At seven in the morning, the land behind Bapor Kibra still looks like the mondi it has always been: scrub, rock, salt crust and the flat shine of the Jan Thiel lagoon. Since this spring, one walker's April 2026 review on AllTrails has described the start differently. It says there is construction at the trailhead, along with signs reading private property, and points walkers to a set of signs on the right of the work that "clearly indicate a new start to the trail."
That moved trailhead is the first visible sign of a much larger plan. In March, Curaçao Chronicle reported that infrastructure work had begun on Tierra del Mar, a phased project of about 22 hectares between Bapor Kibra and the Jan Thiel salt flats. The same report said the coastal walking path connecting Mambo Beach and Jan Thiel will stay open to the public during construction. That promise is specific. It covers one path along the shore. The salt pans walk is really a set of overlapping routes with several ways in, and those ways in are what the next two years will rearrange.
One path on paper, at least four walks in practice
People call it "the salt pans walk" as if it were one trail. The mapped versions tell a different story. They start from three different points, run very different lengths and suit different kinds of morning.
| Route | Where it starts | Distance | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mambo Beach to Papagayo Beach, out and back | Bapor Kibra / Mambo Beach parking | 2.9 miles | 1 to 1.5 hours |
| Salt pans detour from Mambo Beach | LionsDive | 3.95 km | About 50 minutes |
| Salt Flats Jan Thiel loop | Parke Den Dunki | 4.4 miles | 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Jan Thiel lagoon loop | Mambo Beach parking lot | 7.5 miles | 2.5 to 3 hours |
The Mambo to Papagayo route on AllTrails passes the salt pans and carries on to Jan Thiel Bay. RouteYou lists a shorter, easy detour to the pans as an early outing from LionsDive. The Salt Flats Jan Thiel loop comes in from the inland side at Parke Den Dunki. The lagoon loop goes all the way around the water and back.
There is also a fifth way in from the Jan Thiel end. A 2019 account from Curaçao Activities starts at the Chogogo roundabout by the entrance to Time to Smile Chogogo Resort. From there an old dirt path runs past limestone cliffs, Divi Divi trees, a small saltwater pond and the first red mangroves, with a view across the water to Jan Thiel Beach. The guide on that walk described it as the route soldiers once used to watch over Curaçao's southern coast.
So the shoreline is only one thread, and the developer's commitment is about that thread. Most of the routes in the table above start on, or cross, ground that a 22-hectare project will be reshaping.
Old plantation ground, now zoned for a resort
This coast has been worked for a long time. The area was once a plantation called Damasco, where salt and crops such as cotton were produced. In 1737 a merchant named Jan Thielen bought it, and the area still carries his name, according to LionsDive's guide to the trail. Salt is no longer harvested, but structures from the old salt works can still be seen inside what is now a nature reserve.
The ground behind it is already spoken for. Developer Mike Schoon told Curaçao Chronicle that the site is privately owned and has been designated for tourism under Curaçao's Spatial Development Plan. He acknowledged that environmental concerns are valid and said tourism, a pillar of the island's economy, needs a balance between development and conservation. The plan mixes tourism and residential uses: a hotel, a vacation resort, apartments, bungalows and villas.
Two smaller details in the March reporting explain the new trailhead.
- A business moved off the site. The start of work followed a settlement with Eric's ATV, the quad and buggy rental that had been operating there. It is relocating temporarily to Koraalspechtweg. Curaçao.nu reported the same arrangement.
- A road is coming. Part of the land is government-owned and set aside for a new road that will connect to the extended Martin Luther King Boulevard. Both outlets describe that road as essential to opening up the development area.
A new road and a vacated rental lot mean the inland edge of the walk is where most of the change will happen. The April detour sign is an early example of it.
Reading the timeline from late October
Schoon put the roads-and-utilities phase at two to two and a half years. Counting from the March 2026 start, that runs to somewhere between spring and autumn of 2028. He expected individual sections to follow, with the first visible development "by the end of this year or early next year." In a report from March 2026, that means late 2026 or early 2027. Those dates are the developer's estimates from the spring, not a published schedule. For anyone walking this stretch in late October, the window he described is getting close.
In practice, the walks that start at Bapor Kibra are the ones most likely to keep changing at their first few hundred meters. The shoreline thread is the part with a public commitment behind it. The Chogogo end and the Parke Den Dunki start come in from the Jan Thiel and inland sides.
Why seven o'clock is the hour the walk is built around
Every source on this walk gives the same advice about timing. LionsDive suggests starting around 7 a.m. for the coolest air and the best chance of seeing what it calls Curaçao's largest flamingo population up close. AllTrails also notes that flamingos are best seen early in the morning. Curaçao Activities' guide to east-side walks recommends 7 to 8 a.m., plus plenty of water. Flamingos are likely, not guaranteed. LionsDive says they are a reward "if you're lucky."
LionsDive's trail page lists a team member leading a salt pans walk every Wednesday and Thursday at 7:00 a.m. That page has been up since 2022, so check the current schedule with the resort before planning around it.
The season matters as well. The two AllTrails listings give slightly different best months, November to April for the Parke Den Dunki loop and December to May for the lagoon loop. Either way, the walk is heading into its best stretch of the year.
What to bring onto ground that floods
The water in the pans changes with the tide, and that affects the walk more than the heat does. The Parke Den Dunki listing warns that parts of the route may be under water and suggests boots or being ready to take your shoes off. One AllTrails reviewer gave the plainest advice for this place: "Check the tide table. What is not muddy during low tide will be muddy and slippery shortly thereafter." Another reviewer, on the lagoon loop, walked it at low tide and saw pink salt crystals and hundreds of flamingos up close.
A short checklist for the coming months:
- Check the tide before you go, and plan the pans section for low water.
- Wear shoes you don't mind getting wet, or be ready to carry them.
- Bring water, a hat and sunscreen, and start by 7 a.m.
- Starting from Bapor Kibra, follow the signed route to the right of the construction rather than the old entrance.
- Don't walk the more isolated stretches alone or after dark, as Curaçao Activities' guide to east-side walks advises.
LionsDive describes the trail as well marked and easy for beginners. That description was written before the construction fencing went up, so the first few minutes from the Mambo side are where marked paths and new signs are most likely to disagree.
Over the next two years, the coastal footpath is the part of this walk with a public commitment attached, and the doorways onto it will keep shifting as Tierra del Mar's road and first sections take shape. If you live along this coast or are weighing a property near it, Bold Real Estate Aruba follows these projects closely and can talk you through what's planned near any address you're considering. Request a Private Consultation.
