Bonaire or Curacao????

[scuba jeff]

What kind of sea life am I going to see in Cuaracao? Do you regularly see sharks or turtles or is more smaller stuff?

 

[sharon]

You should see turtles, eagle rays, green morey eels, lobsters, crabs, seahorses. I did not see it but a lady that was staying where we were saw a hammerhead, there are the occasional sightings of nurse sharks and mantas, best bet for these are out at Watamula, the north-west tip of the island. Saw a beautiful blue conger eel on a night dive at Playa Kalki, fantastic. There are also dophins, some big groupers(golith). Curacao was my first experience where it was raining fishes all around me.

 

[snorkelgeek]

You should see turtles, eagle rays, green morey eels, lobsters, crabs, seahorses. I did not see it but a lady that was staying where we were saw a hammerhead, there are the occasional sightings of nurse sharks and mantas, best bet for these are out at Watamula, the north-west tip of the island. Saw a beautiful blue conger eel on a night dive at Playa Kalki, fantastic. There are also dophins, some big groupers(golith). Curacao was my first experience where it was raining fishes all around me.

And if you're really lucky, whale sharks. There were about 6 tuna boils just off the beach at Sunset Waters while we were there, indicating whale sharks. Alas, all we saw was the white of it's belly (from the restaurant!).

snorkelgeek

 

[sharon]

Ah, yes snorkelgeek, I forgot to mention those occasional whalesharks. There were pictures about 3 months ago of a whaleshark that had beached itself in front of the Marriott, after an attempt to redirect it back out to sea, it beached itself again and died.

Also, plenty of octipus, barracudas, and tarpon can be seen.

 

[scuba jeff]

Ah, yes snorkelgeek, I forgot to mention those occasional whalesharks. There were pictures about 3 months ago of a whaleshark that had beached itself in front of the Marriott, after an attempt to redirect it back out to sea, it beached itself again and died.

Also, plenty of octipus, barracudas, and tarpon can be seen.

Thank you all for the info. I am trying to plan a trip for March of next year, and this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I love diving and I want to see a mix of the small and the large fish. Has anyone stayed at the Sea Aquarium Resort in Curacao?????

 

[snorkelgeek]

Thank you all for the info. I am trying to plan a trip for March of next year, and this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I love diving and I want to see a mix of the small and the large fish. Has anyone stayed at the Sea Aquarium Resort in Curacao?????

Didn't stay there, but drove through the area touring. Sea Aquarium Resort is in very congested tourist area. Lots of resorts in the area, also, obviously Sea Aquarium. Parking lot was congested with taxis and tour buses all day long. Beach looked incredibly busy and packed. Mind you, some people are into that. I'm not. We stayed at Sunset Waters and would go back there without a question. But there are also other resorts just out of the hustle and bustle. You would do well to do some research into what resorts would suit exactly what you want.

snorkelgeek

 

[scuba jeff]

Didn't stay there, but drove through the area touring. Sea Aquarium Resort is in very congested tourist area. Lots of resorts in the area, also, obviously Sea Aquarium. Parking lot was congested with taxis and tour buses all day long. Beach looked incredibly busy and packed. Mind you, some people are into that. I'm not. We stayed at Sunset Waters and would go back there without a question. But there are also other resorts just out of the hustle and bustle. You would do well to do some research into what resorts would suit exactly what you want.

snorkelgeek

Well, that is not good news. I have a time share that I am trading and the Sea Aquarium resort is the only place on Curacao that I can trade. Hmmm, I still think I want to do it since I really want to come to Curacao.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Well, that is not good news. I have a time share that I am trading and the Sea Aquarium resort is the only place on Curacao that I can trade. Hmmm, I still think I want to do it since I really want to come to Curacao.

FWIW, you'll probably find a higher population density of USA tourists at the resort associated with the Sea Aquarium. When we did some boat dives with Ocean Encounters, they inquired where we were staying. When we answered the Papagayo Beach Resort, one person told us we "had made a mistake, that area where Papagayo is at is very Dutch, you should have stayed here, there's more American tourists here". If that's what we'd wanted, we wouldn't have flown to Curacao!

There are some 'hard sell' types both at the entrance to the Sea Aquarium and around adjacent properties looking to have you take a time share tour - several firm 'No, thank you's" as we continued on past worked pretty well for us. If you're going there on a time share exchange, you might not have to endure this.


You should check whether there's any special pricing on diving with Ocean Encounters with your time share exchange, since they're the dive shop associated with the Sea Aquarium resort and time share.

http://www.oceanencounters.com/

They had a very professional demeanor and good equipment when we were there, and had some tanks with yoke valves with removeable DIN inserts, so you could use DIN first stages without a DIN to yoke adaptor, if that's something of interest. They also have Nitrox available. Their boats were fairly large which meant lots of divers but also more stable in the swells.

 

[DWJ]

I'm taking the family to Curacao in November. Because my wife and 9 yr old daughter don't dive, we ( read: my wife) opted to stay at the Marriott. Does any one have any idea about the dive operation at that hotel?