Suit up and snorkel alongside sea turtles on this half-day guided tour in Curaçao. Experience these creatures up close in the waters at Playa Grandi, or simply relax on the beach and watch the turtles swim from the pier. Then, head to the Flamingo Sanctuary, where you can see the pink birds in their natural habitat.

Experience the wildlife of the island in their natural habitats
Get the opportunity to snorkel alongside sea turtles in Curaçao
Choose between a morning or afternoon departure time
Hotel and cruise port pickup and drop-off is provided

What's Included

Transportation
Friendly Local Guide accompanying you along the trip
Usage of Snorkling masks
Bottled water
Hotel or Cruise Pick up / drop-off

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

For cruise guests: Meeting point will be at 8:45AM or 1:45PM at the "Online reservations" tent inside the cruise terminal. Guides will have a sign with "Samurai Curacao Snorkeling with turtles" Guides Uniform is Red. For Hotel Guests: Samurai Curacao will contact you to indicate the pick up time. Pick up time will very between 45 to 10Min before start off tour. Meeting point will be at your hotel lobby. Guides Uniform is Red.

What To Expect

Choose from a morning or afternoon departure time and get picked up from the cruise ship terminal or your Curacao hotel before the start time.

Then get ready to experience the island’s marine life, including sea turtles, beginning at Playa Grandi. Whether you prefer snorkeling alongside these fascinating creatures or relaxing on the beach, this tour accommodates both options.

Following the turtle encounter, visit the Flamingo Sanctuary in Sint Willibrordus, where you can marvel at the pink birds in their natural habitat.

Your tour concludes at your original departure point.

Playa Piskado/Playa Grandi

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Flamingo Sanctuary Sint Willibrordus

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Not recommended for travelers with back problems

Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 175 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.0

252 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 252 reviews

Loved it

Rosa_A, Apr 2024

It was excellent the snorkeling and turtle are beautiful also the fishy everything was so great. I’m planning to come back

Excellent tour

Kendra_V, Apr 2024

Great tour, saw lots of turtles, guide was extremely knowledgeable, even stopped at a beautiful beach and got smoothies

Curaçao time

lisatomassacci, Apr 2024

This was really great, getting to see nature in its finest spots. First a drive, in air conditioned van, to the west of the island. Beach was beautiful! Water was perfect, although it’s a little slippery getting into and out of the water. Saw many green sea turtles, swimming with fish. It was incredible to see. Next we were off to find pink flamingos. The first stop didn’t have any, so Anita and the driver set off for another spot. They were there! There was a group of about 35 flamingos out in an area feeding. Really a great day! Anita gave so much info on the island.

Wonderful trip to the turtles

Nicole_S, Apr 2024

I didn't expect to have a guided tour of the country on the way to see the turtles. Our guide (and driver) were AMAZING. The ride to top of the island was long, but the guide made it entertaining. The turtle area has a small pier, and the guide would stand above the snorkelers to yell out where the turtles were located. It was great! On our way back, we stopped to look at another beautiful beach, and grab a snack, then a quick stop to view the flamingos in the wild. Overall it was a great trip! My two girls, aged 7 & 9, loved it!

Great guides, but average tour and crowded

Nicole_T, Apr 2024

The guides were so kind and informative. This was a really average tour. We spent a lot of time driving to spend only 30 min in the water and 10 min pulled off the side of the road to climb a rickety lookout to see 5 flamingos in the distance. And the beach was super crowded with tourists. The bus was very dated.

Island history and turtles!

Lisa_E, Apr 2024

The tour guide, Anita, made our experience memorable. She was very knowledgeable and engaging and had a great sense of humor.

Turtles and turquoise waters

Erin_M, Apr 2024

This excursion was perfect. Our guide was Anitta an she was fantastic, honestly she made the trip. She had so much knowledge about the island and was so genuine, she really loved her job, the people, the animals. We were able to see turtles which was the COOLEST thing, and got lucky enough for the flamingos to be grazing as well. The water was beautiful, and really it was only a few hours in the morning which was perfect, still had the whole day once we got done. Book it, you’ll enjoy it so much. There’s also little local treats at the stops, just make sure you bring some cash, including to use the bathroom.

Great choice but excitement is only for one hour.

Ellen_C, Apr 2024

Great choice. Had plenty of opportunity to see turtles. The Bus drove over 1 hr from port to get to other side of the island. Group is given 1 hr to snorkel. Bring your own snorkel gear as one provided is really cheap quality (besides, why share mouth pieces? I used it during my entire cruise trip. No need to bring fins) entire length of tour is 4 hrs long (9am until 1 pm drop off at port) We saw some flamingos but they were so far away (it was nothing exciting) Seeing turtles were wonderful but I wish there were longer trip with other activities included.

Beautiful tour & turtles-awful experience

Susan_J, Apr 2024

Tour guide Glen was great; full of history. Bus driver was careful & very experienced. Easy location for pickup, I was the only person from ship but was kept up to date on arrival of transportation & escorted to bus. Interesting history of Curacao-was not aware that the bus ride to the snorkeling site would be so far away; travel time should have been stated. Once at site, Glen was very good at getting us out great, giving water, instructions about his things were going to happen. There were only 14 of us, so great number of people-not packed. Though absolutely no fault of Viator or the local operator, the method used to attract the sea turtles is extremely disheartening. To lure them with fish when they are vegetarians is disgusting & made me very angry. I am a naturalist & work to protect these rare animals; Glen too is sad & said that b/c of this practice-not just at this beach, turtles no longer fear humans & people are again able to capture them & eat them. There is a man who offers, for $10, to place the chum on tourists’ stomach to attract the turtle & he will take the picture. For this reason, Curacao is not on my list to return.

Turtle turtle

Lindsay_B, Apr 2024

The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the country’s history, funny, and stood on the dock to tell us turtles were coming and where they were. My advice is to pick a spot away from the crowds and let the turtles come to you. I saw give or take 12 turtles up close in an hour.

A fun morning

Nathan_C, Apr 2024

Anita was a great guide!! She gave us an informative and entertaining tour and we saw so many turtles!

Gross, unwashed equipment

Wayne_B, Apr 2024

I can’t in good faith recommend this excursion. Our tour guide was great, but other than that…. We got off the bus and were handed snorkel gear- my kids were handed the same size snorkel gear as everyone else. My mother in laws snorkel still had lipstick on it from the previous user- it hadn’t even been cleaned. All the snorkel gear was cheap and leaked, making for a terrible experience. There were fish bones and guts all over the beach (I guess to attract the turtles, but super gross). We only saw one turtle (which I totally understand happens, because that’s wildlife.). My daughters snorkel/mask broke and they had to call for another- I don’t know where the driver was but it took a while to get a replacement, which still didn’t fit and leaked constantly, which made for lots of whining. We did another snorkel tour in grand Turk where the guides actually fit us to snorkels and showed those who had never snorkeled before how to use the equipment comfortably. No such instruction here.

Don’t bother

sheri_b, Apr 2024

They drove to a place with a pier for fishing. The chum was thrown in the water which attracted some turtles. But there was very little else to see and they skipped the stop for the flamingos. Waste of money

Perfect trip

Darrin_M, Mar 2024

This trip was perfect, we got to see flamingos, learned about the history of curaçao and swam with the turtles..

Not worth the time and money

Daniel_S, Mar 2024

Tour guide (Myra) was awesome! Fun, knowledgeable, and entertaining! Experience itself was not the best. A lot of time on the bus (like 80%!) , bay and beach with the turtles was dirty, and didn’t get the flamingoes as promised. We drove past the areas but was definitely not as advertised. For less seasoned travelers, should make sure to let people know to bring water shoes. Also be prepared that you need to leave your stuff on the bus.

Not a lot of turtles

Brad_W, Mar 2024

I was excited to snorkel with turtles, but unfortunately, the opportunities were very limited. We saw, I think, two or three turtles, potentially the same one multiple times. Some people on our tour only saw one turtle. Snorkeling was still fun, though. The tour guide was very nice.

Amazing experience

Trevor_U, Mar 2024

We got to see plenty of turtles and for great videos and pictures while swimming. Our tour guide was great!! He was very knowledgeable about the island and incredibly personable. When we went to see the flamingos, they were far away, but that is what it is. It is definitely worth it to swim with the turtles.

Amazing company - OK excursion

AnnMarie_R, Mar 2024

The three stars has nothing to do with the company. The company was timely, kind, helpful, informative, and organized. The bus was clean and the air was running!!! The lift jackets and snorkel were great. The turtle area was less eventful than expected. Difficult to see (cloudy water). Very crowded, glad we were one of the first buses. The drive was longer than we expected (loved hearing the history of the island though). It was nice though to see the island. Was great for my anxious 10 year old to snorkel for the first time. Would 100% go with this company again, but not on this specific excursion.

So many fish and turtles!

escalf1, Mar 2024

The Snorkeling was great. Many different types of fish and numerous turtles. Went early in the day. Seemed to get busier as the morning went. Would do again. Didn't get a 5 as I emailed them three times before we went and received no response from them. I would also suggest they skip the Flamingos. Maybe it's better different times of the year, but it was just a time sponge for our tour.

Description needs more...

ashley_w, Mar 2024

Description needs more information. We saw 1 turtle towards the end, most of the turtles were far out & you have to be a great swimmer to venture that far out. The tour guide was really nice.

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