We shouldn’t even mention this beach, and we should preserve it as our little Caribbean oasis for future visits. The idyll is too perfect to be overrun and taken over by mass tourism.

Everything about Kenepa Chiki is small – Kenepa comes from the Kenepa tree and chiki means small in the local Papiamentu language. This beach is also known as Kleine Knip. In fact, the bay is small, the parking lot is small and the beach is small, but it’s great! The sand here is fine and white like flour and soft like butter. I think sandy feet look like breaded Schnitzels, but Stefan says the comparison is misleading. So you’d better find out for yourself.

Feet in the snow-white coral sand of Kenepa Chiki beach

Sunbathing under white umbrellas

On our first visit to Kenepa Chiki, we had treated ourselves to one of the white umbrellas in the first row. Well, actually I should have known: close to the equator, the sun almost at its zenith, snow-white, reflective sand, close to the water and then under a white umbrella… After a short time I was flushed. This can’t happen to the mostly invisible main inhabitants of the beach, the crabs. Because they are, how could it be otherwise, white! The white crabs are almost indistinguishable from the sand and very shy. If you stand still, you can watch them burrow in and out of the sand.

Daydreaming made easy

Your time at Kleine Knip is likely to be limited as there are no sanitary facilities at the moment. The former farm building, or rather what is left of it, is unfortunately a ruin. But a ruin with potential! As I look out over the paradisiacal bay and the beach, I begin to dream. The temptation is great to leave everything behind at home and just emigrate with my husband: We would take over the beach kiosk and completely renovate it. Then maybe we could have guests like you who come to Curacao because of our blog. We would talk to you and serve you Dushi drinks and snacks.

Charred

You might sit in one of the palapas and wonder, as we did. Why is there only a charred stump over there on the beach? We hadn’t been to Curacao for half a year. But we thought that there used to be a palm frond covered sun hat right there. “Lightning!” was the answer we got.

When the parasols were still white and there was a charred stump on the right…

The local price question

On one of our relaxed afternoons at the Kleiner Knip, a South American tourist asked us about the prices of sunshades and sunbeds. The lady must have thought we were islanders, because after our answer she asked: “And what’s the local price?” Unfortunately, we were not as lucky as she was when the friendly cashier tried to pass us off as locals. If we had gotten the parasol and sunbeds at the local price, we would have paid about half.

Still, people have been known to get around the fee. I was wearing a yellow bikini, just like the lady we had taken the sunbed from earlier. I guess I just didn’t stand out…

The “local price” on Curacao is not a price that is written anywhere or that is always half of the stated price carved in stone. If you live on Curacao, know the country and its people, speak the official languages and do not obviously stand out as a tourist, then you might be lucky enough to get a local price from someone. As the name implies, the local price is the price for the locals.

Curacao is a rather expensive destination, so almost everything is about as expensive as it is in Western European cities. Many locals simply cannot afford expensive entrance fees, rental and leasing fees. That’s why there is a local price, but not everywhere and especially not in supermarkets or shops with branded goods.

So for you, never expect the local price and don’t demand for it. Just be happy when you get it!

Chill out and satisfy your hunger and thirst

In the past, a minibus would come to Kenepa Chiki with cool drinks and Curacao souvenirs for the guests. Now there is, so to speak, an “ambulatory” kiosk. Right at the front of the parking lot is a pergola that turns into a beach bar when there is enough action. A phone call to the main office at the big brother beach Kenepa Grandi is enough.

In the parking lot, you have at least “edge” reception, which takes time but is better than nothing. Shortly after, a mobile service team arrives with several cool boxes, lights a fire on the grill and offers burgers and drinks.

These are our very personal observations from January and August 2020. We tried the burgers and satay skewers back then and they were very tasty.

A cool beer…

There is no such thing as a brewery connection on the Knip beaches. If, for example, one brand of beer is out, there is just another one, in our case it was Corona😉. It was just as tasty and fizzed a lot in the heat.

What we did not like, however, was the fact that the beer bottles of some of the beach goers ended up in the water. It may be a great feeling to stand hip in a beautiful bay with 28-degree warm sea and drink ice-cold beer, but beer bottles and even bottle caps have no place in the sea. There are plenty of trash cans near the parking lot.

Observing the marine life and surroundings

Clean water delights the turtles that come very close to the shore here on the right side of the bay in the afternoon. Kleine Knip is great for snorkeling and both sides of the bay offer a diverse underwater world. Perhaps the right side is a bit more attractive because the light is better here in the afternoon and there is more to see. At the end of the bay, towards the open sea, I had to paddle a little harder in the current.

Speaking of paddling: at the end of January, with strong winds and waves, we once had such poor visibility while snorkeling. We couldn’t even see each other under water – only an arm’s length apart. From the beach and with our heads above the water, it looked half as bad. However, it’s easy to lose your bearings underwater because of the swirling sediment.

Beach Hopping

The mini parking lot behind the beach is very busy during the day. Offshore divers come and go and the beach crowd changes frequently. Again and again, beach hoppers come by who only pay a short visit to the Kenepa Chiki. They get out, walk across the beach, find a spot for the perfect selfie and are gone just as quickly as they arrived.

In this parking lot, we also saw a car with the windows open and loud Caribbean music playing. Although this is not uncommon on the island, the driver was sitting with a parrot on his shoulder, happy and free. Just Dushi!

Time to go

Another time we were the last family on the beach, along with a stranger and the security guard. Playa Kenepa Chiki is one of the more secluded beaches and we knew it was only guarded until 5 pm. But the woman apparently did not. Her burnt skin suggested that she had just arrived on the island and at 10 to 5 was not yet in the mood to leave. We pointed out the end of the guarded time and explained to her that it is not advisable to stay alone on a beach in Curacao. When she heard this, she thanked us, hastily packed her things and sped off in her rental car before us.

By the way, the security guard is always happy to receive a small tip. His protection is free for beach visitors.

Conclusion

The little beach hut fulfills all your wishes for a snow-white Caribbean beach with turquoise-blue water that you would like to have all to yourself. Our secret tip!

Update from the last visit

Umbrellas and palapas

No more white umbrellas at the beach! They have been replaced and are now colorful – in the beautiful pastel colors of blue, orange and green.

And the charred stump at the upper end of the beach has multiplied. According to Marlon, who is in charge of safety on the beach, these were barbecue accidents. So it was probably not lightening.

The security service acts on behalf of the Curacao Tourist Board, which thus enables all guests to enjoy a safe and carefree stay on Curacao’s dream beaches.

I asked Marlon if he knew when the burned palapas would be replaced. The island was in lockdown for a long time and tourism has only just restarted at the beginning of the 2021 summer season. Marlon doesn’t know, but he told to me: “No tourists, no palapas. Many tourists, nuevas palapas.” Yes, I can understand that very well and probably my question was also a bit too German. There were really enough umbrellas.

From the pergola to the food, nothing was left in June 2021 – but there wasn’t much going on either and accordingly there were no drinks or snacks.

Pay once, get twice!

Finally, the friendly cashier has a name, because we were also able to talk to him. His name is Jefferson and he was born in Curaçao. He showed me the famous Kenepa tree, which gave its name to the two beaches Kenepa Chiki and Kenepa Grandi and to the former plantation Kenepa.

Jefferson and the Kenepa tree at Playa Kenepa Chiki

The close connection between the two neighboring beaches of Kenepa Chiki and Kenepa Grandi offers you, the visitor, a great advantage. According to the motto ‘pay once, get twice’, fees paid for umbrellas and sunbeds at one beach are also considered paid at the other. This is great additional information and, in my opinion, really fair. So just keep the receipt if you are planning to change to the other beach.

Snorkeling

Recently, Jefferson has also started renting snorkeling equipment. “That’s not written anywhere and I don’t see any,” I tell him. “That’s right,” he grins and says he offers it to every guest when they pay. The sets are in a locked barrel on the beach, to which he points out and for which he has the key. For $10, you can explore the beautiful underwater world with a ‘Snorkel Set on Demand’ if you don’t have your own snorkeling gear.

Jefferson also allowed me to take pictures of him. I love his sunglasses – so cool! Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him where he got them. Now I have to wait until the next Curacao trip. And I’m already looking forward to seeing him again, because he was so sweet and helpful.

Must see

You can watch our beach review of Kenepa Chiki in June 2021 live and in color on YouTube. One can view the beach and the bay from all possible perspectives; Marlon shares his thoughts, and Jefferson also scurries across the screen. Have a look:

Scuba Diving

Diving at Kenepa Chiki means “shore diving”. There is no dive center at this idyllic beach. Just bring your equipment, get in the water with your buddy and explore the bay and the reef edge on your own. You can get equipment and tanks (including Nitrox) at almost all dive centers on Curacao.

In shallow water (about 5 meters), you can dive directly from the beach to the drop off at the end of the bay. Expect a great variety of marine life: gorgonian fans, orange coral, shoals of fish and some small caves.

Maike’s underwater highlights were turtles and a wahoo. She has even spotted tuna at Kenepa Chiki before. Well, she is a little startled, as the things are quite big. Furthermore, she is also fascinated by the clever squids that watch us eye to eye and interact synchronously with each other.

In the short video from our partner divecuracao.info you can get a first impression of the fascinating underwater world at Kenepa Chiki (Kleine Knip). Enjoy! You prefer to read? Click here for the article “Dive in at Playa Kenepa Chiki” on dive curacao.info.

Update November 2024

According to an article in the Curacao Chronicle on October 30th, the ‘toilet situation’ at Kleine Knip will soon change. Sanitary facilities will be installed on the beach over a period of nine weeks.