With my own snorkel gear in tow, I did so much snorkeling while in Curaçao. I have no regrets! The snorkeling, in some cases, was even better than my SCUBA diving trip.

This post is a guide to all of the locations I snorkeled while visiting the island. The best snorkeling is away from the major tourist/resort destinations down near Willemstad. Instead, I focused my attention on the upper, Westpunt region for all my snorkel needs.

There are tons of beaches to choose from, but this guide explains the details of each, my personal experiences with them, and what you can expect in terms of fees, crowds, and more!

Playa Kalki

After my climb up Mt. Christoffel, Playa Kalki was my first snorkel stop on my trip to Curaçao. This was where Go West Diving is located.

There were some patches of reef near the dock area and lots of fish around the dock. The area was pretty deep when I was there so I had to dive down to check things out close up.

My favorite part about this beach, however, is that I could lie down on a lounge chair for free. It was first come, first served and didn't cost anything. The little grass huts to catch shade under were a nice feature, too!

I also enjoyed walking up the stairs behind the beach to Kura Hulanda Lodge and Beach Club.

Kura Hulanda Water Hole

At Kura Hulanda, there is a nice walk out along the edge of the water toward some large houses that aren't part of the lodge. Lots of iguanas can be seen along the way.

Before you turn down the paths after all of the lodgings (and before the large houses) there is a unique water hole to check out. A ladder will take you down to a natural pool of water.

At the right time of day, when the sunlight hits the water, it glows a brilliant bluish turquoise. While there isn't much reef here to see, the pool is nice and warm to relax in when the sun is shining inside. Water pushing in from the ocean waves also makes it like a natural jacuzzi.

The location of the water hole is hard to find on your own. One of the security guards at the beach club can show you where the ladder is located.

I went to this location twice and was never able to time it right with the sun. You probably need a bit more time and patience on your hands to get it right! Otherwise it looks like a pretty dreary little pool of murky water!

Playa Forti

This beach is a launch spot for a lot of boat tours. The docks here are also where guides bait sea turtles to come around so tourists can pay to observe and swim with them.

At first, I didn't realize the turtles here were being baited until I hung around for a while. I got some nice photos of the turtles, but I would avoid this spot in the future as it goes against my animal tourism ethics.

The beach here is not the best. It's small, costs to use lounge chairs, and is quite busy because of all the tours. Bring your own towel to sit on and take advantage of the food cart here before the sun goes down and they close up.

The Blue Room

There is not much reef to see here but the room itself is awesome! It's an experience you cannot miss!

Check my previous post for more photos and to learn about the different ways to access the Blue Room.

Playa Manzaliña & Playa Shon Mosa

The areas to the right and left of Playa Shon Mosa are absolutely my favorite snorkeling spots in all of Curaçao.

I found this spot through the Canadian couple who suggested it to me. There are actually 3 beaches here and they are a little tricky to get to. Getting there a part of the adventure!

Navigate to Landhuis San Juan—an old plantation house located at the end of a long dirt road off of the main road called Kaminda Serapio A. Pinedo. When you pull up to this big yellow house, a man will emerge from a shaded area to the right. He will collect a small fee for accessing the private beaches (about $5 USD).

Driving in through a narrow passage, you'll have a few different directions you can go.

If you want to reach the center beach, Playa Manzaliña, stay left, right, then left. You'll know if you went the correct path if you get to a beach with some interesting indentations in the rock to the right and rock formations in the water to the left. Here is a view looking at both sides:

Before Noon, I had this beach entirely to myself. Eventually, the Canadian couple, Ashley and Jen, joined me and later on 2 people came and lied out nude at the other side of the beach. Yes – it's that remote here!

From Playa Manzaliña, I then snorkeled over Shon Mosa. On the way over, there is an area with a bunch of rock formations just before you reach the next beach.

In between the rock formations is a really fun spot to snorkel in. It's shallow and with good sunlight so you can catch some really beautiful coral, fish and other little surprises.

From here, we snorkeled together past the beach and along the coastline.

We followed the ledge quite far down the coast. There was so much to see! Big rock formations underwater were home to giant fan coral and staghorn coral. Tons of fish, including little pipefish and others were all over. The variety of marine life, the clarity of the water, and the sun shining down through the water on everything made this the perfect snorkel spot.

Even swimming a bit out from the coastline was exciting. The water was deeper here, but we could see totally clear to the bottom. I was able to dive down and glide along the rippled white sand with no reef in sight.

It was so beautiful!

Back at Play Manzaliña, Ashley, Jen, and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach. I chopped up a pineapple they boat on a huge hunk of coral rock.

We drank beers and just chilled. This was definitely most remote beach of them all and the best one to get away from some of the busier beaches in Curaçao.

Playa Santa Cruz

After an awesome morning and afternoon at Shon Mosa, we went back to Santa Cruz where the Canadian couple and I originally met. This was the launch location for the tour to the Blue Room with Captain Goodlife. But we wanted to snorkel that area for a bit.

There is an area to the right of the beach that is quite murky. You have to swim out from the beach and along the coastline to get to the clear water here.

Along the edge of the cove to the right side, we found lots of nice coral and even some little seas caves.

There was a great, but challenging swim through here at one of the bigger rock formations. Upon swimming through it, I actually lost my fin. It got stuck underneath and I had to wait for it to float back out to retrieve it!

Playa Jeremi

On my extra, unexpected day in Curaçao,I had the opportunity to snorkel a couple more beaches. Playa Jeremi was one of them. I previously watched the sunset from this beach with a few people. It was a really nice time! But now I was ready to snorkel it.

The beach is nice and fairly small. It's a popular launch spot for shore divers. Other than that, the beach is completely free and frequented mostly by locals. There are no lounge chairs for rent here—so it doesn't feel super touristy.

There was a lot of nice reef and fish along the coastlines out from the beach here. But the best part of this experience occurred on my way across the cove from one side to the other. A giant bait ball of fish came in from the ocean, surrounded me, and then took off back out to sea.

I was absolutely elated by this! Check out my previous post to see the video I took as it happened.

Playa Lagun

After Playa Jeremi, I stopped by Playa Lagun. I spent several evenings eating and drinking at the restaurant overlooking Playa Lagun. It was finally time to snorkel it!

During the daytime, the beach is packed with people. It's a popular spot because it's a narrower, more sheltered cove than some of the others. The lounge chairs definitely cost money here and there are some other nice amenities for beach goers. But I was there to snorkel.

I put my stuff on some rocks to the left of the beach and then swam out. Once I got out from the beach, I explored to the right and left. I was able to find a lot of beautiful reef and variety of fish on both sides of the cove and out along the coastline.

In Conclusion

Watch the video below for an visual summary of my snorkeling experience in Curaçao:

There is no reason to take a snorkel tour while in Curaçao. I would almost say there is no reason to take a dive tour either.

Some of the most beautiful reef you are going to see is right along the coastlines, accessible from any of the beaches you encounter up and down the Westpunt coast.

Each offers a great snorkel experience, but the best for me was definitely Playa Shon Mosa.

Epic Self-Guided Snorkeling in Curaçao