10 Best Things to Do After Dinner in Curacao

Curacao sunset cruises do precisely what they say on the tin – a cruise at the golden hour. What's more, a romantic evening jaunt on the Caribbean Sea should be easy to plan, with catamaran and boat outfitters offering their services from the harbour in Willemstad all the way down to Jan Thiel.

There are loads of different packages to choose from. Some cater specifically to honeymooners, touting a ride on a luxury catamaran with champagne included. Others are better for those who want to see the coastline from a different angle, including stops at the lagoon of Spanish Waters, Fuikbay, and around the pastel-painted buildings of Willemstad.

Wet & Wild Beach Club brings the energy and hedonism of a spring break club to the shoreline of laidback Curacao. It's right in the heart of Mambo Beach, one of the most happening nightlife quarters on the island. You can't miss it – just look for the strobes and the neon dancefloor lights illuminating the palm trees.

Half indoor, half outdoor, Wet & Wild Beach Club has a tree-lined dancefloor made of white Caribbean sand and an inside constructed of driftwood. The drinks menu has a medley of iced daiquiris and Long Island iced teas, along with a speciality Caipirinha. There's also food in the form of casual BBQ bites.

Rif Fort Village is one of the jewels in the crown of both old and new Willemstad. It sits right at the harbour mouth of the island's capital, in the age-old grounds of a fort built in the 1820s. That's all been redeveloped and altered to host a full shopping mall today, along with all sorts of bars and restaurants to boot.

Rif Fort Village's closing time isn't until 11 pm. That's great news for those who prefer doing their shopping for Hilfiger jeans or Curacao souvenirs after dinner. The complex also houses a multi-screen cinema, a fun-filled gaming arcade, and grill houses that sell beer with a view of St Anna Bay.

Saliña was once the powerhouse of Curacao's salt production, an industry that brought riches to the island in the 1600s. Things have changed a lot, and now the only place you'll find salt is at the tables of the eateries and bars that abound in this suburb on the eastern side of Willemstad.

The whole place is a hub for dining, drinking, and shopping in Curacao. Folks come to fill their bags in shoe stores and cosmetics outlets around Saliña Galleries, a mall that stays open for post-dinner shopping most nights of the week. Others will hit the bars and cafés, which include Indonesian-themed warung taverns and American-inspired grill houses alike.

Brión Square is the gathering place of the Otrobanda old town in Willemstad, Curacao's historic and vibrant capital. Measuring just over 200 metres from end to end, it flanks the side of St Anna Bay by the famous arches of Queen Emma Bridge.

Head to Brión Square as dusk sets in to find a happening part of the city. A couple of cocktail bars lurk in the arcades on the north side of the plaza, some spilling out under corrugated terraces with alfresco tables that gaze towards the water. Also, don't miss the charming views of Punda District across the river, where the multicoloured buildings of the Handelskade promenade look lovely all lit up after dark.

Sabana Westpunt, just as the name implies, is the westernmost point of Curacao. It's a 45-minute drive up the spine of the island from the heart of the capital, curving around a wide bay with a rocky headland at its far northern end.

The real reason you should come here for post-dinner enjoyments is the sunset. Sabana Westpunt gets uninterrupted panoramas of the Caribbean Sea as the light fades into a haze of orange, scarlet and purple towards Venezuela in the distance. There are some great beach bars on Playa Grandi or Playa Kalki to help you make the most of the view, along with a smattering of deluxe hotels if you wanted to stay a little longer.

Mambo Beach is one of the nightlife epicentres of Curacao. A 15-minute taxi ride down the western coast is enough to bring you here from the restaurants of Otrobanda, so it shouldn't be hard to swap the city eateries for the dance floors.

Better yet, come here before dinner. There are Caribbean fish fries and pizza joints by the side of the shoreline. Then, you can hit Mambo Beach’s many bars (including the legendary Hemingway's) for mojitos and rum punch well into the night. Other lively nightlife spots spill onto the coastline, with samba dances throughout the evening.

Curacao manages to channel a touch of Monte Carlo in the Caribbean thanks to its abundance of casinos. There's a whole clutch of them speckling the downtown of Willemstad, with most straddling the 2 main historic areas of Otrobanda and Punda.

One of the largest is the sprawling Renaissance Wind Creek Curacao Resort. Right next door to the cruise terminal, it has its own tidal swimming pool next to vast indoor halls filled with blackjack tables and roulette. There's also the Sunscape Casino, which is better for those staying around Mambo Beach, or the Dreams Casino by the side of Parasasa Beach.

Teatro Luna Blou is the biggest and most prestigious theatre in Curacao. It rises amid the old Otrobanda area, on vibrant Havenstraat. You can hardly miss it because the place is painted a deep shade of cobalt blue, complete with bold red balconies overhanging the façade.

The theatre is a truly multi-purpose venue. It's hosted business conferences and art symposia in the past. Sometimes, it doubles up as an art-house cinema showing locally directed flicks. Other times, the box office has well-known international plays on the go. Luna Blou is also up for private rent, so it's wise to check ahead to make sure there's not a wedding or family reunion booked in.

The Movies is the go-to place for that fix of Hollywood between your beach sessions and scuba diving. The multi-screen cinema is down in Punda, just a 10-minute walk across the Queen Emma Bridge from Brión Square.

All the latest blockbusters to come out from the US are usually on the line-up. They typically include a good mix of genres, from comedy and adventure to horror and indie. There's an onsite IMAX cinema at the Punda location, just in case you wanted to crank up the immersion levels even more.