Boca Santa Cruz is one of Curacao’s quirkiest beaches, with lots of palm trees. Surrounding this beach is the mangrove swamp, which means this beach is not the best for snorkeling but does offer unique opportunities for bird watching. On the beach of Santa Cruz you surely run into Henry (Juni) Obersi alias Captain Goodlife who runs a restaurant, water sports center and water taxi on the beach. more…
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Boca Santa Cruz is one of Curacao’s quirkiest beaches, with lots of palm trees. Surrounding this beach is the mangrove swamp, which means this beach is not the best for snorkeling but does offer unique opportunities for bird watching. On the beach of Santa Cruz you surely run into Henry (Juni) Obersi alias Captain Goodlife who runs a restaurant, water sports center and water taxi on the beach. Captain Goodlife likes to talk a lot, but in a good way. “Positive thinking is the way to success”, he tells me while we talk about how he managed to build his small business located on the site where once stood the holiday home of his late father to whom he made a promise to preserve this stretch of beach and the home for the future. The only problem was that the weekend home was in a very bad state. While out on the water he gets the idea to start his business ‘Let’s Go Water’ to show tourists and local people what the coast of Santa Cruz has to offer. With the money he earns, he gradually renovated the weekend home and continued to build his company. At Captain Goodlife place you can rent kayaks or take an (diving) excursion in his superfast water taxi to for example Santu Pretu a secluded beach with black sand where you can snorkel near the coral reef and to Captain Goodlife’s fathers shipwreck. An hour later he will pick you back up and take you to "The Blue Cave" an underwater cave accessed through a low, narrow opening just barely above water level. Visitors to the cave jump off their boat, swim up to the cave opening and time their entrance to swim through between wave peaks. The inside of the cave is illuminated by a fluorescent blue light created by the filtering of sunlight through the seawater at the cave opening. In addition, Captain Goodlife can take his boat to the magnificent Mushroom Forest where visitors can snorkel amongst the gigantic mushroom coral and explore the abundance of sea life. If you are lucky you can see even flying fish! While sitting down at one of the tables of the restaurant where we are served freshly caught fish with his deliciously seasoned homemade fries, Captain Goodlife tells me that he hardly ever goes to town anymore. “I have no desire to hang out with people who all want a piece of me and apart from that: the less you see me, the more important I become”. Everyone in the restaurant has to laugh.
The great energy that you find at Captain Goodlife’s place is typical for Curacao, which people are dedicating their lives to having a good time. Whenever you have the chance, pay the Captain a visit. Children are welcome and an unforgettable morning or afternoon is guaranteed.