People call them the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
All three are located in the southwestern Caribbean’s leeward Antilles, off the coast of Venezuela. All three are popular tourist destinations, known for their sandy beaches and rich cultures.
But now — days after the U.S. hit Venezuela with what it described as a “large-scale strike” and captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores — the ABC islands have something else in common: trepidation among some travellers.
“We’re debating our mid-February trip … Frankly, if a war was happening 50 nautical miles away from where I’m supposed to be having a relaxing vacation, I wait until things have settled,” someone posted Monday on the Curacao Travel Tips by Locals Facebook group.
“I’m scheduled to go for 2 weeks in June … and evaluating now whether to cancel,” someone else wrote on the Aruba Travel Tips Facebook group over the weekend.
The U.S. strike on Venezuela came after months of increasing pressure by Washington, including the interception of oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast and the targeting of smaller boats said to be carrying drugs.
On Saturday, several hours after U.S. Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter, shattered Maduro’s security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) issued a travel advisory warning Canadians to avoid all travel to Venezuela.
“The current situation in Venezuela is tense and could escalate quickly,” GAC said in its warning.
“Avoid all travel to Venezuela due to the significant level of violent crime, the unstable political and economic situations, the risk of arbitrary detention, and the decline in basic living conditions, including shortages of medication, gasoline and water.”
GAC didn’t extend its warning to Caribbean islands.
But Air Canada issued its own travel advisory on Saturday for Venezuela and surrounding regions, noting it would allow people to change their itineraries for flights into 17 different airports up to Jan. 6. These include airports in Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Curaçao, Saint Lucia and the Dominican Republic.
“Because of the situation in Venezuela and surrounding regions, we understand that you may want to make alternate travel arrangements,” Air Canada wrote.
WestJet and Air Transat both told CBC News they were monitoring the situation and not seeing an impact on bookings or operations.
‘Anything is possible now’
The issue with the unprecedented strike on Venezuela is that no one can say for sure what happens next, said Marie-Christine Doran, a professor in the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa.
“I wouldn’t fear that there would be a direct attack on the islands, but some people may be caught in some kind of crossfire. Anything is possible now,” Doran, who specializes in violence in Latin America, told CBC News.
“I would be concerned about the military presence in the waters,” she added.
There’s been a large U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean for months. As the Associated Press points out, there had been 35 known strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters since early September, which have killed at least 115 people.
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The fact the U.S. doesn’t appear to be planning any kind of democratic transition in Venezuela and is leaving the dictatorship in place is concerning, Doran added. Then there’s the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump has also made threats toward Colombia and Mexico — two other locations popular with Canadian tourists, she said.
Cuba, another population vacation spot, says it lost 32 security officers in the U.S. strike on Venezuela, its closest ally.
Meanwhile, many other Latin American countries like Chile and Peru are tightening their borders in response to the situation, she added.
“It’s not a very good time to travel to Latin America,” Doran said.
Cubans attends a rally in Havana, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in solidarity with Venezuela after the U.S. captured President Nicolas Maduro. (Ramon Espinosa/The Associated Press)Canadians cancelling trips
Leanne McKercher, owner of Marlin Travel in Kingston, Ont., says she’s had a few cancellations over the last few days for destinations such as Curaçao. Some people have changed their itineraries to visit Mexico instead, she added.
“They’re avoiding those islands in and around Venezuela,” McKercher said.
Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located about 60 kilometres off Venezuela’s coast, is a popular destination for Canadians, with about 32,300 visiting the island in 2023 according to the federal government.
In November alone, 6,207 Canadians visited the island, according to the Curaçao Tourist Board, putting Canada just behind the Netherlands and the U.S. in terms of international visitors.
A view of colonial buildings on the waterfront of old town Willemstad in Curaçao, on March 12, 2024. (Frederico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)
Aruba, which is only around 30 kilometres off the Venezuelan coast, is also popular with Canadians. About 63,300 visited in 2023, the island’s second-largest tourism market, according to the federal government.
Bill Oliver, 50, of Fonthill, Ont., says he didn’t consider cancelling his trip to Aruba, but his flight Sunday was nearly cancelled after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration imposed travel restrictions the day before.
Speaking to CBC News from the island’s Riu Palace resort in Noord, Oliver said there was a sense of mayhem when he first arrived as some people couldn’t get on flights back to the U.S., but everything felt back to normal by Tuesday.
“There’s no mention of the Venezuelan incident here on the island,” he said.
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In a statement to CBC News, GAC reiterated its advice against all travel to Venezuela.
“Flight suspensions have limited the options to leave the country,” a spokesperson said in a written statement.
Cruise companies Virgin Voyages and Carnival Cruise Line both told CBC News that their southern Caribbean itineraries are continuing as planned, despite some disruptions over the weekend from U.S. commercial flight cancellations.
“At this time, there are no additional impacts to our operations, and upcoming voyages, including … calls to Aruba, Bonaire and Cartagena [Colombia], are continuing as planned,” a Virgin Voyages spokesperson said in an email statement.
Tourists watch a cruise ship pass by on the waterfront of old town Willemstad in Curaçao in March 2024. (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)
But on social media, some travellers remained unsure.
On the Curacao Travel Tips Facebook group, for instance, a number of people, including Canadians, asked whether it would be safe to stick with their travel plans. One person said they could see military helicopters from their hotel’s beach.
But others said their own trips were easy and relaxing — mostly.
“Other than thinking all the fireworks were bombs, we felt great!” someone wrote.