You know it’s a good day when your Monday plan is to experience a new beach club at the nicest hotel in Curacao. That’s right, earlier this year I headed to Baoase Luxury Resort to spend a day at their new beach club on Bida Island.

In this blog post I’ll share my entire experience from arrival and our beach bed category, to lunch, pricing, and ambiance. Of course, I have to compare the Bida Island experience with the classic Baoase beach day pass experience. At the very end, I’ll tell you if I think it’s worth it to spend a day here and if it’s really as luxurious as they make it out to be. Keep reading to find out!

Table of Contents

• About Bida Island
• Arrival at Baoase
• Bida Island First Impressions
• Bida Island Beach Bed Categories
• Our Premium Oceanfront Cabana
• (Overpriced) Upgrades
• Amenities on Bida Island
• Service
• Massage Gazebo
• Bida Island Restaurant
• Pricing
• Is Bida Island Luxury?
• Kat’s Final Thoughts

About Bida Island

Bida Island first opened in early 2025 as Baoase Luxury Resort’s new “private island experience.” I have to be honest, at first I was confused what the resort was going for. Social media posts of Bida Island were mostly close ups of food, lights, or the ocean. Finally when I saw the beach chairs on the new beach, I thought it makes sense now – it’s a new beach club. A more refined and intimate beach club with pricing that was more competitive with other nice beach clubs on the island.

Having done the original Baoase Beach Day Pass last year, I already thought their main beach was refined and luxurious. Being near the Culinary Restaurant, however, I could see how the beach club could be considered less intimate. There were also families there taking advantage of the complimentary water toys and the calm lagoon. With the Baoase Beach Day Pass, lunch is included and the cost is higher than the Bida Island day pass. I’ll go into pricing more below, but trust me when I say Bida Island makes sense from a value and experience standpoint.

Arrival at Baoase

My husband and I arrived at Baoase’s main entrance around 10:00 AM. We didn’t see a sign that said Bida Island, so we just parked in front of Baoase where there were signs for guest parking. We entered into the guard booth after passing two couples packing their bags into a van. They looked sad to be leaving! The guard asked for my name, checked it on a list, and told us Bida Island has a separate entrance.

The guard led us out of the Baoase entrance and told us “normally someone will golf cart you down there, but he’s busy right now. It’s a short walk down there that you can walk and someone will meet you at the Bida Island entrance.” Alright, not exactly the hospitality I had in mind for the nicest resort on the island, but we don’t mind a short walk.

We walked a couple of minutes down the road and around a corner until we saw a separate entrance. There looked to be another small parking lot down here we could have used. After walking through the entrance we waited a couple of minutes until staff members showed up. They took our names again and escorted us across the dock, past Baoase’s own yacht, and onto Bida Island.

Bida Island First Impressions

We first entered Bida Island under a number of palm trees that had been shaped into a cool criss cross frame surrounded by lush foliage. A welcome sign saying “Welcome to Bida Island” awaited us at the end of the entrance walkway along with a statue of an elephant in Balinese style. We were met by another staff member in charge of Bida Island who escorted us to our reserved beach beds.

I know Baoase is Balinese inspired, and I saw a lot of that kind of flair at the main resort. Bida Island maintains that same identity and it feels distinctly Baoase. From the well maintained landscaping, freshly raked sand, and thoughtful seating areas, I knew this would be a different kind of beach club experience.

As we reached our Premium Oceanfront Cabana, I set my belongings down and went to have a walk of the island. It’s a small island, but there’s a lovely walkway going down the center of it that takes you from the bathrooms, past the bar and restaurant, and all the way down to their massage cabana. Trendy music was playing softly in the background as I passed a meat-roasting fire pit, taking a peek at the other cabana categories before reaching the massage gazebo. Nearby was a cement platform stepping down into the ocean. That’s really all there is to the island! Like I said, it’s small.

Bida Island Beach Bed Categories

There are four beach bed categories at Bida Island: Cabana Garden, Ocean View, Sun Loungers with a Parasol, and the Premium Oceanfront Cabana. I’ll put the pricing in a different section below, but you need to know the differences between these categories. All of the beds and chairs face west making for lovely sunset views.

• Cabana Garden: these are cabanas tucked into the back of the beach area. You really can’t see much of the ocean at all when you’re laying down. There’s a picture of a hammock on their website, but I only saw the one hammock while I was there. It’s not guaranteed you’ll get a hammock. There’s a covered structure above the comfortable beach beds in this category plus side tables.
• Ocean View: These are covered structures over beach beds that are in front of the Garden cabanas but not oceanfront. You can see a slice of ocean from this category. These offer more shade and cover than the next category.
• Sun Loungers with a Parasol: This category consists of plush beach beds with a single umbrella to offer shade. Some of the loungers are well located offering great ocean views, while others are a little off to the side. If you like the sun, this is the category for you
• Premium Oceanfront Cabana: This is the category we went with. These are covered structures above plush beach beds that are practically right up to the ocean line. Some cabanas in this category have better views than others, but they are all built the same.

Our Premium Oceanfront Cabana

Let me start out by saying that in-house Baoase guests have complimentary access to Bida Island and they can access the island an hour earlier than outside guests. I confirmed this with a member of the Baoase team. In-house guests can take their pick of any category of beach bed, though the hostess will let them know if any categories have been reserved. This means that in-house guests have the best pick of the beach bed locations. If not all of the Premium Oceanfront Cabanas have been booked, then they can take the ones in the best location.

I say this because we arrived just after their 10:00 AM opening and we were left with slim pickings already. There were only two of our category left open (mind you, we prepaid and reserved our cabana a week in advance) and they were both right near the entrance. The ocean views were partially obstructed by foliage, and we could see the next occupied cabana right next to us. There are more private Premium Oceanfront Cabanas with open water views closer to the massage gazebo, but those were taken.

In terms of the cabana itself, it was lovely. A new feature I noticed was the addition of a hook shelf where we could hang our swimsuits or anything we want to dry. The staff came around and hung our complimentary snorkel masks on those same hooks. Another new feature was a loveseat and coffee table at the foot of the beach beds. The loveseat was a cute place to enjoy lunch with ocean views, but somewhat blocked our views when we laid down. We appreciated having ocean views, but felt that these cabanas were spaced too close to each other.

(Overpriced) Upgrades

I booked our cabana online about a week prior. It was a pretty easy and intuitive booking system, although some of the text for the categories gets cut off. When you select your cabana, you have 10 minutes to pre-pay for your reservation before your selection releases. Before you check out, an option for upgrades is offered, and they are ridiculous.

Let me break this down. I took a screenshot of the upgrades page because I thought the pricing was so wild. Check this out: a bottle of Whispering Angel Rosé, normally $17 USD in the US, is $130 USD at Bida Island. A bottle of Astoria Prosecco, a $15 bottle in the US, is $88 USD here. What? Make that make sense. A lovely bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne goes for $61 bucks in the US, but you’ll have to shell out $155 USD for a bottle at Bida Island. Finally, if you want to splurge on a lovely $85 bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blanc, you’ll be paying $299 USD here.

You guys know I’ve been to luxury hotels around the world, and I understand one can expect a markup for convenience at these types of places. At Bida Island, however, the markups they put on these drinks are exorbitant and almost insulting. I understand it probably costs a bit more to import heavy bottles and pay duties based on their value, but I do not think that kind of markup is justified. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Amenities on Bida Island

On Bida Island, you’ll find restrooms, a bar and restaurant, a massage gazebo, an entrance into the ocean, a fire pit grill hybrid (used on Friday and Saturday), and a couple of cute sitting areas with a Jenga tower. My husband reported back that the bathrooms were “nice” and had a delicious smelling soap.

Regardless of the category you select, the Bida Island experience includes towels, a bottle of water, a fruit snack, and a beach bite. You’ll recall this is similar to the offerings at Baoase’s main beach, but lunch is not included. You’ll also receive snorkel masks and the opportunity to kayak in the ocean as part of the experience. I should also note that all of the beach beds already come with plush pads that have a terry cloth covering. There is a call button in every category that will alert staff that service is requested.

Our fruit snack of the day was a dish of dragon fruit, and our beach bite was a lone bitterball. Actually the bitterball was super tasty, but can anyone ever have just one?

Service

Unlike our day at Baoase’s main beach where we had a Beach Butler who could check in on us, this time it seemed like the Bida Island restaurant staff were in charge of coming to our cabanas. Right off the bat, the service is not as personable or timely as having a beach butler, but I’m not surprised as the price point is lower. When we hit the call button for drinks and lunch, it took awhile for someone to come to us each time. I’m talking beyond island time. My husband did get up at one point to grab someone that was taking longer than usual, but it wasn’t a big deal.

The manager was going around to everyone toward the end of the day saying hi and checking on everyone. I love that! I think that’s a great touch and marks for warm service. When he came over to us, I asked if he could check when the massage gazebo was free so I could take pictures quickly. He said he would check on the available time and get back to me, but he never came back.

Overall, we felt that service was on par for the island. It was a bit slow, not that warm, and just like a job was being done. Personally for us, this was fine as this is what service is like at other beach clubs. From a luxury travel advisor and blogger standpoint, I would expect better service coming from the Baoase brand. That’s not to say I wouldn’t come here again or wouldn’t recommend it, just that you shouldn’t set your expectations too high.

Massage Gazebo

Sadly, I couldn’t get pictures inside of the new massage gazebo but I did get a picture of the outside. I also got a massage treatment at the outside gazebo on Baoase’s main property last year, and that was fine. Nothing special.

What I can say is that the new massage gazebo is large enough to accommodate two people for a couple’s massage. It also has a beautiful stone bathtub overlooking the ocean. The room can either have windows opened toward the ocean to let the sea breeze in, or closed with the A/C on. I’d love to try a massage here next time!

Bida Island Restaurant

Even though lunch isn’t included in a day pass at Bida Island, we couldn’t not try their food. Boasting a new dining concept with lighter fare, we took a peek at their bites and lunch menu and ordered a few items. We decided to eat at our cabana, but we could have sat down at their open air dining space complete with a bar.

We ordered tempura shrimp and margherita pizza to share. For something to drink, we split a decently sized carafe of red sangria. While we waited for our food to arrive, we received our fruit bite, which was a dish of dragon fruit with a salted caramel and passionfruit coulis. It was tasty! I had never had such a flavorful dragon fruit before. The tempura shrimp hit the spot, and they were huge. They really get asian flavors right at Baoase, I have to give it to them.

The margherita pizza was tastier than the last time, and we devoured it. I have to say though, I noticed it’s $25 USD at Bida Island, but $36 USD at the Culinary Restaurant. I’ve had them from both places and they’re exactly the same. Who is in charge of the pricing over there? Finally, the sangria hit the spot. It was refreshing and full of fresh cut fruit. I think we got 6 servings out of that carafe, which wasn’t bad at all!

Pricing

After all of this, you must be curious how much it would cost to spend the day at Bida Island. I mentioned before the pricing is competitive with other nice beach clubs on the island, so I’ll break it down:

• Cabana Garden – $50 USD per person
• Ocean View Cabana – $50 USD per person (it says $75 on the website right now, but $50 when you go to book it)
• Sun Loungers with a Parasol – $50 USD per person
• Premium Oceanfront Cabana – $75 USD per person
• A 12% service charge is added to the bill automatically.

For just the beach beds and inclusions at Bida Island, you’re looking to spend between $100 to $150 USD per couple, not including lunch or drinks. Brass Boer, the beach club at Blue Bay that I’ve written about before, is one of our favorite beach clubs on the island. The price for one of their palapas (facing the ocean and more private feeling) is $175 total including water, coffee, towels, and fruit. Mondi City Beach Club, which I just visited, does their XL Cabana for $150 USD which includes water, towels, bottle of wine, and a snack platter.

If you decide to eat and drink at Bida Island during your beach day, you will inevitably spend a pretty penny. That’s where comparing Bida Island and Baoase’s main beach becomes important. If you’re going to have lunch anyway, should you go with the day pass that includes lunch? Let me know if you want to see a blog post comparing the new Bida Island and Baoase’s main beach day pass side by side!

Is Bida Island Luxury?

Baoase is known as a luxury resort, and widely regarded as the best on the island. Is the new Bida Island beach club luxury? I would say yes and no. The hard product (the comfy beach chairs, the high concept food, the design and upkeep of the island) would lead me to say yes, it’s luxury. The soft product like the service, is still at island standards in my opinion.

Now, we had great attentive service at Baoase’s other beach with our beach butler. Is the service different because Bida Island is cheaper? Or is it intentionally more hands off to emphasize the private sanctuary feeling they’re going for? I’ll go back again some time this year and see what the service is like again, but I feel like Bida Island is on to something.

I mentioned earlier that in-house guests have access to Bida Island for free. That’s a great value add for hotel guests. If you’re planning to visit Curacao and are interested in staying at Baoase Luxury Resort, reach out to me! I can book your hotel, get you perks like $100 credit, and set you up with recommendations of the best restaurants and things to do on the island. Plus, I know niche information like which chairs you should get at Baoase’s main beach and that all the chairs on Bida Island face west. It helps to have a travel advisor on your side making sure you have the best trip possible!

Kat’s Final Thoughts

I would say this was a Monday well spent. I mean, who can spend all day at a beach and not enjoy it? I appreciate that Bida Island offers a private yet elevated beach experience. Even though kids are allowed at Bida Island, there weren’t any kids on the day we went. I believe this is because the lagoon at the main beach is much more calm and secure than the open ocean at Bida Island. I would recommend Bida Island for anyone looking for a more luxurious beach club experience not far from Willemstad. I will certainly be back!