Travelers Keep Flocking to This Caribbean Island Famous for Beaches, Diving and a Colorful, Historic Capital 

The colorful streets of Willemstad. The pristine, uncrowded beaches on the west coast. The party scene at Mambo. The floating bridge. Those Dutch Treat fries. The blissfully refreshing batidos. The unique, authentic hotels, from luxury resorts to dive spots. 

Curacao is filled with charms and wonders, something more and more travelers have been discovering amid the island’s tourism renaissance in the last few years. 

So many travelers, in fact, that the island just set another all-time tourism record last year, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The emerging hotspot welcomed over 700,000 stayover visitors (meaning travelers who arrived on a plane, not a cruise ship) — a whopping 20 percent jump over 2023 that made Curacao one of the fastest-growing places to visit in the Caribbean region. 

In fact, 2024, saw almost 118,000 more visitors than the previous year, officials told CJ. (The cruise side did see serious growth, too, with 834,922 passengers). 

The growth was buoyed by a sizzling December that was the first time Curacao has ever welcomed more than 70,000 visitors in one month. 

The biggest driver has been the emergence of the United States as a major market for the island; from the debut of the new Sandals Royal Curacao to a host of new flights from across the US, Americans have been making a beeline for Curacao — with 30 percent growth year over year and 19,069 visits to the island in December alone. 

Are you planning a vacation to Curacao? You’ll find one of the more diverse, fascinating collections of hotels anywhere the broader Caribbean, from fascinating boutique hotels like the adults-only Kura Botanica ($267 per night) to the perfectly-situated Renaissance Wind Creek ($274) to the always-happening Avila hotel (the latter being one of the island’s top live music spots), where you can find rooms for $409 per night. And we can’t recommend hotels in Curacao without a nod to one of our favorite luxury hotels anywhere in the region: the fabulous Baoase Luxury Resort, a slice of Bali on a private beach outside of the capital.

You may not realize that Curacao has quietly become a major culinary destination, too, from the opening of the renowned Brass Boer to unique spots like Kandela, among others.

If you’re looking for larger all-inclusive resorts, you can find that too, with a quietly booming all-inclusive sector on the island, with newer options like The Rif at Mangrove Beach Corendon Curaco, a Hilton-portfolio resort that has rooms for $335 per night. 

What about flying to Curacao? It’s easier than ever. You can fly to the island from all of the major US gateways, including Miami on American (and, more recently, a new Fort Lauderdale-Curacao flight on Azul), JetBlue from New York ($455) and Delta from Atlatna (flights at $737 roundtrip). 

For more, visit Curacao.