5 Unusual Things to Do on Your Beach Vacation to Curaçao

There aren’t many places outside of Africa where you can embark on an ostrich safari and participate in a range of ostrich-themed activities, from standing on an ostrich egg to, yes, trying a bite of ostrich. But Curaçao is one of those places.

At the Curaçao Ostrich Farm—one of the largest breeding farms outside of Africa—a 45-minute tour will walk you through the life of an ostrich with opportunities to interact, feed and even ride them. Don’t miss the chance to get up close and personal with a rare seven-foot-tall bird: you’re sure to get some killer selfies.

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Adventurers, head to the Hato Caves on the north side of the island. This system of caves is more than 200,000 years old and is open to the public, offering an intimate look at the nature, history and culture of Curaçao.

In the same trip, you can visit nearby Shete Boka which adjoins Christoffel Park and spans more than 10 kilometers of the north coast. The coast’s limestone has been carved out by the spectacular crashing waves, creating spooky-cool underground caverns, some of which are open for public exploration.

The CurAloe Plantation cultivates more than 100,000 aloe specimens in the most sustainable way possible, producing luxurious products to soothe burns, condition your skin and provide a variety of health benefits, especially to the digestive system.

You can tour the sprawling plantation, learn about the plant and its harvest for product manufacturing and even try a bite of raw, slimy aloe flesh straight from the plant.

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As if the 35 cove-like beaches in Curaçao weren’t beautiful enough, one, in particular, offers the magical experience of swimming with wild sea turtles in stunningly-clear ocean waves lapping onto a small beach filled with colorful sea glass.

At Playa Piskado, fishermen come in with the day’s haul and cast off their scraps, and the turtles around the island soon found out about this free, easy meal. Now, they come in droves to frolic in the peaceful cove among swimmers and snorkelers. These gentle creatures are a striking and serene sight in the wild.

Not into sea turtles? At Playa Porto Mari, take a selfie with Willy and Woody, the local pigs.

Soup or stew, grilled or fried, iguana is not an uncommon exotic food to find on menus across Curaçao. ThE meat is especially famous at Jaanchie’s restaurant on Curaçao’s West End, where the owner comes by the table as the “walking, talking menu” to let you know what’s available each day.

Locals believe iguana, which supposedly tastes like chicken, has healing properties and honeymooners love it because it’s also said to be an aphrodisiac!