Destination Guide · Curaçao · West Coast
Playa Porto Mari
The double reef, the clearest water on the coast, and Cas Abao next door — the heart of Curaçao's leeward-beach snorkelling.
From Spanish Water
14 nautical miles · 2-3 hour reach
Best time to sail
Year-round. The leeward coves are calm and clear most of the year behind the headlands; the snorkelling over the double reef is best on settled mornings before the day-trippers arrive.
Playa Porto Mari is one of the finest snorkel beaches on Curaçao's leeward coast — a sheltered cove of pale sand and exceptionally clear water, backed by low hills. Its fame rests on the double reef: two parallel coral reefs running out from the beach with a sand channel between them, so a single swim takes you over two reef systems and the marine life that gathers around both. It is some of the best shore snorkelling on the island, straight off the beach or off the boat.
We anchor off the cove in calm leeward water, out of the trades behind the headlands, with the reef a short swim from the deck. The west coast is the snorkelling and diving heart of Curaçao, and Porto Mari sits in the middle of it: just along the shore is Playa Cas Abao, a beautiful broad beach of white sand and turquoise water, and a string of smaller leeward coves dot the coast in either direction. On a settled day we move between them, picking the clearest water and the quietest sand.
Ashore, Porto Mari is an easy, gentle stop — a swim, a long snorkel over the double reef, and lunch on deck or at the beach. There are resident pigs that wander down to the sand at some hours, an unlikely island sight, and the snorkelling tends to be at its best in the calm of the morning before any day-trippers arrive by road.
Anchorages
Playa Porto Mari
The main anchorage off the cove — calm leeward water, pale sand, and the famous double reef a short swim from the boat. Some of the best shore snorkelling on the island, straight off the deck.
Playa Cas Abao
A broad white-sand beach a short reach along the coast — turquoise water, easy swimming, and a gentle reef along the edges. A beautiful alternative anchorage on a busy day at Porto Mari.
Daaibooi & Lagun (settled days)
Smaller leeward coves north and south — quiet sand, clear water, and a calm anchor on a settled day when we move along the coast picking the clearest snorkel.
Ashore
The double reef
Two parallel reefs with a sand channel between them — a single swim over two reef systems and the fish, turtles, and coral around both. The reason Porto Mari draws snorkellers from across the island.
Cas Abao beach
One of the prettiest beaches on the leeward coast — broad white sand, turquoise shallows, and clear water for an easy afternoon swim a short reach along the shore.
Leeward-coast hopping
Daaibooi, Lagun, Knip, and the string of west-coast coves — on a settled day we move between them, lunch on deck, and pick the clearest water for the snorkel.
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RexSailing · Spanish Water · Curaçao