Tag 5 - Cas Abao Beach, Curaçao Liqueur Distillery & Punda Vibes

Day 5 (8/10/23)

Today we plan to spend the morning on the beach. Shortly after 9 a.m. we reach Cas Abao Beach. Here, too, there is an entry fee of just under €3, and there are loungers and umbrellas for rent on the beach. A beautiful sandy beach with palm trees awaits us. A Caribbean dream - a dream in turquoise!!!

I really can't get enough of this watercolor! The madness!!! And I have the feeling that with every beach we visit on Curacao, the water becomes clearer and turquoise!

The beach is not the first place to go for snorkeling, as you can primarily see the endless expanse of white sand in crystal-clear turquoise water underwater, but corals etc. are rather difficult to find. We snorkel along the rocks on the left and see a few colorful fish, some fan corals and then another highlight:

I see out of the corner of my eye that the sand has moved, but at first glance I see nothing but sand. Just as I'm directly above the spot, a flounder digs itself out and races away across the sandy bottom in a zigzag course. I swim after it with the Insta30 on the selfie stick. The flounder buries itself several times, but I find it and follow it until it disappears into a stone cave. How cool is that! I've never seen anything like that!

The beach turns out to be a perfect spot for flatfish/flounder. During the morning we probably saw 10 of them competing with us.

I don’t dare go to the “reef edge” at the end of the bay. The way is already quite long, so we snorkel past a catamaran that is currently anchored in the bay, back to the beach and enjoy the morning swimming and splashing in the sea and chilling on the lounger. Sohnemann is missing the bathing platform - nothing to jump off of - so he finds Cas Abao Beach a bit boring.

Otherwise, Cas Abao Beach is a beautiful beach with lounger rentals, water sports, a bar and restaurant. The showers were "not functional" when we visited...

We are back at the villa for lunch and eat a colorful assortment of cheeses with delicious bread.

At 2:30 p.m. we are on the way to Willemstad. First stop:

The Curaçao Liqueur Distillery “Landhuis Chobolobo” ( https://www.chobolobo.com ), where we actually want to book a tour, but unfortunately everything was already reserved online. We're still going there and hope to get a place there. Unfortunately everything is fully booked. But the nice lady said that we could also explore the property independently, that there would be signs and explanations everywhere, there would also be a tasting stand for the liqueurs and you could buy a cocktail at the bar (that would have been included in the tour price, but that's it). Let’s save the tour price!).

Yes perfect, that's even better! We first take photos at the funny display in front of the entrance and then visit the distillery. Everything is explained clearly with pictures and videos and using examples. At the end of the self-sightseeing tour, we come to a small square where we can taste 3 liqueurs for free (today we have: Chocolate, Tamarind & Curacao Triple Sec). We treat ourselves to a cocktail at the bar. My choice is a Frozen Blue Lagoon for a paltry $8, but you don't treat yourself to anything else 😉 delicious!

Exhilarated, we head back to the car, where a large iguana is waiting for us and disappears directly under the car... Oh no... hopefully he will climb out of there quickly... we successfully scare the iguana away from under our car and continue driving towards Willemstad. We park in the parking lot above the cinema at the Renaissance Resort and walk through the shopping mile, past a Chichi sculpture to the RIF FORT, past shops, restaurants and bars to the well-known Queen Emma Bridge, a pontoon bridge built in 1888 nicknamed "Swinging "Old Lady" which, swinging sideways, allows ships to pass.

From the bridge you also have the famous view of the colorful houses of Willemstad. We walk across the bridge to the other side, into the famous and probably most touristy district of “Punda”. Tonight “Punda Night” will take place here, a street festival with singing, music, a market and subsequent fireworks. Of course we don't want to miss this. At the end of the bridge awaits another “Chichi” statue, as well as countless locks that have been attached to scaffolding in the shape of a heart and are called “Punda Love Hearts”.

The first thing we do this evening is to choose a restaurant that has a direct view of the bridge, as it will definitely be very crowded. And we are right. Everything reserved! At “The City” they can offer us a table at 5:30 p.m. on the condition that we finish eating by 7 p.m. Ok, let's take it!

We walk through the colorful alleys to the square where the CURACAO and PUNDA “SIGN” is located, take photos and move on. In between, there's a detour to one of the countless souvenir shops - there's air conditioning here 😉

At 5:30 p.m. we move into our reserved seat in the “Go City” restaurant directly on the canal with a view of the bridge. And it's worth it, because while we're sitting here, the bridge swings three times to the other side to let ships through, including a large container ship.

The seating is great, but the food is completely disappointing in terms of price/performance ratio. Mini portions at extremely expensive prices... But good, it's the main tourist spot here - that was clear.

We forgo dessert and after eating we slowly walk back towards Punda downtown. It is now dark and the first dance and music groups are showing off their skills in the streets. A huge folk festival, very cool!

The highlight is the fireworks display at 8 p.m. We would have liked to have a cocktail in one of the bars with live music, but it's packed everywhere. After waiting 20 minutes for service in a bar, we leave again. Then not. Too bad… ☹

We leave Punda around 9pm. The bridge is now lit up, which looks really great!

The Punda Nights are definitely recommended!!!