863. Playa Porto Marie

My mind zooms to PortoMari’s crystal clear blue calm warm water, pristine sand, colorful fish and delicious pinda sous (drizzled over my french fries or Indonesian-style bami noodles) whenever I get hit in the face by a cold wind gust, eyes watering, bare fingers freezing. Last time I was there I convinced my nephews Noah (7) and Lucas (5) to swim out to the floating dock with me (0.5 km, 0.3 miles). Noah raced and only looked back to make sure he was in the lead, while Luky kept looking down at the fishies wondering when they were going to “bite his toes”. (The dock had a bunch of little crabs crawling around, to Luky’s dismay, but he got used to it after a while) We all canon-balled into the water a few times then watched the sun set onto the horizon… up close and personal… like we were the only ones on the ocean. (That night was extra special: we traded the sun for a full, full, full moon.)

PortoMari is perfect for diving, snorkeling, swimming, lounging and tanning. And if you tend to get tired of the beach (not me, not ever), you can always go for a hike (the San Mateo trail takes about 1 hour) or go for a bike tour of the neighboring scenic, unspoiled terrain (WannaBike hosts a cool nature / culture tour that also packs a serious aerobic workout!)

Little known fact, PortoMari (and its former plantation) was home to Curaçao’s most important slave revolt in 1795, inspired by passionate and thoughtful leader: Tula. Long overdue filming of this story (Tula, the Revolt) is taking place right now, starring well-known Hollywood actor Danny Glover as Tula‘s older friend, Shinishi (literally: the color gray).

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Daytime photos by Kimberley Douglas.

Sunset photos by Monique Gomes Casseres.