City, Caves and Beach

Your Curacao city tour will begin with a drive to the salt plains and Flamingo Park with a chance to see the beautiful pink flamingos. Continue to the Hato Caves for a guided tour inside. These caves had a utilitarian purpose during the early days of the slave trade in Curacao; escaped slaves used them as hiding places, and lived in them for months at a time. Even before the arrival of Europeans and slaves, the Amerindian Arawaks used them for shelter, and left behind cave drawings, or petroglyphs, estimated at 1,500 years old. Guides will take you through the caves. They'll point out the apocryphal and fanciful stories behind some of the stalactites and stalagmites; in the eerie lighting, some take on shapes and are called the Pirate's Head, the Sea Tortoise, and the Giant of Jack and the Beanstalk fame. After your time in the caves you will have approximately 2 hours for swimming and relaxing at a gorgeous beach highly recommended for snorkeling and diving. Almost all Curacao beaches are scattered along the sheltered and calm southwestern coast, where the waters are smooth and crystal clear. Upon returning back to the pier area you will be provided a drive through city tour in the shopping area of Willemstad. The World Heritage City of Willemstad - Punda, was established in the mid-1600s. Willemstad's covey of structures recall the quaint designs of Amsterdam, with exquisite 17th and 18th century Dutch colonial buildings not to be found anywhere else outside of the Netherlands.