Kokomo Beach Curacao

Curacao’s Dutch-Caribbean multicultural energy shows up fully at Zanzibar, a colorful bar making the most of the dramatic rocky bluffs and turquoise water that frame the island’s entire southern coast.

Bonaire is a diver’s island first, but Club Tropicana makes a real case for reordering that, sharing a kitchen with Brass Boer, the Caribbean outpost of a three-Michelin-star Dutch restaurant, ceviche that might ruin all other ceviche for you.

Aruba’s most authentic experience — a working fishermen’s cooperative in Savaneta where fresh-caught fish gets fried for 0 in paper bags on a pier the tourists haven’t quite found yet.

Curacao beach club at the bottom of Piscadera Bay, with a long boardwalk pier over the water and live music on weekends.

One of the few private beaches on Curacao, out at Coral Estate and open to day-pass visitors. Afternoon tapas and torches at sunset.

Clifftop bar at Curacao’s northwest tip, sitting above a roughly 40-foot cliff jump into the clear water of Westpunt Bay.