Punda, Curaçao: The Postcard Half of Willemstad

Why Go

Punda is the older, tighter half of Willemstad and the one on every photograph of Curaçao — the row of Dutch gabled houses along the Handelskade, painted ochre and blue and green, with the pontoon bridge running out from the end of it. Behind that waterfront is a compact grid of shopping streets, squares, museums and small restaurants, all walkable in an afternoon. It is where you spend your first day on the island, and it is the part of Willemstad that most rewards being on foot rather than in a car.

The Experience

The district is small and dense: Breedestraat and the lanes off it carry the shops, Gomezplein and Wilhelminaplein are the squares, and Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip still houses government offices with a church inside it. The Handelskade runs along the water and is where everyone photographs; a few streets back, the ordinary business of a small city goes on. The floating market at the northern edge, where Venezuelan boats once tied up in numbers to sell produce, is much reduced from what the guidebooks describe and it is worth knowing that before you go looking for it. Punda fills on cruise days and empties in the evening, when the eating and drinking moves east to Pietermaai. Sundays are quiet and most retail is shut. The district is best understood as the half of Willemstad that was built to be looked at, with Otrobanda across the channel as the half that was built to be lived in — you want both, and they are two minutes apart.

What to Try

The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel synagogue is the single most remarkable thing here — the oldest continuously active congregation in the Americas, with sand covering the sanctuary floor — and it takes half an hour. The Curaçao Maritime History Museum covers the harbour that built the city. Eat where the district eats: Maira's Kitchen and Angelica's Kitchen Curaçao for local plates, Bario Food Yard for the informal version, Harbor Restaurant Curaçao and Dutch Treat on the water, and Viva Pizza e Pasta Bar when nobody can agree. Lionfish Caribbean is worth ordering from on principle — the fish is invasive here and eating it is the point. For shopping, De Goudsmid Curaçao is the goldsmith, Concept Store by Sea & Sand and Inspiración Curaçao cover the design end, and Candle Connection is the small local one. Bagira Artist & The Gallery and the muralist known as JOA are where the district's art actually is.

Insider Tip

Eat lunch at the old covered market rather than on the Handelskade. The waterfront restaurants charge for the view and the local kitchens a few minutes inland serve the food people here actually eat, at a fraction of the price. And walk the Handelskade twice — once in the morning when the light is on the facades, and once after dark when they are lit, which is when the row looks most like the photograph that brought you.

The Practical Stuff

Punda is the eastern half of Willemstad, joined to Otrobanda by the Queen Emma pontoon bridge, which swings open for shipping and is replaced by a free ferry while it does. Hato airport is about fifteen minutes away. Driving into Punda is a mistake — the streets are narrow and one-way, parking is limited and paid, and everything is a few minutes apart on foot. The cruise pier is in Otrobanda across the water, so ship passengers arrive on that side and walk over. Shops keep ordinary business hours with cruise days the exception, and Sunday is quiet. Papiamentu and Dutch are the local languages, with English and Spanish widely spoken; the guilder is the currency and US dollars are accepted almost everywhere. Curaçao sits outside the main hurricane belt.

Common Questions

What is there to do in Punda?

Walk the Handelskade, see the sand-floor synagogue, browse the shopping streets and eat at the old market. It is the historic core of Willemstad and fills an afternoon comfortably on foot.

Punda or Otrobanda — which should you visit?

Both, and they are a two-minute walk apart across the pontoon bridge. Punda has the postcard waterfront, the synagogue and the shopping; Otrobanda has the Rif Fort, the museums and the steeper, rougher streets.

Is the floating market in Punda still there?

It exists but is much reduced from what older guidebooks describe, with far fewer Venezuelan boats than in the past. Worth a look if you are passing rather than a reason to plan a morning.

Where do you park in Punda?

Parking is limited, paid and awkward, and the streets are narrow and one-way. Park in Otrobanda or on the edge of the district and walk in, which takes minutes.

Is Punda expensive?

The Handelskade waterfront is priced for the view. A few streets inland, the local kitchens and the covered market are among the cheapest good eating in Willemstad.

What is there to do in Punda in the evening?

Less than you would expect — the shops close and the district quietens. Willemstad's evening happens in Pietermaai a few minutes east, which is where the restaurants and bars are concentrated.

Pair It With

Curacao Maritime History Museum / A treasure chest full of history — The harbour story, minutes from the Handelskade.
Maira's Kitchen — Lunch at local prices rather than waterfront ones.
Lionfish Caribbean — The one dish on the island with a reason behind it.