WILLEMSTAD, Curacao ― It looks like Amsterdam. Or a little bit like South Beach in Miami.

With its waterfront and fairy tale-colored colonial buildings, Willemstad shares some similarities with the Dutch city and South Florida. But Willemstad is very Caribbean.

It became a Dutch trading center in 1634 because of its natural harbor, one of the prettiest anywhere in the Caribbean.

A long channel, Sint Sannabaai, divides the Punda (the point) area on the east bank and the Otrobanda (the other side) neighborhood on the west bank.

The Punda’s waterfront is the iconic image of Curacao, featuring buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries with Dutch gables and red-tiled roofs. They are painted blue, pink, citrus yellow, pistachio and other pastel colors.

The buildings got their paint job in 1817 after a governor reportedly got migraines from the sun hitting the then-white surfaces. The governor also had financial investments in a paint company, according to local legend.

The whole neighborhood is a World Heritage Site with more than 750 buildings that have been declared monuments. The port is easy to explore on foot.

A floating 213-meter-long pedestrian bridge links the Punda and the Otrobanda. The wood-decked Queen Emma Bridge swings to the side to let ships enter the harbor. Ferries connect the two sides of the harbor until the bridge swings back.

Curacao (pronounced kur-a-SOW) is a diverse and multicultural crossroads in the southern Caribbean with an ethnically mixed population representing 50 countries. The sophisticated island has 38 small stunning beaches, world-class diving and snorkeling, brand-name hotels, casinos, nighttime partying and restaurants.

The generally flat, rocky island is also known for its oil refineries, lizards, stray goats, aloe vera plantations and ostrich farms.

It was a Dutch territory until 2010, when it became a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This industrialized island does not rely on tourism like other Caribbean islands. But it is popular with Europeans and is being discovered by Americans. It even produces its own citrus liquor: Curacao of Curacao. It comes from the peel of the laraha orange.

With its sister islands Aruba and Bonaire, Curacao is off the beaten path for most Americans. The island is 61 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide with a population of 140,000. It lies 56 kilometers north of Venezuela.

The average temperature is 28 degrees Celsius and the island features 360 days of sunshine a year, gentle trade winds, water temperatures from 24 to 28 degrees Celsius and little chance of hurricanes. It gets 57 centimeters of rain per year.

The only difference between winter and summer is that the sunset occurs 15 minutes earlier in the winter.

The island is flat and arid, a sort of Arizona by the ocean. It is dominated by 6-meter-tall cacti and wind-sculpted divi-divi trees. The north side of the island is rocky with strong waves.

The southside beaches, known locally as bocas or playas, feature silky white sand and unbelievably clear water. The beaches generally aren’t big and are found in secluded coves and bays. That is very different from nearby Aruba with its kilometers-long beaches. Many of Curacao’s southside beaches are rocky, and beach shoes may be advised.

The island features more than 50 species of coral and hundreds of species of fish. It offers some of the healthiest coral in the Caribbean.

It has strong ties to Holland ― in its history, food, architecture and lifestyle.

The official languages are Dutch and Creole-like Papiamentu (a combination of Portuguese, Dutch, English, Spanish and African dialects), but English and Spanish are widely spoken.

It was discovered by the Spanish in 1499, but they dubbed Curacao the isla inutil, or useless island, after they failed to find any gold. The English and French once staked claims.

At one time, half of the white population of Curacao was Jewish. Jews from Spain and Portugal fled to Holland to avoid the Inquisition in the 15th century, and many later moved to Curacao. They were joined by Jews from Brazil and Mexico.

The yellow Mikve Israel Emanuel is the oldest synagogue in continual use in the Americas, founded in 1732. It is in the Punda neighborhood, which has narrow alleys and first-rate shopping. Next door is the Jewish Historical and Cultural Museum, and nearby is a colorful floating market where vendors arrive daily by boat from South America to sell fish, vegetables and more.

One of the most interesting sites on the island is Hotel Kura Hulanda on the Otrobanda side of the harbor. It features a $6 million museum on slavery.

Curacao was the center of the Caribbean slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. More than 500,000 slaves from Africa were shipped through Curacao en route to other destinations.

The African History Museum, where a slave yard once stood, fills 15 buildings and occupies more than 1,480 square meters of space with artifacts and displays. The museum is backed by Dutch philanthropist Jacob Gelt Dekker. It is another World Heritage Site.

For Hotel Kura Hulanda information, visit www.kurahulanda.com.

Curacao is also home to eight old Dutch forts and plantations where peanuts and corn were raised that sit on hilltops in the countryside.

Fort Amsterdam was built in 1635. It now houses government offices in Willemstad.

Rugged Christoffel National Park covers 1,860 hectares on the island’s northwest end. It features the island’s highest spot, Mount Christoffel at 370 meters, and three former plantations. There are 32 kilometers of trails and caves with Indian drawings.

The Curacao Sea Aquarium on the southeast coast is a popular attraction with 400 species of fish, corals and sponges. Divers and snorkelers love the coral reefs in the 19-kilometer-long Curacao Underwater Park on the southeast coast.

One of the most popular spots for snorkeling sits in what’s called the Spanish Water, where Spanish galleons once anchored. Just southeast of Willemstad, the site features an old tug boat that sits on the bottom in 5 meters of water. It is barely offshore and very accessible.

For island tourist information, visit http://curacao.com.

By Bob Downing

(Akron Beacon Journal)

(MCT Information Services)