The Caribbean island of Curaçao has a remote private island located just off it’s shores. The Klein Curaçao island is a remote island located on the south east shores of Curaçao. A day trip to the island offers your own opportunity to be cast away for a day in an environment that’s completely surrounded by shipwrecks, emerald blue waters and abandoned lighthouses. Follow us along our day on the island to see what is there to be explored.

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This post is one chapter on our trip during the pandemic to Curaçao in the Southern Caribbean. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Activity: Cast Away on a Remote Island on Klein Curaçao, Curaçao

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One of the most popular tourist attractions in the Dutch Caribbean Island of Curaçao is the island of Klein Curaçao. The island is also known as Little Curaçao.

Klein Curaçao is a small uninhabited island that is located ten kilometers south east of Curaçao. It’s has a lengthy history as previously being involved as a slave trading processing location where the sick were placed in quarantine before coming ashore in Curaçao. It was also a location for mining of phosphate across the island, which rendered much of its surface lower than before. All of these unique features render the island an interesting, if not savage place to be cast away for the day.

Booking a Boat Trip to Klein Curaçao:

We booked with Mermaid Boat Tours to Klein Curacao. It was about $130 USD per person for the day trip booked through payment sites that wouldn’t accept my Alaska Mileage Plan Mastercard.

We we able to get our preferred choice of availability up to about 3 days before travel. While we wanted a clear day, and needed to check the on site weather, it was recommended to book in advance in order to avoid disappointment.

Getting to Klein Curaçao:

We had a 5:30 AM wake up from the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort hotel we left the hotel property at about 6:15 AM. We self drove ourselves to the Mermaid site located in the harbour with a requested departure time of 6:45 AM. We arrived at 6:46 AM And were among the last to arrive.

We loaded up and departed about 7:10 AM. It was announced as a rough 2 hours drive out to the Klein Curacao.

As morning broke for the day, it was indeed a slow going trip out to Klein Curaçao. It was indeed a little rough waters. I ended up taking 2 Gravol ginger tablets which worked like a charm.

Arriving to Klein Curaçao:

On arrival to Klein Curaçao, we had a tender to shore. With our arrival time at 9:25 AM, we were given until 3:15 PM to explore the island and enjoy the day.

Once we landed on shore, we set ourselves up to enjoy the wonderfully sandy beach. It was the finest sand that we had experienced for our beach visits in Curaçao.

We set up with complimentary beach chairs as we enjoyed the beach for most of the morning. The lawn chair loungers were provided by our tour operator Mermaid.

I went for a short walk and made it up the beach to visit the local map. I also had an opportunity to climb the observation tower to take in a panoramic view

Klein Curaçao Lighthouse:

Towards the mid point of the day, when the sun got to be a little much, I wandered to check out the Klein Curaçao Lighthouse. The Klein Curaçao Lighthouse was first built in 1850, and was rebuilt in 1879. It was most recently rebuilt in 2017. As a result of it’s weathered look in the middle of the desert island, it’s got a rustic abandoned look to it.

The Klein Curaçao Lighthouse is located in the middle of the island. It’s accessible by some torn up land trails from various locations surrounding the beach.

The Klein Curaçao Lighthouse has a really mysterious feel to it. It photographed beautifully against the arid landscape.

Locating the Shipwrecks on Klein Curaçao:

There were a few shipwrecks located on Klein Curaçao. We wandered past the Klein Curaçao Lighthouse and onwards where the shipwrecks could be located on the horizon. The ship was apparently wrecked at the location in 1987.

From the shipwrecks, we headed back towards the beach for the balance of the afternoon.

Departing Klein Curaçao:

Before we knew it, it was time to depart Klein Curaçao. Being the rush, we became among the first on the boat tender transfer back to the boat. This was a little selective on our part to get the first choice of seats. It was windy throughout the afternoon so the wind sailers were out in full force.

We were leaving the beautiful emerald blue water. We were fortunate enough to see a turtle on departure; one of the few we would see while we were in Curaçao.

We had about ninety minutes ride back to the pier in a much smoother and calmer ride back.

We were dropped off and we paid for drinks throughout the day on the honour system just as we were getting off the boat. Consistent with the European background of the Dutch Caribbean, we were not ground for tips.

Overall, it was a really nice day on Klein Curaçao. It was very idyllic and a nice island get away for the day.

Sundowner and Dinner at Jan Thiel Beach:

From the Mermaid pier, we went over to Jan Thiel Beach. We were pretty salty from being in the water but it was the best nearby choice for apres snorkel sunset drinks and dinner.

Arriving at the beach at 5:30 PM, they didn’t make us pay the daily cover to enter. We parked on the street outside the gates and walked in.

The Jan Thiel Beach is a bit of a local scene hot spot place. It consists of a fully artificial beach on top of a concrete slab packed with lawn chairs.

Although it is a hot spot, you’ll never confuse this artificial platform for one of Curaçao’s wonderful world class beaches of Cas Abao or Grote Klip. I was really glad we didn’t invest (or waste) a day at this particular location. While we’d likely have seen many fashionable celebutantes, it would have been at the cost of a lack of natural physical geographic beauty.

There are 5 restaurants to choose from at the Jan Thiel Beach. We ended up at the centrally located Dinner drink at Zanzibar Beach Resort Restaurant. Bashara Beer and a Rose for MrsWT73.

We ended up staying for dinner and got some great sunsets. I had a portugese chicken which was terrific, while MrsWT73 enjoyed a pizza.

Despite the artificial nature of the Jan Thiel Beach, the sunsets from the restaurants were pretty spectacular. The shot of the sun descending throughout the trees made for some photogenic shots.

After dinner, we drove home to the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort and a quiet night in after a shower and great sleep.

My Thoughts on the Day Trip to Klein Curaçao:

It’s always neat to be cast away on a private island. Our day trip to Klein Curaçao felt exactly like that, being cast away on a island away from all civilization. We enjoyed the beach, a walk through the Klein Curaçao light house and enjoyed looking at some of the whip wrecks on the island. A day trip to Klein Curaçao is a must visit for any trip to Curaçao and we found the time to be well spent.

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If you have visited Klein Curaçao, what was your favourite feature of the remote island ?

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