The Blue Room

An almost entirely submerged cave found in the cliffs of the western coast, the Blue Room is one of the island’s most famous snorkeling spots, second perhaps only to the Tugboat. We visited it during our last week on Curaçao, and found it to be just as beautiful as advertised.

The Blue Room is exactly what you think it’s going to be: a cave totally bathed in a deep, blue light. There’s always room between the water’s surface and the ceiling of the cave, so you can swim into it without worries. If you go all the way to the end of the room and look back toward the entrance, the effect is stunning, especially on a sunny afternoon when the light illuminates everything to perfection.

It’s possible to hire a boat to take you to the Blue Room, but it’s just as easy to walk over along the path which starts at the Santa Cruz Beach, and this is what we did. The biggest advantage of the boat is that you’ll have someone to watch your stuff. The Blue Room is notorious for thieves, who lurk in the woods and wait for their victims to leave their belongings unattended.

Let me repeat that: the Blue Room is notorious for thieves. We’re friends with a couple who visited the Blue Room about a week before us. They knew about the danger of theft, so made sure to hide their stuff carefully before entering the water. But they were being watched, and when they came out of the water, everything was gone: wallets, clothes, car keys, shoes. It is not enough to hide your possessions, you absolutely have to leave someone as a guard. For that reason, it’s most fun to do the Blue Room if you’re in a group of at least three.

Even considering this, we cannot bring ourselves to recommend the boat trip to the Blue Room offered by “Captain Goodlife,” who operates from Santa Cruz. During our short interaction with him, he was unbelievably rude — as soon as he realized we just wanted information and weren’t planning to hire him, his friendly demeanor vanished and he refused to offer us any advice. Our unlucky friends reported a similar experience. He owns the nearest shop, and so was the first person they went to after having their things stolen. He scoffed at their situation, and said something to the effect of “serves you right” [for walking along the path, instead of booking a tour with him].

Wait a second… how did this article about an amazing natural phenomenon get hijacked by thieves and rude business owners?! Let’s get back to the good stuff. We loved the Blue Room. It’s not extra-large, and you can see the whole thing in just a few minutes, but we were so entranced by the gorgeous colors, we stayed until our skin started to wrinkle.

Getting into the water is easy enough, as you can jump from the rocks, but exiting is a little more problematic. You really have to pull yourself up onto the rocks, so you have to be in decent condition. It’s not overly hard, but just be aware that there isn’t a ladder or anything to help you leave the water.

If you enjoy snorkeling and are on Curaçao for any length of time, you owe it to yourself to check out the Blue Room. The walk to the cave takes about twenty minutes from Santa Cruz, and with proper precautions, it can be enjoyed without worry.

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