{"id":1058,"date":"2009-08-05T09:02:45","date_gmt":"2009-08-05T14:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2016-12-17T02:44:15","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T08:44:15","slug":"with-great-diving-and-unique-food-curacao-is-no-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/with-great-diving-and-unique-food-curacao-is-no-gamble\/","title":{"rendered":"With great diving and unique food, Curacao is no gamble"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Curacao<\/em><\/em>

Curacao<\/p><\/div>\n

By Lena Katz<\/em><\/p>\n

With 10 contenders flying to Curacao in August to compete for a half-million dollar prize, this Netherlands Antilles island is a treasure-hunting hot spot in 2009. However, cash prizes aside, Curacao\u2019s always been one of my favorite Caribbean vacation<\/strong><\/a> destinations, thanks its adorable beach hotels, reasonable prices and colorful culture.\u00a0 Although just a few lucky folk are going to get greenbacks out of their summer vacation experience, everyone who\u2019s ever visited can tell you that Curacao has all kinds of treasure to offer.
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\nUnder the Sea\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clear, warm water and diverse undersea topography and terrain make offshore Curacao an ever-popular Caribbean vacation destination for diving. In fact, I once saw a man free-dive down to a wrecked hull of some sort, crawl right inside of it and disappear — leaving all of us on the boat wringing our hands in panic till the wreck\u2019s resident jellyfish family forced him out of the rustyvessel and back up to the surface. Such extreme diving antics aren\u2019t at all necessary, since all of Curacao\u2019s hotels are equipped to handle SCUBA needs.\u00a0 Some, like the Hilton<\/strong><\/a> and Lions Dive and Beach Resort<\/strong><\/a>, are completely centered around dive vacations. If you\u2019re\u00a0 still\u00a0 beginning\/intermediate, motor out to an airplane wrecked in the shallows, a colorful reef or a shipwreck festooned with sponges and seaweed. Deep dives, cave dives and challenging dives like the 70-foot \u201cTunnel of Doom\u201d are also among the 81 total sites on Curacao\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

\"CaribbeanOn the Plate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Picky eaters might have a problem in Curacao, because the answer to that classic question, \u201cWhat\u2019s for dinner?\u201d could be just about anything. And no, it don\u2019t all taste like chicken. Iguana stew<\/strong>, for example, is one local delicacy you would only try for novelty\u2019s sake — a thousand tiny bones get in the way of any real flavor. And while grilled ostrich<\/strong> can be juicy-delicious, the tartare version is chilly and composed, sort of like a firm meat jello. However, kangaroo steaks<\/strong> are delightful, and the myriad little fried appetizer bits are as tasty as Amsterdam automat fare. The best meal of the week is invariably at Equus<\/strong>, a former stable turned Friday afternoon barbecue party.<\/p>\n

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\"Caribbean<\/strong><\/strong>

Kura Hulanda<\/p><\/div>\n

Art all Around You…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Curacao\u2019s capital Willemstadt looks like a giant box of Jordan almonds from afar. Legend has it that this is because the first mayor owned a paint company, and made it a rule that all the citizens do their houses up in pink, blue, yellow and other cheery paintbox shades. Wise (and wealthy) as that mayor was, he probably never could have foreseen what a fellow enterprising Dutchman would do a few centuries later. In the slummiest part of inner-city Willemstadt, Dutch businessman\/millionaire philanthropist Jacob Dekkerbought an entire quarter and turned it into a museum and historic hotel. It\u2019s called the Kura Hulanda<\/strong>, and is one of Curacao\u2019s gems.<\/p>\n

The Slavery Museum<\/strong>, a history lesson that shocks at first and lingers for years, contains a world-class collection of artifacts.\u00a0 From indentured servitude to African wars to plantation horrors, the entire history of slavery is displayed in an up-close, low-tech setting. Over in the separate city block that houses the hotel, it feels almost still like plantation days, especially considering the four poster beds and And most picturesque is the mural that occupies a central wall<\/strong> in the Kura Hulanda compound. It depicts the down-and-out characters who lived here before the hotel was built. Many of them were rehabilitated after and worked on the premises — in fact, one formerly notorious character became the head of security, according to manager Leo Helms.<\/p>\n

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\"Curacao<\/strong><\/strong>

Marriott Curacao Resort<\/p><\/div>\n

Ching-a-Ling<\/strong>
\nSo you didn\u2019t score one of the precious and highly sought-after places in the Curacao treasure hunt, and you won\u2019t be departing the island with a $500K in cash. Bummer. But neither did most of us. Nonetheless, fortune hunters and lucky souls still have all kinds of opportunities to cash in, at any one of the pocket-sized casinos<\/strong> dotted around the island. Almost all the hotels have their own, and a few, like the Marriott<\/strong> Curacao Resort<\/strong><\/a> and the Renaissance Curacao Resort & Casino<\/strong><\/a>, even get real action. Maybe not the kind that will make you rich (or bankrupt you) in a single night, but hopefully enough to bankroll a second, spontaneous Caribbean vacation this summer.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/h3>\n