Bonaire or Curacao?

[sharon]

Hello, I'm going to try to post a link, I'm just not that good at these computor tricks.
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2144

Hey it's listed there, I hope it works.

Can you post a link? I've been searching on the D2D board at scubadiving.com under trip reports and searched for the user ALadyNCal, and can't find it. Thanks!

 

[Scubagal]

Hello, I'm going to try to post a link, I'm just not that good at these computor tricks.
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=2144

Hey it's listed there, I hope it works.

Thanks Sharon! When you wrote "ALadyNCal just posted 63 fabulous pictures of her trip from April.", I assumed you meant April 2005. I didn't go back far enough to 2003. Great pictures. Thanks again!

 

[Oceanadventurer]

My husband and I went to Curacao for the first time, June 13-20 2005. It was not by any means our best dive vacation. We stayed at the Breezes Resort. We flew AA and they lost our scuba gear. We did not get it for 5 days. AA did not even answer the phone number that they gave us for 4 days. We had to get our daughter, back in the U.S. to make contact with someone at AA to get any information about our luggage. It was sitting in San Juan all that time.

The resort next to where we were staying was drudging sand the whole week we were there and the viz was horrible. There was a lot more waves and current to deal with than we have ever experienced in Bonaire.

Bonaire is the best. I know it is hard to get there but now that we experienced Curacao we would still recommend Bonaire. That is where we will go back to even if we can not get there in one day.

If you need any more infor just let me know.

 

[smithvillemike]

Continental is running direct flights from Houston to Bonaire starting in mid December. It leaves Bush at 11:30 pm and arrives in Bonaire at 6:15 AM plenty of time to get checked out and dive. I'll be going down on the 30th of Dec till the 7th and looking for dive buddies.

Mike

 

[Oceanadventurer]

That sounds like a great flight! I will have to check it out. I would love to go back in Dec. but Jan won't work out for me because I work in accounting and we can't take vacation the first 3-4 months of the year........bummer.

 

[chachita]

My wife and I are going to Curacao for two weeks - last of August first of September. The first week we traded timeshare space at Breezes and the second week we're with the Annapolis Scuba group staying at the Sheraton.

1. Could anyone suggest dive operators for us for the first week.
2. Dive sites?
3. Restaurants?
4. And anything else you can think of?

We'll have a car for the whole time and we've been diving since the 1970s.

Thanks TedJ

Got back from diving in Curacao yersterday and it was magic!

For a dive shop, try Wederfoort Dive Center - they are one of the oldest and very professional.

There are dozens of great diving sites. Most sites are accesible right from the beach shore. "Must" dives are the Mushroom Forest and Playa Kalki - spectacular reef diving at 30' to 55'. For the Mushroom Forest you must go by boat, but there is a a great water taxi right at the beach at Santa Cruz. The fellow who owns the water taxi also has a great little restaurant with delicious fish and the best homemade fries. The Superior Producer is a wreck lying at 90'. It's right downtown, but you're best going with a dive center - the water there can be rough. The only dive I wanted to do but didn't get to on this trip is Watamula, on the western end of the island. It's a boat dive and the people who own the dive center at Playa Kalki take you there. You can make a day of it and do both Playa Kalki [shore dive] and Watamula. People say Watamula is the best dive in Curacao.

I saw tons of fish, turtles and lots of eels in addition to spectacular reef formations - especially the Mushroom Forest. The water was so warm it was like swimming in the bath tub and the visibility was 100'+

The downtown of Curacao is a Unesco World Heritage sight - Amsterdam in technicolor. If you like architecture you should take the tour of Otrabanda. If you can as well, you should tour the dutch colonial plantations that dot the island - many also have great restaurants.

There's lots to see and do in addition to diving - you'll have a blast!

 

[scubatexastony]

Is the superior just off the bank from Riffort on the Otrabanda side? That would be between the cruise ship dock and the entrance to the bay. Or is it in the middle of the entrance?

We'll be building a new hotel / casino right between Riffort and the ball feild / cruise ship dock, on the Ocean front.

tony

 

[Mishelle]

Bonaire!

 

[CREEVES515]

So, which island is least expensive to stay at for say a week or so, Bon or Cur ?
:dollar: :dollar:

 

[Damselfish]

I think it's a wash - there's a similar but wide price range for accomodations and food on each. Curacao has more food choices but Bonaire certainly has plenty. Bonaire has more hotels that are truly dive oriented than Curacao. I think diving is on average a little cheaper on Bonaire. I'd pick the one you'd like or look at the air price/availabilty where you are.