Cure yourself in Curacao: Come for the sun and leave island revived

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Rejuvenation can come in many forms on a much-needed tropical retreat where the soothing sunshine often provides the ideal fuel to refresh.

I landed in the Caribbean oasis of Curacao in desperate need of all of that. After a long, rough stretch left me feeling physically, mentally and emotionally drained, the energy boost from the warm sun and salt air was ready to do its thing. We’ve all been there and luckily for me, the rejuvenation taking place around the island assured me I was in the perfect spot for my own revival.

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To set the scene beyond the natural beauty of the island, Curacao is an autonomous country of about 146,000 people within the Kingdom of The Netherlands and along with Aruba and Bonaire forms the catchy “ABC” string of islands.

Located just north of Venezuela – on a clear day, the South American country can be seen – Curacao is just 12 degrees north of the Equator, it’s outside of the hurricane belt and has little rain. The average temperature is 27C but trade winds from the east bring refreshing breezes. Sound like paradise? It is.

The official languages are Dutch, Papiamentu and English, and the currency is the Netherlands Antillean guilder – but soon to be the Caribbean guilder – although U.S. dollars are widely accepted. You can set your watch for Atlantic Standard Time – but without a daylight savings change (meaning in summer they are the same time zone as Toronto, while in winter they are one hour ahead).

Now back to the rejuvenation that I both experienced and learned about, starting at the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort. Located along the oceanfront in Piscadera Bay on the west side of the island, it’s conveniently about a 15-minute drive from the airport and five minutes from the UNESCO World Heritage area of Willemstad, the capital.

The 336-room resort feels practically new, having undergone a three-year renovation and reopening in November 2019, just before the pandemic. It’s modern and fresh, designed with colours reflecting its beachfront surroundings with lots of blue and white and wood. When you arrive and step into the open-air lobby/great room, spectacular itself with soaring ceilings and exposed beams, your eyes are immediately drawn ahead to the vibrant blues of the main Harmony Pool below and the sea behind it.

My ground-floor oceanfront room with a walk-out to the beach was bright and airy with light-wood-tone floors and a striking blue and white foliage mural that spanned the bedroom. The bathroom had a blue light around the mirror, a huge walk-in shower, and ample storage in light wood.

The rooms also feature beautiful art pieces that were created by a local recycling company named Limpi (meaning “clean” in Papiamentu). The firm takes recycled plastics and trash collected from local beaches and using machines they designed convert it into locally made products. For the Marriott project, Limpi used 547 kilos of washed-up plastic – the result of which in my bathroom was a gorgeous wall-mounted sea turtle. They also produce coasters for the resort and are working on recycling bins. Limpi souvenirs such as keychains, bracelets and sculptures can be purchased to bring home.

In another plastic-reduction effort, the resort gives each guest a water bottle made from sugarcane, which they buy from the Join the Pipe initiative. The program then invests in getting people clean water access around the world. The branded bottles can be filled in your room or at any of the ice-water combo machines on the floors.

And speaking of water, lest we forget Curacao is a coral island with about 65 dive and snorkel locations that are located very close to the shore. At the Marriott, the hotel sponsors the Reef Renewal Foundation and, along with on-site dive shop Goby Divers, maintains a coral nursery about 65 metres from shore in front of the resort.

Complimentary guided snorkels are held Tuesday afternoons (be sure to sign up early as spots are limited). During the one-hour activity, guests receive an introduction to the coral restoration program and then snorkel in the calm waters to the house reef and coral nursery with an expert. If you’re lucky – as we were – you might be out there when a volunteer is at work! (TIP: Water shoes aren’t necessary but also aren’t a bad idea.) The coral is being grown to be planted elsewhere around the island and so far, thousands have been outplanted.

With an appetite from swimming, local island flavours aren’t hard to find on resort. Papiamentu Marketplace (named for the local language) not only offers local snacks (mmm cheese Johnny cakes) and desserts like cashew cake, but the grab-and go coffee shop/convenience store posts Papiamentu phrases and greetings and features a colourful mural in the style of the ones downtown (more on that shortly).

The other dining options include Cspice, which offers a large breakfast buffet as well as an a la carte menu and then a Mediterranean-inspired dinner menu; Salty Iguana Ocean Grill, which recently expanded to broaden its lunch and dinner menu and offer literal on-beach dining; and shared restaurant Zala Gastro Lounge and Izaca, where the menus are Asian-inspired chalked with fresh seafood options.

There’s also the Reef Club, which is complimentary to Titanium and Ambassador Bonvoy Elite members and available for purchase by other guests. The indoor, air-conditioned space offers American-style breakfast in the morning, snacks and beverages throughout the day, and a happy hour with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

With all that the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort has to offer – including the 24/7 fitness centre, kids’ club, Harmony Pool recreational activities like aqua aerobics and bingo, the adults-only infinity Serenity Pool with lanes for swimming laps and deep enough for diving, evening music in the great room, and the lush Botanical Garden – it’d be very easy to just stay put and relax away.

However, I’m the type of traveller who also enjoys exploring, and being my first time in Curacao, the concierge helped arrange for us to do that by booking a capital tuk-tuk tour as well as a UTV (utility terrain vehicle) excursion of the undeveloped parts of the island.

A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeled vehicle with the driver in the front and room comfortably for two adults in the back. The lack of doors made me glad I was on the opposite side of the edge during our trek across the Queen Juliana bridge – the tallest in the Caribbean! – connecting the Otrobanda and Punda districts of Willemstad over Sint Anna Bay.

After being picked up at the hotel, we first drove around Otrobanda to ogle at its beautiful building murals and street art displays. It is pure eye candy! Then after our bridge trek we got the lay of the land in Punda – including the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Americas, Mikve Israel-Emanuel, before wrapping our tour at local favourite Plasa Bieu food hall where I enjoyed a beef stew.

We then walked around Punda – getting obligatory photos with the Curacao sign and colourful waterfront strip Handelskade’s famous buildings – before crossing the Queen Emma pontoon bridge on foot. The oldest and longest floating bridge in the world, it uses 15 pontoons and swings open around 30 times a day for oil tankers and cruise ships to access the harbour.

Back in Otrobanda, we walked the restored 19th-century Rif Fort that now has shopping and restaurants and took a tour of the moving Kura Hulanda Museum, which chronicles the trans-Atlantic slave trade from capture to ocean transport, to relocation in the Caribbean. The museum is part of the Kura Hulanda Village, a restored historic neighbourhood that has shops, dining, galleries and other services.

Our UTV adventure with Curacao Activities took us on a completely different tour to explore the island’s more rugged areas. Packed with my driver’s licence, I took the wheel in our vehicle along with the supplied UV safety goggles and bandana to cover the face from the dust and wind. After traversing city roads behind our guide, we hit the dirt and I have to say it was pretty exhilarating – and dirty, as some rare rain had fallen and mud splashed all over us (TIP: Don’t bring white bags and store them in the back of the vehicle like we did). We made stops at a hidden cave with bats, the Boca Patrick inlet with a wave-carved hole that sprouts water, and swam at Daaibooi beach with locals.

It was cool to see the more rugged beauty of this amazing country – even through muddy goggles.

IF YOU GO

International visitors must complete a Digital Immigration Card within 7 days of departure.

For more information, go to curacao.com.

cmcleod@postmedia.com