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But sand and seawater are not always negative elements: Great beaches and water sports are two of the main reasons people visit Curaçao. The island has dozens of public and private beaches. Some have snack bars, showers and an assortment of seaside services; others are secluded.

The same constant 13-knot wind that moved the Spanish treasure galleons and the Dutch, French and English pirate ships of the 1500s is now available to windsurfers. Water temperature is constant throughout the year, ranging from 75 to 81 degrees, with 100-foot visibility below the surface.

Curaçao has been rated one of the best Caribbean islands for shore diving and snorkeling. Most dive sites are easily accessible because the reefs are near the water's edge. The lack of rain on Curaçao may be bad for farmers, but it's great for divers. It sets up the high-salt content in the nearby waters that is just the environment for the development of coral reefs.

If you're not quite in the Cousteau class but interested in having an animal encounter of a nautical kind, you can stop into the Curaçao Sea Aquarium. A natural tidal pool near the edge of the Seaquarium is home to hundreds of tropical fish, including a group of sharks that live behind a wire fence fitted with a Plexiglas window. Visitors can take a short diving lesson, go below and feed the sharks and the other fish through small holes in the Plexiglas.

The slave trade

By the middle of the 1600s, Curaçao had become the center of the Dutch trading empire in the New World. Unfortunately, a major part of that trade was conducted in slaves. The Kura Hulanda Museum in Willemstad tells the story of this appalling business, which went on from 1441 to 1863. There is a reconstruction of the hold of a slave ship, a collection of more than 200 historic prints, and groups of artifacts relating to the history of slavery in the Caribbean. Africans were brought to Curaçao and then resold to plantations throughout the New World. The island became the largest transport center for slaves, with over 500,000 Africans passing through the port.

View Wines from the Dutch Sea Trade

Of course, slavery still exists all over the world. Sometimes the slaves are illegal aliens forced to work for the people who brought them to the United States or Canada, indentured laborers in an Asian factory or a child bride sold off by her family. It's all slavery and it's all about money. A visit to a museum like this will quickly remind you that the fight against it is far from over.

The museum was funded by Jacob Gelt Dekker, who was born in the Netherlands in 1948, earned advanced degrees in medicine, dentistry and business administration, and made a considerable fortune as an entrepreneur developing Budget Rent A Car and a chain of 160 photo stores in Europe. Dekker is presently devoting his life and wealth to the education of the children of Curaçao. In addition to the material on the slave trade, he has put together a collection of traditional African arts and crafts.

Healing teas

Today, the descendents of African slaves represent the majority of the population. They occupy important positions in government and business, but retain beneath their sophisticated lifestyles a deep appreciation for the traditions that held their community together during the hard times. One of the most interesting aspects of that heritage lies in the area of healing. Doctors were rarely available to Africans. Medicine became the responsibility of women who understood the use of plants in healing. They were of great importance to the community. Their art was brought from Africa and adapted to the plant life of the island. Herbal medicine is still used in Curaçao, and its leading practitioner is Dinah Veeris, who is available for private consultations.

Dinah's rules:

• The first rule is never to use any ingredient in even quantities. This means, for example, use 1 or 3 leaves, never 2, 4 or 6. It is also important to use odd numbers when mixing herbs.

• It is better to gather herbs during daylight. Many elders believe that herbs sleep at night and the best time to gather them is noon.

• If a person faces an emergency and is forced to gather herbs after sunset, he should talk to the plant to wake it up before he gathers the herbs.

• It is all right to use herbs at night when you already have them inside the house.

• Also, it is important not to drink herbal teas or tonics together with other prescription medications, because they may counteract each other.

• When making herbal tea: boil the water and put the ingredients into the water. Make sure you turn off the heat under the water once it is boiling. Do not boil everything together. Once the stove is off, cover the pot and let the tea steep.

Talk the talk

Almost everyone on Curaçao speaks at least four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish and the local language, a Creole dialect called Papiamentu.

The earliest form of Papiamentu developed in Africa during the 1400s as a means of communication between Portuguese slave traders and African tribes. The basic grammar was African, but the words were mostly Portuguese. When it came to the Caribbean, it developed differently on each island -- Haiti gave it a French twist, the British colonies Anglicized it. On Curaçao it incorporated Dutch, Spanish, English and Portuguese elements.

Today over 200,000 people speak Papiamentu. The grammar is simple and almost everything is spelled just the way it sounds. If you listen carefully, it's rather easy to catch on. Bon dia means good day. Bon nochi, good night. Danki is thank you. Masha danki -- much thanks. And the first words I used when I arrived -- ban kome, which means, "Let's eat!"

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