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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

Two Traveling Texans

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    14 COMMENTS

  • Obligatory Traveler August 18, 2017 Reply

    Great Post. We are definitely planning a trip here one day so thanks for the info. It’s great to know what beaches are worth the visit and which we can avoid to spend even more time at the stunning ones. I love the jumping shots.

  • Wendy August 18, 2017 Reply

    Love Playa Abou + others in Curacao too! Swam and dove there. We have been to Curacao 8 times; it is our go to place when we need a getaway and don’t want to do a lot of planning. I have written about many aspects of Curacoa – check it out — https://adventurousretirement.com/blog/?s=Curacao&submit=Search
    Thanks for the reminders of one of our favorites!

  • Jm August 18, 2017 Reply

    Needless i say, their beaches looks awesome!!! I can say one of most of beautiful places to find such stunning beach views. Curacao has definitely earned a place in my bucket list
    JM | <a href=’http://www.manofwanders.com’>Man Of Wanders>/a>

  • Jen August 19, 2017 Reply

    Love the photos! I’m a big beach person and I love going to tropical islands. I haven’t been to Curacao yet but it’s on m list as I heard they have amazing beaches.

  • CaliforniaGlobetrotter August 20, 2017 Reply

    OMG that beach is stunning! For $10 for two chairs, I would plop my bum down on that beach all day!! Amazing! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!

  • Anisa August 20, 2017 Reply

    Your pictures are lovely. The water looks absolutely perfect. I would love to go back to Curacao, but I don’t think I would be jumping from those rocks! Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard.

  • acajunincali August 20, 2017 Reply

    Those beaches look incredible! But i’m most interested in the cliff diving experience! Was it super scary to jump?

    • Laryssa Gobets August 21, 2017 Reply

      I did not jump. I’m more of a swim into the water person. It did look scary to me though.

  • Anda August 21, 2017 Reply

    Ah, I am a beach person and for me these beaches look like Heaven! I’d love to visit Curaçao someday. Thanks for joining us for #TheWeeklyPostcard

  • Edith & Juan August 22, 2017 Reply

    The color of the water is incredible! I had never thought of visiting Curacao, but when I see beaches like the ones in your pictures I want to add the place to my bucketlist! So beautiful. #theweeklypostcard

  • If you like snorkeling, you should definitely try scuba diving! I like diving much better than snorkeling because I don’t have to worry about breathing in the water that keeps getting into my snorkel! And also, I suck at free-diving so it’s very frustrating to be stuck on the surface of the water when there’s something interesting going on a few metres down.

  • LOVE those beaches! Luckily, both of us are beach creatures, and recently Rob’s gotten Ann addicted to snorkeling, too. So Curacao’s been on our radar (and wish list!) for a while now. Your photos are really making us want to drop everything and go! Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard!

  • Wow, the colour of the water is amazing. And those sunsets are gorgeous! My hubby and I actually considered Curacao as our last year’s holiday destination, but at the end we decided to go to Seychelles instead. 🙂

  • Joyce July 8, 2018 Reply

    Your pictures are stunning!
    Advice from a local:
    The Curaçao Tourist Board urgently advises visitors to the island to refrain from cliff jumping if you’re not trained and well-informed about the dangers of the sport!
    People who have watched videos of cliff jumping at famous sites like Acapulco and Oahu see the comparitively less high cliff at Kenepa or Playa Forti, and think: “I can do this!” And many can indeed, but it is still a jump carrying risks if you do not know about the physics of jumping into water from such an height: you will hit the water like it’s a slab of concrete. There are people who got hurt from jumping.
    If you know how to it will be an amazing experience. If you’ve never done it, this can be your first time, just be sure to know how to do it well so you can continue enjoying your vacation on our beautifull island.
    May I put up this link?
    Because I am flattered Curaçao is on the list!
    https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/fit-getaways/best-places-world-cliff-jumping

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