Destination Netherlands Antilles. Travel and tourist information Netherlands Antilles. Hotels World travel information.

Netherlands Antilles - Links - Country Map - Accommodation

Destination : Netherlands Antilles

Spread out over the Caribbean Sea are te islands of the Netherlands Antilles . Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, a.k.a. the Leeward or ABC-Islands, are located just of the Venezuelan coast in the south of the Caribbean Sea. Aruba lays the closest to the coast, just 15 miles. Curacao is 35 miles from Venezuela, so on clear days you can see the continent. Bonaire is a little bit further out the coast.
The other islands, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten, are sometimes called the Windward or SSS-islands lie about 550 miles more to the north. They are situated in the north eastern part of the Caribbean ring, very close to the British island of Anguila and the French St. Bartolomy. All these islands lie within viewing distance of each other.Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade, the island of Curaçao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields. The island of Sint Maarten is shared with France (whose northern portion is named Saint Martin and is part of Guadeloupe).

Dutch is the official language of the islands, but the people from the ABC-islands also have their own language: Papiamento. This is a creole language based on Spanish and Portuguese, with Dutch, English, and African influences. But everybody speeks English on these islands, as well as Spanish. Everybody is taught these languages in school and Arubans and Antillians have a good sense for languages.

Aruba is blessed with about the most beautiful beaches in the world. The curving west coast of Aruba, known as Palm Beach and Eagle Beach, is the ultimate tropical white sand beach. It's miles and miles long and offers everything sunadmirers can dream of. Add the attitute of the Arubans who are extremely friendly towards tourists, and all the bars, restaurants, casinos and other forms of nightlife and you understand why Aruba is such a perfect place to go for a holiday. Aruba's slogan "One Happy Island" basically says it all!

Bonaire is the island of the Netherlands Antilles that is most famous for its underwater world. Bonaire is considered one of the most beautiful diving sites in the whole world.Over the last two decades, Bonaire has consistently ranked as the finest snorkeling and scuba diving destination in the Caribbean. A major reason for this prominence is the island's diligent stewardship of its marine resources -- all of the waters off Bonaire's coast have been legally protected since 1979, and it shows.

Curaçao is the largest and most populous island of the Netherlands Antilles. It lies between Aruba and Bonaire, about 35 miles off Venezuela's north coast, and is home to 170,000 ethnically diverse people. The administrative capital of the Netherland's Antilles, Willemstad, is a lively port overlooking St. Anna Bay on Curacao's southwest coast. Amerigo Vespucci came to Curacao in 1499 and claimed it for the Spanish. But the island offered little in the way of fresh water and gold. So the Spaniards abandoned Curacao to the Dutch West India Company, who used it as a merchant marine base. Curacao remained under Dutch control until gaining its independence as part of the Netherlands Antilles in 1954. Even as an autonomous region, however, the island maintains close ties with the Netherlands. Its foreign affairs and defense are taken care of by the Netherlands.