Maybe every time the curse gets reused, it loses some of its potency and takes fewer and fewer people? Haha.
Really though, my theory is nearly the same as Jenna’s: that the EF isn’t a whole world by itself, and the curse must not cover the entirety of whatever world the EF is in. If that’s the case, then it would all make sense, more or less…He outran the curse to some other part of that world whereupon he heard of someone with a magic bean (who wanted a really fast ship, I guess? ha)–I don’t remember exactly what was said about any remaining magic beans, though.
However, when he was telling Emma what had happened, Hook did make it sound like it was only after the curse had taken effect that even a magic bean would’ve been able to get someone to our world, because it had broken down the walls or whatever, so it seems like that part does at least add up. As for how large the curse’s reach is and whether the EF is an entire world of its own or maybe just a continent or something…still lots of questions there.