Cas Abao

Cas Abao is on the south-western coast of Curaçao, in the Banda Abou district, one of a series of coves cut into a limestone cliff line that runs most of the island's leeward shore. It is around four hundred metres of white sand between rock arms.

Curaçao's geology explains the diving. The island is dry, has no rivers and therefore no sediment, and the reef sits immediately offshore with a drop-off that starts within a short swim. From most of these coves you can snorkel out over shallow coral and be at the wall in a few minutes. The island lies outside the hurricane belt, so the reef is not periodically flattened, which is part of why its condition is comparatively good.

The beach is fine pale sand with a gentle entry, calm sheltered water and shade from divi-divi and manzanilla trees — the latter is toxic and marked, and standing under it in rain is a genuinely bad idea, which the signs say. Sea turtles are seen regularly on the reef. The island's shore diving is what draws most repeat visitors: Playa Piskado has turtles that follow the fishing boats, and the Mushroom Forest north of here is a coral formation reachable from the shore at several points.

Access is through a gate, and this is the local arrangement worth knowing: several of Curaçao's best beaches are privately managed, charge admission per car or per person, and provide loungers, a bar, showers and a massage hut. Cas Abao is one of the better-run examples. Other coves nearby are free and have nothing.

You pay to get in and it is worth it: the reef drops away fifty metres out and Curaçao's shore diving is the best in the Dutch Caribbean. The island is arid, outside the hurricane belt and has no runoff, which is three separate reasons the water looks the way it does.