Martinique or Curacao?
 

I visited both of these islands on a cruise as a child in the 80's and I have fond but hazy memories of both places. My wife and I are looking to go to one of these two places for about 5 days this summer. Anyone been both places recently with advice on how to decide between the two?

Martinique is French and is more what you expect from a Caribbean island ie white sand beaches and lush vegetation, a volcano - Curacao is drier and the landscape has alot of cactuses and is not the typical look of a Caribbean island. Curacao has the architecture and also great beaches, history and culture, so has Martinique (St Pierre for instance is very interesting). Hard to choose between the two as it would depend on your interests. Food is good on both islands, English is not always spoken in Martinique.

Thanks for the response. It looks like we would enjoy either, so we went with the better deal flight-wise (Curacao). We'll hit Martinique next time.

Any Curacao musts that anyone would recommend would be welcome.

If you will have a rental car, I highly recommend driving one of the routes through Christoffel National Park. DH and I did this last summer and it was one of my favorite things we did on that trip! There is a gate into the park and you have to buy a token at the museum across the street to open the gate. The roads were hilly and fun to drive (or ride, in my case!)

We also drove to the Shete Boka National Park and walked all around the cliffs. It was very dramatic! Be sure to bring water with you as it was very, very hot walking around!

Most of the beaches are going to be on the West Side. You will need a car and a good map to get to them or you can do a beach hopping tour.

A East/West tour is a good option to see a lot in one day if you don't want to drive around yourself.

We enjoyed the Sea Aquarium. We did a dive there which was awesome, no certification was required.

The Downtown shopping area is nice and clean.