Tours in Jan Thiel & Spanish Water, Curaçao

Curaçao's southeast is where many days on the water begin. The Mermaid sails from Spanish Water to Klein Curaçao, Caracasbaai has the Tugboat wreck and Fort Beekenburg, and beginners take their first breaths underwater on the south coast. Here is what the area holds and how to reach each tour.

Early mornings on Spanish Water

At a quarter to seven, Fishermen's Pier in Spanish Water is already busy. Guests check in for the day's boat to Klein Curaçao, and soon after, the Mermaid slips out through the channel toward the open sea. A little later, snorkelers gather at Fort Beekenburg in Caracasbaai for a sea-scooter ride to the Tugboat. In Curaçao's southeast, the day starts on the water.

Where the southeast is

This corner of the island lies just east of Willemstad along the south coast. Jan Thiel, Spanish Water and Caracasbaai sit close together, and beyond them the coast runs on past Fuik toward Oostpunt, the island's eastern tip.

• Spanish Water is a large, sheltered inland bay joined to the sea by a narrow channel. Its calm water and many inlets make it a favorite anchorage for sailboats and a base for boat trips.
• Jan Thiel is a resort area on the coast, with a beach, restaurants and holiday apartments.
• Caracasbaai, also called Caracas Bay, is home to the Tugboat wreck and Fort Beekenburg.
• Fuik and Oostpunt make up the quiet east, which you see from the sea on the way to Klein Curaçao.

The places our tours visit

Fishermen's Pier, Spanish Water

Mermaid Boat Trips sails from Fishermen's Pier in Spanish Water, just off the Caracasbaai roundabout. From the pier the boat follows the channel out to sea, runs along the south coast past Fuik and Oostpunt, then heads south across open water to Klein Curaçao. Sometimes dolphins swim along.

Fort Beekenburg

On the shore of Caracasbaai stands Fort Beekenburg, an 18th-century stone fort built to guard the bay. Reef Riders Curaçao meet their sea-scooter guests here, and the old fort on the cliff makes a fine backdrop above the clear shallows.

The Tugboat wreck

The Tugboat is a small sunken tugboat lying in calm, shallow water, and one of the best-known snorkel spots on the island. Coral has grown over it and the fish crowd around: striped sergeant majors in their hundreds, French angelfish and schools of reef fish. Because it is shallow, you see it well from the surface, which makes it a favorite with snorkelers and new divers alike.

Beginner reefs on the south coast

The Little Green Boat takes first-time divers to beginner sites on the south coast, chosen on the day for the sea and for you: a place where green sea turtles come to feed, a small wreck in calm, shallow water, or a coral nursery. Their photos include the Tugboat and coral trees in a Reef Renewal Curaçao nursery, where young corals are grown to restore the reef.

Jan Thiel

Jan Thiel is a convenient base for this part of the island. Its resorts turn up on pickup lists: the Mermaid's hotel pickup is free around Jan Thiel, and AnnaBay Club picks up from Papagayo Resort, Morena Resort, Chogogo and Livingstone for its rum tasting in Willemstad. This is also the area of Real World Adventures' private Jeep and hike morning, which leads to a hidden beach the guides keep secret.

Tours that start in the southeast

A day trip to Klein Curaçao

The Mermaid's day trip to Klein Curaçao is the big day out from Spanish Water. The Mermaid, Mermaid Boat Trips' own motor yacht, sails at seven in the morning and gives you about seven hours on the island's white beach: snorkel with the sea turtles in front of the boat, or walk to the old lighthouse and the shipwreck on the windward shore. Breakfast and a barbecue lunch are served, with an open bar of soft drinks and juices; beer and wine are extra. It sails every day except Thursday, and our guide to Klein Curaçao covers the island itself.

Sea scooters over the Tugboat

With Reef Riders Curaçao, a small family business that guides its own guests, you ride your own sea scooter out to the Tugboat and then let the fish come to you. The tour is always private, just your group of up to 4 guests, from 10 years old. No diving experience is needed, but you must be able to swim. It takes about 2 to 2½ hours including the briefing, and your guide takes underwater photos and videos of your ride for free. Once Reef Riders confirm your date, you pay 15% online to book and the other 85% in cash after the tour.

Your first scuba dive

Fabien and Caro, who founded The Little Green Boat, take only your group, with at most two beginners per instructor. A private first dive starts with a briefing on the shore. You walk in from the beach, get used to breathing underwater where you can still stand, and then go down together at your own pace. It takes about 2½ hours, includes a video of your dive and needs no diving certificate, from 10 years old.

Want more time underwater? Book two try dives on the same day instead: about half a day, with the first dive to get comfortable and the second to take in more of the reef. Dives start at 09:00 or 13:00, each booking is for 2 to 4 divers and is made online at least 12 hours ahead, and guiding is in English, French or Spanish.

A Jeep and a coastal hike

Real World Adventures' Jeep and hike morning is private, for at most 2 guests, in their Jeep Wrangler with a local guide. It includes a 40-minute coastal hike to a hidden beach the guides keep secret, so please don't share its name or where it is. The hike is easy to moderate, with a few meters over rocks in the sea, and good hiking shoes are required. It runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 09:00 for about 4 hours; you reserve for free and pay your guide on the day.

Getting there and pickup

• The Mermaid: check in by 06:45 at Fishermen's Pier, just off the Caracasbaai roundabout. Parking is free just outside the gate, and you walk in to the pier. Rather not drive? Hotel pickup is free around Jan Thiel and USD 10 to 20 from elsewhere, booked with the trip.
• Sea scooters: meet at Fort Beekenburg in Caracasbaai and come 15 minutes early. The tour page does not mention pickup, so plan your own way there.
• Try dives: you meet your instructor at the dive site, and The Little Green Boat can pick you up anywhere on the island on request. They get in touch the day before your dive.
• Jeep and hike: Real World Adventures pick you up and drop you off where you stay.

Practical tips

• Reef-safe sunscreen: the sea-scooter tour and the dives both ask for it. Put it on well before you get in the water.
• Pack for the water: swimwear, a towel and a change of clothes; a hair tie helps under a dive mask if you have long hair.
• Fins for Klein Curaçao: the Mermaid has snorkel masks on board but no fins, so bring your own.
• Proper shoes for the hike: good hiking shoes are required, not sandals.
• Hands off the reef: never stand on coral, and give turtles space however close they come.
• Diving and flying: leave at least a full day between your last dive and your flight home, so plan your try dives early in your stay.
• Early starts: Mermaid check-in is at 06:45, so set out in good time, especially if you are driving from Willemstad or further west.

More nearby

For other ways to get in the water, see more snorkeling tours on Curaçao and diving in Curaçao. Staying in town? The southeast is a short drive from Willemstad's historic center, so a morning on the water combines well with an afternoon in Punda.