Curacao 2026 (page 1 of 9)

Start Slide Show
Page: Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next

Day 1 - Feb 7, 2026

Due to our 6 am flight, we had to get up at 3 am, which was a very early day! The past couple of weeks have had a lot of sub-zero days, so it was worth getting up early to head to a warmer climate! Mike dropped Greta off at MSP so she could check in the dive bag. Since we were flying American Airlines, there was no real line for bag check and she got through that AND security (TSA Precheck) in under 10 minutes! She walked all the way to the gate, and then part-way back to meet Mike, who had take the car to the Humphrey terminal for parking. He ran and just caught the train back to MSP, where he also had no delay in getting thorugh security. That left us just enough time for a quick breakfast (chorizo avocado omelettes) and then they were boarding our plane. It was a full flight we left a few minutes early (no deicing) and ended up arriving in Miami an hour early. We grabbed a couple of beers near our gate, and then boarded the next flight. The best thing about this leg was when the plane doors closed and we EACH HAD OUR OWN ROW OF 3 SEATS! This ended up being advantageous, because after the plane left the gate, they had to bring us back to shuffle cargo and rebalance the plane. Getting grounds crew over to do this took longer than expected so we ended up leaving over an hour late. But we were comforatbly in our own rows, so it was not an issue.

We arrived at Curaco just before sunset, and disembarked onto a jetway (not onto the tarmac) which led directly into customs. We had downloaded the Curacao entrance form and the electronic rapid-security pass ahead of time, and got in a line with two people ahead of us. We were near the back of the plane, so getting in a nearly non-existant line was amazing! We got waved through after they checked our documents on our phones. We walked to the last baggage claim, and as Mike looked, there was our dive bag, first down the conveyer! From there, we walked past another security check with our bags and out the door. Under 10 minutes from getting off the plane to out the door - amazing!

We then had to find our transportation - booking through Costco always provides this. We walked a bit of the way down, found a guy in a lime-green FB-TT shirt (which was what we were told to look for) and he directed us to a woman in a Canadian shirt (red with a maple leaf). She couldn't find our names on the list for transportation, and after a few minutes, they figured out that we were on American Airlines - and they were with Canadian Airlines. They then directed us to a kiosk we'd walked right past, with another person in a green FB-TT shirt. She found our name immediately. At this point, it seemed to be perfect except that Mike realized we had taken the wrong checked dive-bag when he noticed that there was a different name tag on it.

Greta waited at the kiosk and Mike had to try go back towards security. They wouldn't let him back in but had him make a phone call to security. In the mean time, someone in the party of the guy whose bag we took saw Mike with the other bag. After a bit of calling back and forth, we were able to return the guy's bag to him and Mike got our actual bag. In the meantime, the bus waited for us, and we were able to board with no other issues. It was a full-sized tour bus and it was just 6 passengers plus the driver. We were the last stop but it was fun to be able to see a bit of the island as he dropped off the other two couples first.

we were greeted at the front door by a bellman (Alexias) who gave us cold, bottled water, took our bags, and brought us directly to the check in desk. We got through check in and headed to our room. Alexias brought our bags a little while later. Our room is quite nice - on the top (4th) floor, and is set up with robes, slippers, a small fridge and a balcony. We changed into shorts and headed out for supper. The Queen Emma Bridge, which is a floating walking bridge, was close by and we went there for the evening. First we stopped at a little shack called "Steve & Friends" and got a bottle of Curacao beer. Then we watched a large ship come through the channel; the Queen Emma had already swung open to let the ship through, then we saw it swing back closed. We walked a bit and went back to a building where we'd seen a sign for Poke Exchange. Up on the 2nd floor of that buidling, we chose a restaurant called "The Haven" where we were able to sit outside on the edge overlooking the area below.

Dinner was great. We each had a fruity drink and then Mike got a spicy poke bowl, and Greta got green curry mahi-mahi. At that point, we walked back to the hotel - it was only a few blocks away. We walked through The Rif Fort - which had a number of shops and live music. That looks like a fun place to stop another day. But it had been a very long day and we headed back to our room , watched a bit of the Olympics, and then went to sleep.

img_6990.jpg 02/07/26 12:31:40 (large image)	img_7045.jpg 02/07/26 12:32:02 (large image)	img_7047.jpg 02/07/26 12:35:54 (large image)	img_7050.jpg 02/07/26 16:38:08 (large image)	img_7051.jpg 02/07/26 16:38:14 (large image)	img_7052.jpg 02/07/26 16:38:36 (large image)
img_7053.jpg 02/07/26 16:38:58 (large image)	img_7054.jpg 02/07/26 16:39:32 (large image)	img_7055.jpg 02/07/26 16:39:42 (large image)	img_7056.jpg 02/07/26 16:40:06 (large image)	img_7057.jpg 02/07/26 16:40:12 (large image)	img_7058.jpg 02/07/26 19:52:58 (large image)
img_7059.jpg 02/07/26 19:58:10 (large image)	img_7060.jpg 02/07/26 19:59:32 (large image)	img_7061.jpg 02/07/26 19:59:38 (large image)	img_7063.jpg 02/07/26 20:02:40 (large image)	img_6992.jpg 02/07/26 20:35:48 (large image)	img_7064.jpg 02/07/26 20:36:44 (large image)

Page: Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next

Start Slide Show