Rif Mangrove Park

I was sitting on a cruise ship having lunch, looking for something else to do in Curacao and spotted that this park was right next to the port. In looking to see if they charged an entrance fee, I saw they had a guided kayaking tour with the next scheduled tour leaving in about 30 minutes. I quickly went to my room and got dressed for kayaking in hopes they had space on the tour, as there was no way to reserve a spot on the website. Made it to the park. Only 1 couple was waiting to go on the tour, so I was able to join them. The tour was $25 and included admission to the park. I don’t remember our guide's name, she was in college and did these tours after school. I had plenty of time to talk to her and learn about the different types of Mangroves while waiting for the couple that just could not control their kayak. At one point, the guide reached into the water and then handed me a jellyfish. It was an upside-down jellyfish, not poisonous. The tour lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Afterwards, I went and walked the little over 1 mile of trails through the park. Great little unplanned adventure.

This was such a great stop for me, just in front of where my cruise ship docked, the park is across the road. I went for the kayaking and also walked around the park. Kayaking was $15! $10 to walk around, I was blown away with the experience, although we got lucky as it rained while we were on the water path and finished kayaking in ocean waters just in front of our cruise ship. Chris our guide was amazing, in fact all of the staff was great, for an hour to an hour and a half stop at the park, leaves you plenty of time to do so much more on the island. Thank you guys for the experience!

The guided kayak tour is a great way to experience Curaçao‘s nature from up close. Our guide told about the various plants and sealife with extensive knowledge. Both I and my 8 year old son were grasped by his enthusiastic presentation.