- Where
- Caribbean Sea, about 10 km south-east of Curaçao
(Wikipedia) - Coordinates
- 11.9900° N
68.6430° W - Area
- 1.7 km²
- People
- No permanent residents
fishermen stay for days at a time - Protected
- Ramsar site since 31 July 2018
- Getting there
- Day boat from Curaçao
about 45 minutes to 2 hours - Best visited
- Year-round
The crossing was rough enough that nobody talked, and then the island was hardly there: flat, pale and dry, a warm wind blowing steadily from one side. A lighthouse the faded pink of an old shell stood alone inland, and a rusting ship lay heeled over against the windward rocks. Turtle tracks crossed the sand. I found the thin shade and sat until my ears stopped hearing the sea.
The short answer
Klein Curaçao, Dutch for “Little Curaçao”, is an uninhabited island of 1.7 square kilometres in the Caribbean Sea. It belongs to Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and lies about 10 kilometres south-east of it, Wikipedia records; by the editor’s measurement it is about 12 kilometres from Curaçao’s eastern tip and about 25 from Spanish Water, where most day boats leave. The island has a desert climate and, apart from a few coconut palms, little vegetation. Its only structures are the old lighthouse, a beach house and a few huts; it has no permanent residents, though fishermen stay for days at a time, drawing their water from Curaçao’s coast guard.
Why it's worth knowing
An island stripped and recovering. In 1871 an English mining engineer, John Godden, found a large phosphate deposit on Klein Curaçao, and the Dutch government mined it from 1871 to 1886, exporting it to Europe, Wikipedia records. The mining left the island about three metres lower than before, and its seabirds declined. Goats roamed it until they were removed in 1996, and feral cats were eradicated afterwards; the Ramsar Information Sheet dates that to 2001, Wikipedia to 2004. Native plants have been replanted since, with the CARMABI research station on Curaçao involved. The Ramsar sheet, in indexed text, reports seabird nesting pairs rising from a maximum of 140 in 2002, of a single species, to more than 650 of all species in 2022.
A shore for wrecks and for turtles. The island’s windward side, Wikipedia says, is a graveyard for boats that did not keep far enough off or lost power. The largest wreck is the small tanker Maria Bianca Guidesman, which has been broken up by the waves since 1988, and the remains of four or five other boats lie washed far up the shore. On the sheltered side, hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles nest on the beach; the Ramsar sheet calls a 600-metre stretch of sand there the most important nesting area within Curaçao’s jurisdiction for the critically endangered hawksbill and the endangered green turtle.
The field notes
Two lighthouses
The island’s first lighthouse, of 1850, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1877; hurricanes are rare here, Wikipedia notes, but storms have left their mark. The second, which still stands, was built in 1879 in the interior of the island, away from the shore, and relit in 1913, by the dates Wikipedia gives. Lighthouse Digest records that it stood dark for many years until it was reactivated with a solar-powered beacon in 2008, during the restoration of Curaçao’s aids to navigation. In July 2023 a fourteen-month plan to restore the building was presented, the Curaçao Chronicle reported; the editor could not confirm whether the work has been finished.
A quarantine island
Klein Curaçao has a part in the history of the Atlantic slave trade. The Dutch West India Company brought many enslaved Africans to Curaçao, and before ships reached the main island, the sick were put ashore in quarantine on Klein Curaçao, Wikipedia records; the remains of the first quarantine building can still be seen in the north-west of the island. Those who died, enslaved Africans and other passengers, were buried on the island, and several graves remain in its southern part. The Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency’s maritime heritage database and the CARMABI research station both record the island’s archaeology.
Terns and waders
BirdLife International lists Klein Curaçao as an Important Bird Area for its nesting least terns, and migrating waders use its shores in large numbers in season, Wikipedia records. The Ramsar site designated on 31 July 2018 covers 248.5 hectares, taking in the island and its surrounding waters, by the Ramsar Sites Information Service’s figures. With goats and cats gone, Wikipedia adds, the island could become an important nesting place for seabirds.
The abandoned lighthouse and the keeper's house, their pink plaster peeling, July 2014.
Photograph: Gerrit Fries · CC BY-SA 4.0
Column cacti on the island, with the lighthouse across the flats, November 2020.
Photograph: Hardscarf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
The remains of an earlier lighthouse, with the later ruin and the wreck beyond.
Photograph: Hardscarf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
The wreck on the reef under grey cloud, May 2010.
Photograph: Irishfred · Public domain · cropped
- Eat a light breakfast and find a seat low down and well aft. Out past the point, the sea has opinions.
- Walk the windward shore to the wreck in proper shoes and admire it from the sand. It is still coming apart.
- Part of the southern end is a burial ground. Stop at its edge, say nothing, and go round.
- Bring the list ashore in a sealed bag. Mine went over the side during the crossing back and is now, I like to think, being read by a fish.
- Keep well clear of any marked nest, and of any track that leads up the beach. Whoever made it is busy.
The lighthouse. Klein Curaçao’s second lighthouse, built in 1879 in the island’s interior after a hurricane destroyed the first in 1877, and relit in 1913, by the dates Wikipedia gives; Lighthouse Digest records that after years dark it was given a solar-powered beacon in 2008. It stands alone on the flat, the tallest thing on the island. It is seen from outside, from the path across the island.
Tally, in the marginI photographed it all round as a ruin, and only much later spotted the small new lamp on top, quietly getting on with its work. It had never stopped being a lighthouse. I had simply decided that it had.
Getting there
How to get there. By day boat from Curaçao, which has an international airport. Several operators run trips, most from Spanish Water and the fishermen’s pier near Caracasbaai on Curaçao’s south-east coast; tour listings give crossings from about 45 minutes in fast boats to about two hours in larger ones, out across open sea. One long-running operator, the Mermaid, lists early-morning departures on five days a week. Boats anchor off the beach on the sheltered side.
When to go. Year-round. The island is in the trade-wind belt and the crossing out, into the wind and the swell, can be rough; travel writers describe the boat slamming into waves. The calmer days give the easier crossing and the clearer water for snorkelling.
What to arrange ahead. A day trip with an operator, booked a day or more ahead in busy seasons, and something for seasickness taken before the boat leaves. Bring water, sun protection and shoes for the rough ground and the wreck shore; there is little shade beyond the palm-frond shelters on the beach.
Safety. The State Department has Curaçao at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 20 August 2026 in its feed, read 5 October 2026), describing it as generally safe for travellers, with petty crime in tourist areas and armed robberies at businesses that store large amounts of cash or are involved in drug or gang activity; it warns that bringing guns, ammunition or even spent casings into Curaçao is illegal. The hazards on Klein Curaçao are the place’s own: the open-sea crossing, strong sun with little shade, no fresh water, and the broken wrecks on the windward shore.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Klein Curaçao?
Klein Curaçao is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, about 10 kilometres south-east of Curaçao, to which it belongs, according to Wikipedia. Curaçao is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Klein Curaçao covers 1.7 square kilometres.
Does anyone live on Klein Curaçao?
No one lives on Klein Curaçao permanently. Its only structures are an old lighthouse, a beach house and a few huts; fishermen stay for days at a time, drawing water from Curaçao’s coast guard, and day trippers come by boat from Curaçao.
How do you get to Klein Curaçao?
By day boat from Curaçao, most often from Spanish Water and the fishermen’s pier near Caracasbaai. Tour listings give crossings of about 45 minutes in fast boats to about two hours in larger ones, across open sea that can be rough; boats anchor off the island’s sheltered beach.
What is the shipwreck on Klein Curaçao?
The largest wreck on Klein Curaçao is the small tanker Maria Bianca Guidesman, which has been broken up by the waves on the island’s windward shore since 1988, Wikipedia records. The remains of four or five other boats lie washed far up the same shore.
Why is Klein Curaçao so flat and bare?
Klein Curaçao was mined for phosphate by the Dutch government from 1871 to 1886, which left the island about three metres lower, according to Wikipedia; goats then grazed it until 1996. It has a desert climate, and native plants have been replanted since the goats and feral cats were removed.
Do sea turtles nest on Klein Curaçao?
Yes. Hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles nest on Klein Curaçao’s beaches. The Ramsar Information Sheet for the island calls a 600-metre stretch of its sand the most important nesting area within Curaçao’s jurisdiction for the critically endangered hawksbill and the endangered green turtle.
What is the history of Klein Curaçao?
Klein Curaçao was used as a quarantine island in the Atlantic slave trade: the sick from Dutch West India Company ships were put ashore there before reaching Curaçao, and those who died were buried on the island, Wikipedia records. It was later mined for phosphate, from 1871 to 1886, and its first lighthouse dates from 1850.
Is Klein Curaçao protected?
Yes. Klein Curaçao was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on 31 July 2018, site number 2355, covering 248.5 hectares of island and surrounding water. BirdLife International also lists it as an Important Bird Area for its nesting least terns.