Tags: Beaches Caribbean Caribbean Vacation Cas Abou Curacao Grote Knip Klein Knip Playa Abou Playa Lagon Playa Santa Cruz

I am not a huge beach person, I can only spend about an hour or so on the beach before I get restless.  My husband, on the other hand, can spend hours on the beach, he is a water baby.  Loves the water the beach and everything.  I grew up in The Bronx we don’t go to the beach there.  I will go to the beach because he wants to and I’m working on my snorkeling and swimming so that I can work my way up to scuba diving.  I had done a bit of research before we headed to Curacao and had read that one of the most beautiful beaches in the world was here.  Passport Magazine listed it in the Top 25 Best Beaches in the World and I must say when we drove up to this beach I was speechless and my mouth dropped open.  I may even have caught a fly.  The beach is called Grote Knip it is also known as Playa Abou (do not confuse this with Cas Abou Beach).  They are two different beaches. 

Grote Knip (Playa Abou)

First things first, this is an amazing beach.  It is free to park and free to go onto the beach.  The only things you have to pay for are the chairs and umbrellas.  Two chairs were $10 and the additional umbrella was $15, for a total of $35.  You do have to pay to use the bathroom it is only one guilder and you can use it for as long as you are there.  Also, there was food there but they only accepted cash.  They also have security in the parking lot to make sure your car doesn’t get broken into. This used to be a big problem on Curacao but since they have implemented the security it is no longer an issue. When we first arrived at the beach there was a girl thinking of jumping into the water from the rocks above.  She was quite hesitant (and I don’t blame her) but eventually, one of her friends came up and jumped with her.  

Grote Knip (Playa Abou)

Grote Knip (Playa Abou)

We did go snorkeling here, it is pretty rocky when you first go from the beach into the water but after a bit, it turns sandy.  Then deep and you have to swim.  This was by far my favorite beach on the island.  There was a fairly good breeze on the sand so it didn’t seem as hot as it actually was.  Not too far from Grote Knip is Klein Knip this was a cute beach but not a pretty as Grote Knip.  

We also drove to Cas Abou beach.  Someone we met on Grote Knip was telling me that Cas Abou was prettier than Grote Knip, so we checked it out.  

Cas Abou Beach

This beach cost 10 guilders to get in.  The road down to the beach was dusty and not paved.  The parking lot was flooded and muddy and the view well I’ll let you decide. 

I myself did not like this beach.  The only good thing is we were able to eat because the restaurant here took credit cards.  Especially, since we spent our last 10 Guilders to get into this beach.  

One of the other beaches we went to was Playa Forti actually we ate at a restaurant overlooking the beach. The water so blue and looked so inviting. 

Playa Forti

Again we had another jumper.  I personally don’t want to jump off of anything into water but hey that’s me.  

One of the other beaches we hit was Playa Lagon.  This was a very narrow beach and there wasn’t much room to lay out on the sand.  There were charging for chairs but we opted just to put our towels on the sand close to the water.  We grabbed our snorkels and swam around the lagoon for about 30 minutes.  The water was crystal clear and pretty deep.  We saw lots of fish and stuff (yes stuff don’t ask me what it’s called).  

Playa Lagon

Playa Lagon

We talked about going to The Blue Cave and even headed out to Playa Santa Cruz where Let’s Go Sports is located.  They are the ones that take you out to The Blue Cave.  The cost was $75 (I believe) and we decided not to spend that much money to head out there.  I did take a photograph of Playa Santa Cruz.  This one was a very wide beach but it was mostly empty and the sand wasn’t exactly clean.  

Playa Santa Cruz

Our hotel Holiday Beach Resort and Casino had a small beach in the back.  I never got in the water but my husband did briefly.  We did have breakfast out here every morning and it was a very peaceful view.   

Holiday Beach Resort and Casino

The last beach I want to bring up is Jan Theil Beach also known as Papagayo Beach Resort. This is the dare I say the richer side of the island. There were resorts here and I must say had we gone earlier in the day I would have loved to have purchased a chair (not sure how much that would have cost) and had people bring drinks to me all day (also not sure how much that would have cost).  The beach itself looked man made and there wasn’t’ much sand.  We did see a stunning sunset here though. 

Jan Theil Beach (Papayago Beach)

Jan Theil Beach (Papayago Beach)

Of course, there are way more beaches on this island than we were able to see.  I believe I read somewhere that there are forty beaches on this island.  Though that might be a thought to visit all of the beaches on Curacao.  On Curacao’s website you can find a list of several beaches. Here is the link curacao.com

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