Destination Guide · Curaçao
Jan Thiel
Beach clubs, clear swimming water, and the south-east coast's best sunset — the lively, easy beach a short reach from the base.
From Spanish Water
4 nautical miles · 45-minute reach
Best time to sail
Year-round. The leeward cove is calm in every season; the beach clubs run all year, and the flamingos on the salt pans are most often seen at dusk.
Jan Thiel is the resort beach of Curaçao's south-east coast, a short reach from Spanish Water and the most sociable stop close to the base. A sheltered cove of clear, shallow water backed by a row of beach clubs and restaurants, it is where the island comes to swim, eat, and watch the sun go down — and it makes an easy, lively anchorage to set against the quieter corners of the coast.
We anchor off the beach in calm leeward water, with the beach clubs a short tender ride ashore. The swimming is easy and the water clear; the reef along the edges of the cove gives a gentle snorkel, and the beach clubs run from morning coffee to long lunches to drinks as the light goes. Behind the beach are the salt pans of Jan Thiel — shallow pink lagoons where flamingos sometimes feed at dusk, an unexpected sight a few minutes' walk from the sand.
Jan Thiel is the social, easy stop on a charter — more happening ashore than anywhere near the base, but still a calm anchorage to come back to. It pairs naturally with the Tugboat snorkel at Caracas Bay next door, or as a relaxed last evening before the run back into the Spaanse Water at the end of a voyage.
Anchorages
Jan Thiel Bay
The main anchorage off the resort beach — calm leeward water, clear and shallow, with the beach clubs a short tender ashore. Easy swimming and a gentle snorkel along the reef edges of the cove.
Cas Abou direction (settled days)
On a calm day we reach a little further west along the coast for clearer, quieter water — Jan Thiel for the evening, the open leeward beaches by day.
Spaanse Water (overnight)
A short hop back to the lagoon for the night — flat water and the marinas — with Jan Thiel an easy run out again at first light.
Ashore
Beach clubs
A row of beach clubs and restaurants along the cove — morning coffee, long lunches, and drinks as the light goes. The easiest, liveliest meal ashore close to the base.
Jan Thiel salt pans
Shallow pink lagoons behind the beach where flamingos sometimes feed at dusk — an unexpected, beautiful sight a few minutes' walk from the sand.
Sunset on the sand
The south-east coast's best sunset spot — the sun dropping into the Caribbean off the beach, a drink in hand, the trades easing as the light turns gold.
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RexSailing · Spanish Water · Curaçao