Curacao does not really do private beaches, which makes Karakter unusual. It belongs to the Coral Estate resort out at Rif St. Marie, and if you are not staying there you buy a day pass and walk in like you own the place. What that gets you is a stretch of west-coast waterfront most of the island never sees, loungers, gear rental, and a bar that runs tapas through the afternoon and lights torches when the sun goes. Live bands turn up on themed nights. It is roughly twenty-five minutes from Willemstad out through Sint Willibrordus, past the salt pans. Sunset is the reason to be here. The west coast gets the good ones and there is nothing between you and the horizon.
