Day 12 - Tourist chaos with the turtles and cool jumps at Playa Kalki

Day 12 (8/17/23)

Our last day on Curacao! Sniff… We'll be leaving the island again tomorrow afternoon. How quickly 12 days have passed. We think about what we want to do today or where we might want to go a second time. I would really like to go to the turtle pier again, to Playa Piskadó in Westpunt. It was so terribly hot last time and I would like to go snorkeling there again. Sohnemann would like a beach with a bathing/swimming platform (for “jumping into the water” of course), so we are planning Playa Piskadó and Playa Kalki. Unfortunately, husband and daughter didn't forget the jump from the cliff at the restaurant on Playa Forti...

I am by nature – when water is involved – a shit bunny and am actually against them jumping down there. The daughter is offended to death and – of course – plays the “I’m already an adult and can do whatever I want over 18” card. Um, no, dear mom still has a say in that. We agree to go to Playa Forti and “look at the whole thing again in daylight”.

After we reach the parking lot at the restaurant, our husband also has to admit that the cliff is “pretty high.” After much back and forth, the husband decides that no one will jump down here today. Ugh, what luck!

Unfortunately, out of fear and panic that they might want to jump, I didn't take any pictures of the cliff...

We drive to Playa Piskadó, but have no luck with parking today - everything is full - so we park above the main street and walk past the wooden octopus down the road to the bay. There's a lot more going on here today. Is there a cruise ship in port today??? I thought I had noted down all the dates, but apparently there is a cruiser in the harbor today and now at least 3 buses are unloading 50-60 tourists each on the street. OMG! We are just in the water looking for turtles when the first 50 tourists in yellow life jackets get into the water on the other side of the jetty. They squeak, scream, kick and paw at the turtles. I'm horrified - it doesn't work at all! When the second bus group gets into the water with over 50 red life jackets, we run away. Terrible! How lucky we were on our first visit here.

We are speechless when a local grandpa gets into the water with fish waste, attracts a turtle, which grabs it and puts it “on the lap” of a tourist wearing a life jacket. I am shocked!

As nice as it was the first time here, it sucks now. What a shame, I didn't really want to leave the island after such an unpleasant experience...

The mood is not so great now. Husband was annoyed, I was shocked, daughter was insulted (didn't feel like jumping) and son was bored (not in the mood for snorkeling).

We jump in the car and drive to Playa Kalki. We take 4 loungers under a large tree and jump into the water again. It's too windy and choppy for snorkeling today, you can hardly see anything besides the rocks, so my husband and I join the kids on the bathing platform. There are chairs and a table here. I make myself comfortable in the sun and watch the family do a variety of jumps - from head dives to somersaults to "ass bombs" there's everything 😉

It was a good decision to spend the rest of the day here. The cruise tourists don't seem to come this far, it's pretty empty and we're just enjoying the last day on the beach.

In the late afternoon we are back at the villa and jump into the pool one last time. With a big scream the daughter is outside again - there is "something" in the pool. We use the barber to get a scorpion (albeit dead) out of the water. 😱😱😱🦂

Ehhhhhh....there are scorpions here??????

After swimming we pack our things. To say goodbye, we reserved a table in the “Bali” restaurant ( https://balicuracao.com/ ) in Grote Berg and wanted to have dinner there. It's funny, you fly to the Caribbean and the best restaurant in the corner is an Asian restaurant...

We treat ourselves to a cocktail (Frozen Blueberry Daiquiri & Mint Margarita) and have a delicious dinner (my vegetarian Pad Thai is delicious!). As ordered, there will be another fireworks display at 8 p.m. on the square opposite the restaurant! How cool is that????

Worthy farewell to Curacao 😊