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We are going to Curacao at the end of the month. In the past we normally went to St. Martin and always rented a car. In Curacao we are staying at the Hilton.
Should be rent a car in Curacao?


Normm

Absolutely. As you are aware, cabs are expensive. I would not count on the bus system. All depends also as to what you want to do. If you just want to hang out at the hotel, there is a beach and some restaurants. If you want to see the beautiful beaches in the west, go into town, shop, do museums and just tour the island, you need a car. Roads are well paved, not like SXM, but few road signs although it's easier driving there than SXM. Have fun, Curacao is a great place.

Thanks, we will get a car. I usually use Amex but they don,t take it. Do I need extra insurance which I don,t pay in SXM?

We were in Curacao in May. We rented from Alamo. It was $244 for the week all in. We used Amex and we have the extended Amex rental car insurance. We did not purchase any rental insurance beyond that. They were as nice as can be. You pick up and drop off at the airport. We had an early flight, so they told us to leave the keys locked in the car, which we did. There was a guard on the lot, and there were no issues.

Driving in Curacao was not a problem. Much easier and better roads than St. Martin and you certainly need a car when you are there. We used Google maps to get around. You need it; there's no road signs. It mostly worked okay except it didn't know about a roundabout that had been added in Willemstad and always wanted to route us the long way to the grocery store. It also led us down a dead-end road one time, but we figured that one out.

Be sure you do the edcard before you leave. It saves a lot of time at the airport. https://edcardcuracao.com/

It's funny, you're the second person who has said that the roads were better paved in Curacao. SXM often has potholes, so I guess that's what you're talking about? As I have never found SXM roads to be that bad.

We've only been to St Martin one time and found ourselves dodging potholes quite a bit and even then managed to destroy a tire on one. But, to be fair, we live in Michigan, where one of our potholes actually swallowed up the truck send to fix it, so we are rather used them, though I drive a truck with big tires at home.

OK. I thought you had to be talking about potholes, as the roads in general in SXM are much better than a lot of other places...

Curacao is a big island with lots of empty space between things like beaches, the airport, etc. Not having a car will confine you to a small piece or cost you on cabs.

The roads are better on Curacao, as our other things, because theisland has much more wealth primarily from oil refining.

Driving in the countryside is easy. Town is more congested but better than SXM. The only semi hairy parts are when you go over a big high bridge over the harbor in Willemstad.

We rented from Avis at the port and paid the damage waiver which i rarely pay for. If your rolling the dice SXM is a more damage risky place than Curacao in our view.

We ended up with a stick and survived but would of rather had an automatic might want to check your reservation.

I know I'm a bit late in responding, and you probably have your plans set already, but:

Absolutely recommend a car in Curacao. The best beaches (in our opinion) are on the northwest side of the island and not to be missed.

Driving in Curacao was easier than on SXM; roads are better maintained (yes, there are some potholes to dodge), a lot less motorcycles, and they are just easier to navigate, especially in the countryside. We rented from D&D car rental, one of the locals by the name of Daniel. You can google it. He came highly recommended on TripAdvisor. He'll pick you up at the airport and his office is a block away. He's very simple to deal with. Always responsive, deals with a cash system, extremely friendly. His cars come supplied (for $5) with a wonderful GPS, which he pre-loads with all the essential beaches and tourist places you'd ever want to visit. You just go through a list and touch where you want to go. It was extremely helpful, as noted earlier, some of the roads are not marked.

Enjoy your trip! We loved Curacao.