Curaçao Warnings and Dangers

Look on your bill or at the prices. some things are in dollars but others are in Naf.
one dollar is about 1,75 Naf.
at hotels you get a very bad rate.
best is use your Visa, or get your money out of a ATM machine or go to a bank.

Coral reef Eco Tips:

1) Follow the sandy areas when swimming across the shallow part of a reef. It is easy to accidentally crush corals and disturb other animals

2) Don't touch corals or hang of, rest on, or kick them. Corals are living animals and are damaged even by gentle handling.

3) Avoid kicking up the sand. It spoils the visibility for others and damages corals and other reef animals when it settles.

4) Don't spearfish. It is prohibited

5) Be careful in underwater caverns and caves. Don't spend to long in there and avoid crowding; bubbles collect on the roof and reef animals can "drown" in air.

6) Never anchor on corals. Tie up to a mooring buoy or jetty, or anchor carefully in sand or rubble patches

I complained to the police about trucks driving too fast an dangerously on a WALKING PATH and the police accosted me!! This place is corrupt and dangerous Stay Away. Remember Natalie Holloway, the same lack of justice abides here

If you buy liquor in the duty free shop in curaçao and have a connecting flight in the states to your final destination is in the north east like mine was..the TSA will take your goods in Miami! So avoid the non sense of these thugs who rob you don't buy liquor in the duty-free shop in curcao if your getting a connecting flight in the states.

Be careful if you buy merchandise in the main tourist area of Willemstad. We were sold a bad telephone and the merchant later refused to take it back. The businesses that sell to tourists know that most of the people who buy things will be gone the next day and won't be back. So they can screw their customers and get away with it.

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It is recommended to stay to the main streets at nightime. The back streets of Punda are especially to be avoided after 8 pm. A street like Pietermaai looks inviting in the daylight but is a bit lonelier at night. I walked out to the Avila Hotel in the day time, for example, but would not do that at nighttime.

Thankfully, I never experienced any threat, crime or menace but I did meet (mainly) locals who have been victims of mainly property related crimes (such as home invasions). Apparently, a lot of the troubles come from people who are living illegally and coming from high crime places like Caracas, Venezuela.

Put another way: the hotel 't Klooster is about the farthest I would like to be out in Punda if one was to walk to and from at all hours. And I wouldn't rush to stay in Scharloo except to visit it in the daytime.

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The charming, floating Queen Emma brudge is in constant use by locals and tourists. The busy harbour traffic means the bridge may be partially or completely out of service. I never quite learned their signalling system but it sure is fun to see the scrum of people trying, sometime in vain, to get off the bridge in time!

Note that most shops and even quite some restaurants are closed on Sundays. Willemstad is nearly deserted and the beaches are packed.
Exceptions are made when cruiseships are in town.