We really enjoyed Curacao snorkeling. There are some great spots with healthy reefs and good spots from gorgeous beaches.
For beach lovers, those less sure on their feet, and less experienced snorkelers, Curacao is a good snorkeling destination choice. That’s because Curacao’s many beautiful beaches make entering and exiting super easy.
Still, Curacao snorkeling is not without challenges. Some beach reefs have suffered storm damage. So having up-to-date information is important to find the best spots without wasting your vacation time. Oh, and did we mention Curacao doesn’t believe in street signs?
Some Favorite Curacao Snorkeling Spots
Click on each location below, for full details and pictures. Also don’t miss the video, pictures, and more about what you can expect further down the page.
Curacao Snorkeling Guide eBook – The sample locations below are just a few from our popular eBook guide. You get:
- The Best Snorkeling on Curacao
- Easy Find Directions and Maps
- 616 Beautiful Pictures
Tugboat – Likely the most visited and well-known Curacao snorkeling location, Tugboat has good snorkeling. If you book a boat tour, this is where they will probably take you. But you need not pay to access this spot unless you love a boat trip, because it’s accessible by car.
Little Knip Beach – If you are looking for a gorgeous west end beach with good Curacao snorkeling, look no further. You will swim with fish and explore live coral reef. And you could be lucky enough to see a school of squid, catch a glimpse of an octopus hiding in a hole, or see a baby sea turtle, like we did.
Klein Curacao – Another good snorkel spot available from Curacao is on this small island. Klein Curacao lies six miles (9.7 kilometers) southeast of the main island. Of course you must take a boat to the island, but it makes for a great day to a beautiful destination.
Curacao Snorkeling Video
Play our Curacao snorkeling video below. It will give you a good sense of what to expect and is from all over the island.
What Do We Enjoy About Curacao Snorkeling?
1. Beautiful Beaches Galore
Curacao has a myriad of beautiful sandy beaches. Most of the beaches are relatively small intimate spots that are out in the boonies. Many of them don’t even have any resorts or even houses near them. It can be easy to find a beach almost to yourself.
2. Lots of Free Shore Access
There are eight Curacao snorkeling spots in our guide that charge for access to the beach. The remaining 18 are completely free. While so many snorkeling destinations require boat trips out to barrier reefs, almost all of the snorkeling on Curacao is easily accessed from beaches. One notable exception is the boat trip out to Klein Curacao, which is an island six miles (9.7 km) offshore to the southeast. The most popular snorkeling boat trip takes you to Tugboat. The thing is, Tugboat is also reachable from shore for free on your own.
3. Excellent Snorkeling Depths
The vast majority of the beach snorkeling on Curacao is in ideal water depths for snorkelers. Very often you will be snorkeling alongside the rocky cliffs described below, exploring the sea life that grows on the sides. The sea floor does not often get much deeper than 20 feet (6 meters) close to shore.
4. Interesting Shoreline Cliff Structures
At most beaches the sides of the bay are short cliffs made of limestone or fossilized coral formations. You will often find that the ocean has undercut these cliffs, making shallow cave formations all along the shoreline. Seeing the old corals in the cliffs above the water, and checking out the cut away areas underneath is very interesting. Fish love to hang out in these shaded areas. Just be very cautious that you don’t get caught under these cliffs when a wave raises you up.
5. Wonderful Underwater Sights
There are some opportunities for great Curacao snorkeling, where you will encounter many fish and find some nice coral reefs. While it is true that at most of the beaches on the west end the underwater life is a little more sparse, it makes you pay attention to the smaller stuff. We have found many beautiful and interesting sponges along the cliff walls in Curacao. And one of the eastern spots rivals anywhere else in the Caribbean for diverse, healthy reef and sea life.
4. Very Warm Water
Curacao is close to the equator, and the water stays very warm. Generally, the winter water temperature can get down to 79°F (26.1°C), and it can get as high as 84°F (28.9°C) in the summer.
5. Parking Lot Guards
Even though the beaches are often in rural undeveloped areas, Curacao puts out efforts to reduce theft. Many snorkeling beach parking lots have security guards. So you have some peace of mind about getting things stolen from your car. We really appreciated that.
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Safety Tips for Curacao Snorkeling
Snorkel the West Side of Things
If you check out the Curacao snorkeling map below you will see that all the spots are on the southwest to northwest shore of the island. There are essentially no beaches on the opposite shore and no snorkel spots. The east shore takes the brunt of the trade winds and waves and the shoreline is full of bluffs and cliffs. Generally speaking you should not consider getting in the water on the windward side of the island.
Protected From Trade Winds
The trade winds in Curacao normally blow from the east. So even when the winds are blowing strongly you can expect to find lots of calm snorkeling spots. Because of this you can commonly get in more snorkeling during a trip compared to islands that are more exposed to the winds and weather. You still have to be careful though; wind conditions can change and even switch directions.
Open Ocean Exposure
Although the leeward side of the island is protected from most of the trade winds, the snorkeling is all fairly exposed to the open ocean. There are many small bays and coves that you snorkel from. These provide some additional protection from waves, but to access the better sea life at those locations you often have to swim outside the bays around the points. And some locations require you to swim over the reef drop-off which is deep exposed ocean. So, just be aware that you won’t find any Curacao snorkeling spots that are fully protected behind a barrier reef.
Currents
At most of the spots we recommend in our guide we did not encounter strong ocean currents. As you get close to the tips of the island, up west at Playa Kalki and down east at Directors Bay you are more likely to encounter currents. Also at the spot on Klein Curacao that we recommend there are some strong currents. But generally speaking we encountered very few currents we needed to battle. The normal current moves in a WNW direction.
Travel Tips for Curacao Snorkeling
When to Visit Curacao for the Best Snorkeling?
This is not an easy question to answer, particularly because the weather patterns in recent years have been less predictable. There are three factors to consider when planning a snorkeling trip, water temperatures, wind, and rain. Hurricanes and tropical storm season along with tourist seasons are other things to consider.
Water and Weather Conditions
Water Temperatures
The water temperatures in Curacao are comfortable for snorkeling for us year round. You can see a chart of water temps on this website. We find that we are comfortable in only a rash guard in temps above 80°F (26.7°C), and the lowest water temps of the year are in February and March at 79°F (26.1°C).
Wind and Rain
Wind is the number one thing that makes it too rough for safe snorkeling. It is good to try to plan for low winds if you can. The lowest wind times in Curacao are September, October, and November, and the highest winds are from February through July, see this website.
Rain can be a bummer on a vacation, but it also can affect visibility in the water while snorkeling. Plus, rainy season usually means there are more mosquitoes. The rainiest months October, November, and December; see this rainfall chart.
Air Temperatures
Year round air temperatures in Curacao average a daily high of 82-88°F (27.8-31.1°C), and a nightly low of 75-79°F (23.9-26.1°C), which is comfortable for year round snorkeling.
The ABC islands are not in the typical hurricane belt because the storms tend to follow a path that moves away from the equator. They do occasionally get tropical storms though, and the season for these is June through November.
High tourist season is December through April, if you want to avoid larger crowds.
We have visited in April and October. We definitely had more trouble with wind in April than October. We also had a bit of rain in both months, and the mosquitoes to go with them. That said, we got in the water as much as we wanted to in April and October. It is hard to recommend a certain time of year. Mother nature will do what she wants and you just have to plan around it in the moment. That said, we visited neighbor island Bonaire in October and had terrible conditions with heavy rains and winds coming from the west blowing out all the snorkeling spots.
Have You Seen These Guided Snorkel Travel Adventures?
Getting There and Getting Around
Curacao is located in the southeastern Caribbean between Aruba and Bonaire just north of Venezuela. Flights from Holland are common but flights from North American cities are more limited. This page on the Curacao airport website lists the airlines serving the airport and what cities they connect with.
If your goal is to snorkel all or most of the spots on the island, you will need to rent a car. It is easy on the island with many major companies to choose from.
Where to Stay for Curacao Snorkeling
If you want to snorkel most of the spots on the island, choosing your Curacao snorkeling accommodations in a central area or at least west of downtown Willemstad is a good idea.
Three of the best snorkeling spots on the island are in or just east of Willemstad. But most of the nice beaches with good snorkeling are on the west end of the island. When making your decision note that the traffic going in and out of Willemstad can be very congested during rush hour times.
Here are some areas to stay along with benefits and drawbacks of staying in that area for snorkeling.
East of Downtown Willemstad offers two of our highest ranked snorkel spots are in Caracasbaai. If you want great snorkeling and don’t care as much about pretty sandy beaches, this is a good place to stay. You are close to restaurants and grocery stores, and would have a short drive to the great snorkel spots. The drawbacks of this choice are that most of the snorkel spots are not picturesque beaches and it is a long drive to the beautiful beaches on the west end of the island. Jan Thiel is the closest resort area to our highest ranked spots.
Willemstad and Sint Michiel is a better area to stay for snorkeling because you are somewhat centrally located. There is less city driving to get to the west end beaches and it is not too long to the great spots in the east.
From the middle of the island west to Santa Martha, there are not a lot of accommodation options. If you found something it would be a decent option as you would be fairly close to the beaches of the west end, but not too far from the east end spots either.
If you only care about snorkeling from the pretty beaches, staying in Lagun or Westpunt is a decent choice. But, if you want to snorkel three of the best snorkeling spots on the island you will have a long drive down the island to get to them. Also there are only a few restaurants and no major grocery stores in Westpunt and Lagun. It is a 30-45 minute drive back to Willemstad area for more options.
If like us you prefer a condo or apartment with a kitchen, there are many options, and this is the most affordable way to spend some time on Curacao. There are many options on sites like VRBO.com, AirBnB.com, etc. Make sure to watch for any separate charges for water or electricity use and budget accordingly.
Suggestions and Questions From Other Snorkelers
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