North America
Candy-coloured waterfronts, sheltered coves and easy reef dives.
Curaçao's capital, Willemstad, is a UNESCO-listed port whose pastel Handelskade facades face the harbour, linked across the water by the swinging Queen Emma pontoon bridge. Beyond town, the rugged west has Christoffel National Park, the crashing waves of Shete Boka and small, clear-water coves such as Playa Kenepa and Playa Lagun. Uninhabited Klein Curaçao is a popular day trip.
It is a lively, multilingual island where Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish mix easily. Try keshi yena and goat stew at the open-kitchen stalls of the old market, then snorkel or dive right from the shore. A hire car is the easiest way around. Sitting south of the hurricane belt, it is good year round, with the driest spell from January to September.
January, February, March, April, May, June, December.