Curacao, Caribbean

[Lala84]

Hi lovely Mumsnetters, hoping some of you might be able to help us make a decision. Are any of you in Curacao or have any experience living there?

Hubby has been offered a job out there but we are just trying to work out if it would give us the quality of life we are after. Obviously, it has beautiful weather, beaches etc. and we hope for a more outdoor lifestyle but are very conscious that we want at least the same (pretty good) quality of life we have here in the UK or an improvement. We would not be moving to save any extra money but for an adventure / experience for us and the kids but don’t want to be in a worse off position financially if that makes sense.

We need to explore cost of living in more detail for sure but it’s hard to find much info due to the fact it’s a small island I guess. Our current situation is that husband works long hours with a long commute and brings in about £50k a year. I am a teacher but after going back to teaching after both children decided to take a break until they are both at school. I am currently working a very part time (easy & totally stress free) admin job and bringing in about £15k. We have two children - 3 & 5. Eldest about to go into year 1 and youngest starting school next Sep. We own a lovely house with a small mortgage which we could rent out for approx £2.5k per month. We manage to save approx £600 a month at present but could definitely save more if we tightened the purse strings a little. We live in a lovely village, outstanding school, kids do loads of activities, lovely friends etc. but it’s not exactly multi cultural and would love the kids to have broader life experiences / friendships rather than their current bubble.

Hubby has been offered a job for approx £65k... all moving costs, flights, medical insurance covered. Accommodation could be included with a salary sacrifice so that no tax is paid for that portion but I have no idea what monthly rental would be for a 3/4 bedroom house in a nice area. We’d also have to factor in school fees.....approx £15k a year (for primary ed) once both kids are at school. I wouldn’t be working certainly initially and think my only option would be teaching / perhaps tefl to bring in a little extra income as I don’t speak the local language Dutch (hubby does).

Does this sound doable on this salary? I’m really not sure that it is! Hubby is keen but he grew up in an expat family and moved all over the world as a child. He’s very keen to give our kids a similar experience but as a child his family had proper ‘expat contracts’ meaning schooling, accommodation etc. were all paid for, our situation is quite different. The job offer is from a (largish) curacao resort so we are not talking multi national company or anything! His family still live abroad so he’s used to not seeing them regularly. Mine don’t live locally to us but we’re talking a three hour drive rather than a plane ride and I have all the usual concerns about leaving family behind especially as parents get older etc.

Any thoughts / advice very grateful received! Thank you 😊

Look at two fat expats. Facebook groups with thousands of people over the world. It’s a great resource

Is the school looking for teachers? My sister has lived all over the world teaching in different schools and her DCs have had a free excellent education from it.

Hi, I live on Curaçao, already 10+ years. It is a beautiful island, but hard to compare to the UK or Europe for that matter.

Please know that everything needs to be imported, so foodprices are not only higher but the choice of products is much smaller as well.

Furthermore, Papiamento is the local language and most schools are Papiamento based. There are however private schools. I can not compare it to the English system, but costs of the international school are about 14k dollars per year. Other private schools are mainly Dutch based and vary to about 8k dollar per year.

Let me know if you need further information.

Btw re travelling, it is sometimes cheaper to travel to Miami or Colombia than it is to travel to Aruba or Bonaire.

Furthermore you absolutely need a car. Especially for children as their classmates will be located all over the island and there are only a few areas where you still see children on the street playing together. Most children have playdates at a classmate or friend.

If I compare my life here with my life in Europe, I can say that I do miss the opportunity to have easy and cheap travel. You have to get a plane here to get off the island and most tickets are at least 300dollars. Also choice in products is something I sometimes miss. You learn to make so without or buy it overseas with additional costs.

However, the absolute plus of it is the freedom that you have on the island. Children go to school until 12.30 in general. Next to visiting the beach, there are other outdoor things to do but the climate means that you normally do these early morning or late afternoon. People here love food and enjoying their time off, so at almost every corner you can find something to drink or eat.