Active Pursuits

Cruises

Taber Tours, Dokweg (tel. 599/9-737-6637; www.tabertours.com), offers a handful of seagoing options, such as a 5-hour sunset and snorkeling cruise to a beach on Wednesday and Friday; the excursion costs $35 to $50 (£18-£26) for adults, including gear and one cocktail. Children pay half price. Charter cruises are also available.

Travelers looking for an experience similar to the sailing days of yore should book a trip on the Insulinde, Handelskade (tel. 599/9-560-1340 [note that this is a cellular phone and the connection may be poor]; fax 599/9-461-1538; www.insulinde.com). The 36m (118-ft.) traditionally rigged sail clipper is available for day trips and chartering. A daily tour on Wednesday and Friday leaves at 7am and returns at 6:30pm, taking passengers to a sunken tugboat for snorkeling and a swim at Santa Barbara Beach. The cost is $38 (£20) per person (half price for kids), with free use of snorkel gear. Other tours, including some dinner buffets, are available, providing that a minimum of 20 people sign up. Call for more information about what might be offered at the time of your visit. Advance reservations are required for all trips.

Like a ghost ship from ancient times, a dual-masted, five-sailed wooden schooner cruises silently through the waters of Curaçao. It carries a name steeped in legend -- the Bounty (tel. 599/9-560-1887; www.bountyadventures.com) -- though it's not a replica of its famous namesake. Sailing and snorkeling trips depart Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 10am from Spanish Water, making a stop at Caracas Bay for great snorkeling before a return at 2:30pm. The price is $59 (£31) for adults or $30 (£16) for children ages 3 to 12. Prices include a barbecue buffet, dessert, salad bar, drinks, and use of snorkeling gear.

Golf

The Curaçao Golf and Squash Club, Wilhelminalaan, in Emmastad (tel. 599/9-737-3590), is your best bet. Greens fees are $30 (£16), and both clubs and trolleys can be rented. The 10-hole course (the only one on the island) is open daily from 7:30am to sundown.

An 18-hole course lies at Blue Bay Golf Course, a par-72 course at Landhuis Blauw, on the road to Bullenbaai (tel. 599/9-868-1755). This challenging course, designed by Rocky Roquemore, takes advantage of Curaçao's seaside terrain and views of the Caribbean. Some shots are over water. Depending on the time of year, greens fees range from $58 to $100 (£30-£52), plus $15 (£7.80) to rent a cart. Hours are daily from 7am to 5pm.

Horseback Riding

At Christoffel National Park, Rancho Alfin (tel. 599/9-864-0535) specializes in private trips along unspoiled trails, riding smooth-gaited "paseo" horses suitable even for nonriders. The ride, which lasts about 2 hours, costs $40 (£21). Departures are Monday to Saturday at 8:30am. Call for reservations daily between 8am and 4pm.

Tennis

Most of the deluxe hotels have tennis courts. Another option is the Santa Catherine Sports Complex, Koraal Tabac (tel. 599/9-767-7030), where court costs are $10 to $20 (£5.20-£10) per hour.

Watersports

Most hotels offer their own watersports programs. If your hotel isn't equipped, we suggest heading for one of the most complete watersports facilities on Curaçao, Seascape Dive and Watersports, at the Hilton Hotel Curaçao (tel. 599/9-462-5000; www.seascapecuracao.com). Specializing in snorkeling and scuba diving to reefs and underwater wrecks, it operates from a hexagonal kiosk set on stilts above the water, just offshore from the hotel's beach.

Open from 8am to 5pm daily, the company provides snorkeling excursions for $45 (£23) per person in an underwater park offshore from the hotel, and jet-ski rentals for $60 (£31) per half-hour. An introductory scuba lesson, conducted by a competent dive instructor with PADI certification, goes for $70 (£36); four-dive packages cost $136 (£71).

Seascape can also arrange deep-sea fishing for $450 (£234) for a half-day tour carrying a maximum of six people, $560 (£291) for a full-day tour. Drinks and equipment are included, but you'll have to get your hotel to pack your lunch. The full-day tour does not include lunch.

Ocean Encounters, in Bapor Kibrá (tel. 599/9-461-8131; www.oceanencounters.com), has a complete PADI-accredited underwater sports program. A fully stocked modern dive shop provides retail and rental equipment. Individual dives and dive packages are offered, costing $26 (£14) per dive for guided shore dives. An introductory dive for novices is priced at $75 (£39), and a snorkel trip costs $25 to $45 (£13-£23), including equipment, but is only offered on Sunday and Thursday. Shop hours are daily 8am to 5pm. Scuba divers and snorkelers can expect spectacular scenery in waters with visibility often exceeding 30m (100 ft.) at the Curaçao Underwater Marine Park, which stretches along 20km (12 miles) of Curaçao's southern coastline. Although the park technically begins at Breezes Curaçao and extends all the way to East Point, the island's most southeasterly tip, some scuba aficionados and island dive operators are aware of other excellent dive sites outside the official boundaries of this park. Lying beneath the surface of the water are steep walls, at least two shallow wrecks, gardens of soft coral, and more than 30 species of hard coral. Although access from shore is possible at Jan Thiel Bay and Santa Barbara Beach, most people visit the park by boat. For easy and safe mooring, there are 16 mooring buoys, placed at the best dive and snorkel sites. A snorkeling trail with underwater interpretive markers is laid out just east of Breezes Curaçao and is accessible from shore. Spearfishing, anchoring in the coral, or taking anything from the reefs, except photographs, is strictly prohibited.