Market near Habitat Curacao & Willemsted

[sytech]

I've decided to rent a car when I arrive in Curacao, but will not be stopping at the Centrum market right then.

Will go to hotel and check in and get settled and make sure fridge is cold. Sometimes they don't even have them turned on.

Anyway is there a decent market within driving distance but closer than having to go back to the Centrum?

Also, is the town of Willemsted the kind of place that you can traverse on foot? I can't imagine that it's very big.

Thanks,

Sy

 

[diversteve]

I've decided to rent a car when I arrive in Curacao, but will not be stopping at the Centrum market right then.

You should if your arrival allows for it, unless you plan to drive back often. Centrum sells small cheap ice chests that you can use to transport your stuff.

Anyway is there a decent market within driving distance but closer than having to go back to the Centrum?

No, there's a little local market a few minutes west? of Habitat but it's probably better to go to Centrum. If you're just looking for drinks/snacks, try the local stands along the main road in Wilbrordus, they'll have some stuff. But they're not 7-11's...

Also, is the town of Willemsted the kind of place that you can traverse on foot? I can't imagine that it's very big.

You'd be mistaken. Most of the 150K residents live in/near town, there's the refinery, cruise port, downtown, two resort areas etc. Google Earth makes it about 10 miles wide and about 5 miles from the Airport to downtown, most of which is populated. You can walk most of historic old Willemsted in about an hour or so. It's just shops, restaurants, the cruise docks, casinos and the swinging bridge.

Think an island several times the size of Bonaire with 10 times the population, the deepwater container port for the region and what was once a major Shell Oil refinery. It took us at least 20-30 min. to go from the Piscadera Bay (west) area of town to the east side by the Sea Aquarium at 6AM one morning - partly because there's only one bridge and it's slightly inland. Downtown traffic can be bad in places, especially when the cruise ships are in. We just parked nearby and walked in one day.

 

[Damselfish]

We've stopped at a smaller market on the way out there along the main road that's ok, but usually prefer going to the Centrum, it doesn't really take that much longer. We go to town for dinner enough anyway. There's also a smaller supermarket, smaller than Centrum but decent, in a residential neighborhood not too far from the Centrum that is open later. Tricky to find though. I either saw a sign or found an ad in one of the free papers.

You can walk around the central area of Willemstad and see most of the sights you'd probably want to see. But Williemstad is actually pretty big, you might even say sprawling, and you wouldn't traverse the whole city on foot, no.

 

[fisheyeview]

I'd go to the Centrum. It's worth the drive. We went right there from the airport before going to Habitat.

We spent our last full day in Curacao walking around Willemsted. We saw a lot, but by no means did we see all of it. I would check out the Kura Hulanda. It is very cool walking around there.

 

[ScubaCrash]

Also, is the town of Willemsted the kind of place that you can traverse on foot? I can't imagine that it's very big.

Thanks,

Sy

As sjspeck said, the town of Willemstaad is the population center there. They routinely have cruise ships parked at both the MegaPier (Right next to the Superior Producer, which can get frustrating when you want to dive it.), plus parked alongside the quays in the channel leading back to the port and refinery there. Insomuch as the shopping areas go, yes, the Punda District is easily walkable, as is the Otrabanda side, but I would caution to avoid that area as it harbors the "rougher" elements of Willemstaads residents. IMHO your best bet is to park your vehicle near the Rif Fort and then you can take the ferry or walk the floating bridge across to Punda. You can do all your shopping and then when the time comes to leave you just cruise through the new traffic cirlce there and you're heading back towards the west end without dealing with the narrow streets and traffic in the Punda. If you're hungry while there I would highly recommend stopping at Plein's Wilhemmena Cafe for breakfast/lunch. The menu is limited compared to what we're used to in the US, but the food is outstanding. I ate there quite frequently during my 4 month stay and I never had a bad meal.