities & excursions
There is plenty you can do on Curacao, but not everything is unlimited. For example, consider a “must do” like a day trip to Klein Curacao where the boats are often fully booked a few days in advance. Or would you like to swim with dolphins? The groups for this are deliberately kept small and fill up quickly, especially if a cruise ship has arrived. Hence the urgent advice to avoid disappointment: Book well in advance! Preferably before you leave for Curacao so you can still be fairly certain when you want to do which excursion.
Check out the possibilities in advance and make sure you do not miss out: book your excursion now, in many cases it is cheaper than when you book it on Curacao.
5- Travel Guide Curacao
There are several travel guides about Curacao, but one stands out: This is Curacao. Especially, because an updated version comes out every year, so you will be up to date with the latest accommodations, restaurants and attractions. But in addition, you also get a free online video and a clear road map to help you find your way around Curacao on your own.
6- Rent a car
If you want some freedom to go wherever you want, it is a must to rent a car in Curaçao. Public transportation does not run as efficiently as in your home country, cabs are very pricey (No Uber) and walking is not an option due to the heat. You can rent a car on Curaçao for as little as a few tens (euros) per day, and with it you can enjoy Curaçao even more. How about the little bays west of Willemstad? The Christoffelberg? Eating iguana at Jaanchies? In fact, you won’t get there without a rental car.
Note!
The corona lockdown forced several (larger) car rentals to sell part of their fleets. As a result, there is now a structural shortage of rental cars on Curacao. Arrange your rental car on time!
> More about car rental on Curacao
Offline navigation
To find your way well with your rental car on Curaçao, you do not need to rent a TomTom (in Curaçao, by the way, this is called a Wara Wara). It’s much easier and free to put an offline navigation app on your smartphone. You can use those without wifi or mobile data connection, just turn on your GPS. You must have the app pre-loaded on your smartphone. Most tourists are very satisfied with the Maps.me app, available for both Android and iPhone. Note: At home you need to download the app as well as the relevant data for Curaçao! Especially the latter can be quite a bit of data, so do that nicely at home on your wifi.
8- Weather forecast
One of the reasons you go on vacation to Curaçao is, of course, the weather: you just want bright sunshine every day! But yes, as sunny as it usually is in Curaçao, it is not 365 days a year just brilliant blue skies with a pleasant sea breeze. Especially during the rainy season (mid-September to early January), there can be occasional heavy showers. And even during the rest of the year it can be useful to check what you are up against, e.g. whether it is nice to bring a long-sleeved shirt because it cools down a bit in the evening due to the wind.
Therefore, check out the Rain Radar for Curacao! Or if you want to continuously monitor the weather, download the app from Weerplaza. It automatically notices that you are in Curaçao and automatically gives you updates on the local weather!
9- Eating out
Eating out on Curacao is plentiful. But the restaurants are quite scattered throughout Willemstad, so if you only look in the vicinity of your accommodation you will miss so many good restaurants! Check in advance which restaurants you would like to eat at, so you can be pleasantly surprised at a different restaurant every night during your vacation.
10- Afterglow in the Netherlands
Well … before you know it, your vacation is over and you’re back at the airport. And of course, you want to reminisce about your time in Curaçao for as long as possible. Then you can go and muse at your beautiful homemade photo album from your vacation in Curaçao, but there is something to go with that, of course. You will relive your Curaçao vacation much better with this typical Curaçao beer that you can also just buy in the Netherlands. Tip: Order Brasa Beer before your vacation, so that when you return from Curaçao they will already be deliciously cold in your refrigerator.
