Beaches in Curaçao

A Dutch Caribbean island outside the hurricane belt, arid and cactus-covered, with under six hundred millimetres of rain a year and consequently no runoff at all to cloud the water. The coastline is limestone cut into small coves rather than long beaches, and almost every cove has reef within swimming distance, which is why shore diving is standard practice across the island rather than a boat trip — the Mushroom Forest and the Tugboat are both entered from the sand. Willemstad's colonial waterfront is a World Heritage site, and the floating pontoon bridge across its harbour swings open for ships several times a day. Klein Curaçao, an uninhabited island an hour offshore, has a lighthouse, a wreck and nothing else. Christoffel National Park in the north-west covers the highest ground and the wild north coast, where the swell arrives unbroken and nobody swims. The island is reliably warm and windy year-round, with the trade wind constant enough that the leeward south-west holds every usable beach. Practically: most western beaches are privately managed with a modest entrance fee, which is normal here and buys a sunbed and a bar; Dutch, Papiamentu, English and Spanish are all in use; and the euro is not the currency, the Antillean guilder is, with dollars accepted everywhere.