Curaçao · 2 PLACES TO EXPLORE

A little more
of Willemstad.

Find places to visit in Willemstad. See what catches your eye, then save a few favorites for your trip.

Willemstad · CW

Playa Porto Mari

Playa Porto Mari is one of Curaçao's most loved beaches, a wide stretch of soft sand and glassy, crystal-blue water set on the old Porto Mari plantation near the village of Sint Willibrordus on the island's west coast. It has it all for a perfect beach day: a laid-back bar and restaurant facing the sea, plenty of room to spread a towel, and an easy, family-friendly atmosphere that draws both islanders and visitors. The real star is underwater. Porto Mari is famous for its rare "double reef"—two parallel coral structures just off the shore that dive schools rate among the very best sites on the island. You can simply wade into the calm sea and find yourself drifting over the reef with a mask and snorkel, in 26–29°C water almost year-round, with good odds of turtles, rays, seahorses and clouds of reef fish. Run on solar power and framed by a conservation-first attitude—and a few free-roaming "beach pigs" that have become the beach's quirky signature—Porto Mari feels less like a commercial resort and more like a well-kept natural hideaway you can comfortably spend an entire day in.

Beach

Willemstad · CW

Marie Pampoen Beach

Marie Pampoen Beach (also written Marie Pompoen) is a small, free public beach tucked into a residential corner of Willemstad, Curaçao, just east of the city centre and beside the Sea Aquarium and Mambo Beach resort strip. It is the island in miniature: calm, shallow water where the seabed drops away gently, a scatter of sand and pebbles under palm trees, a curving little pier, and a flotilla of weathered fishing boats riding at anchor in its miniature bay. There are no beach-club daybeds or DJ decks here—what you get instead is an informal, local seaside with real character. Its true fame, though, is underwater. The shore here protects one of Curaçao's most celebrated shore dives and snorkels: a healthy fringing reef that gives way to an artificial reef of scuttled cars, cranes and scrap, dotted with coral-restoration outplants. For a beach you can wander onto straight from a parking lot, Marie Pampoen offers an unusually rich day—swim, snorkel or dive in the morning, picnic under a palapa, and watch the fishing boats come and go all afternoon.

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Curaçao · 2 PLACES TO EXPLORE

A little more
of Willemstad.

Find places to visit in Willemstad. See what catches your eye, then save a few favorites for your trip.

Tourist attraction

Willemstad · CW

Playa Porto Mari

Playa Porto Mari is one of Curaçao's most loved beaches, a wide stretch of soft sand and glassy, crystal-blue water set on the old Porto Mari plantation near the village of Sint Willibrordus on the island's west coast. It has it all for a perfect beach day: a laid-back bar and restaurant facing the sea, plenty of room to spread a towel, and an easy, family-friendly atmosphere that draws both islanders and visitors. The real star is underwater. Porto Mari is famous for its rare "double reef"—two parallel coral structures just off the shore that dive schools rate among the very best sites on the island. You can simply wade into the calm sea and find yourself drifting over the reef with a mask and snorkel, in 26–29°C water almost year-round, with good odds of turtles, rays, seahorses and clouds of reef fish. Run on solar power and framed by a conservation-first attitude—and a few free-roaming "beach pigs" that have become the beach's quirky signature—Porto Mari feels less like a commercial resort and more like a well-kept natural hideaway you can comfortably spend an entire day in.

Beach

Willemstad · CW

Marie Pampoen Beach

Marie Pampoen Beach (also written Marie Pompoen) is a small, free public beach tucked into a residential corner of Willemstad, Curaçao, just east of the city centre and beside the Sea Aquarium and Mambo Beach resort strip. It is the island in miniature: calm, shallow water where the seabed drops away gently, a scatter of sand and pebbles under palm trees, a curving little pier, and a flotilla of weathered fishing boats riding at anchor in its miniature bay. There are no beach-club daybeds or DJ decks here—what you get instead is an informal, local seaside with real character. Its true fame, though, is underwater. The shore here protects one of Curaçao's most celebrated shore dives and snorkels: a healthy fringing reef that gives way to an artificial reef of scuttled cars, cranes and scrap, dotted with coral-restoration outplants. For a beach you can wander onto straight from a parking lot, Marie Pampoen offers an unusually rich day—swim, snorkel or dive in the morning, picnic under a palapa, and watch the fishing boats come and go all afternoon.