This has been a year of first for us. First Cozumel in May and now Curacao in July. Due to the airline problems we chose to try Curacao this year instead of our annual trip to Bonaire. Getting to Curacao is easy compared to Bonaire. We flew direct to Curacao on AA from Miami. Our flights were on time and our dive gear arrived with us. The bump to first class sure did not hurt the flight down, they can bump me to first class anytime. We rented a 4 dr diesel truck from Budget rental. This little truck it the perfect vehicle for diving Curacao. It was comfortable for 5 divers, loading tanks and gear was easy and got good mileage. The AC was sure welcome on the drives between the resort and the dive sites.
We stayed at the Holiday Beach Resort in the edge of Willemstad, a short walking distance form the Punda shopping district and plenty of good restaurants. The resort has an onsite casino, restaurant and dive shop. Overall it was a nice resort and a place I could recommend to others with the possible exception of the dive shop. The dive shop was OK for our minimal needs but left much to be desired. The equipment storage area was in need of a good bit of repair and the rental gear was scary. All we needed were tanks and weights so it served our needs. Had we needed rental equipment or dive instruction I would have looked elsewhere. On the up side, we had the run of the dive shop so we could dive pretty much as we pleased. The dive staff were all friendly and did know the diving in the area. At this time they do not have a boat but in the near future they will have a nice boat- it was on the dock being refitted with new engines and hardware. This was not a problem for us as we had planned to shore dive exclusively. While touring around the island, I saw several dive shops that appeared to be a lot better choice had we needed gear, instruction or wanted to boat dive.
The diving on Curacao is similar to Bonaire in some respects and different in others. Fish and coral life is pretty much the same. Vis was always in the 80 to 100ft range. The water in front of the resort was considerably rougher than the resorts on Bonaire. Shore entrys would have been very difficult had it not been for a man made cove that provides a sheltered swimming beach, dock for the boat and a good shore dive entry point. The entry at the resort was a lot easier that it first appeared due to his cove. This site turned out to be a nice dive on a double reef with lots of life. We did several dives at this site. At the suggestion of the dive shop, we chose to dive the reefs at the northern end of the island. Unlike Bonaire, many of the sites on Curacao are developed and charge an entry fee. The entry fees are minimal, 3.50 to 4.00 Nfl ($2 to $2.25 US) and are well worth the price. The sites have very easy entrys, shade, good parking areas, restrooms, dive shops and food. Because these sites were 10 to 15 miles from our resort, we would bring enough tanks for the day and spend most of the day at one site. The 2 pay sites we dove were Cas Abao and Porto Marie, both are excellent sites for a mixed group of divers and non divers. The diving at these sites is very similar to the southern sites on Bonaire. The basic site profile is a long swim out over sand area that gradually increases in life and depth with a sharp to depth where most of the life is. They are perfect sites for novice divers or photographers. My group included divers with 100s of hours under Bonaire and we were all satisfied with the sites. The biggest difference we all noticed was the lack of divers. Most days we had the sites to ourselves for diving, there were always some snorkels and swimmers around.
Curacao offers a lot more above water than Bonaire. Downtown Willemstad is clean and picturesque. There are plenty of shops and museums for the non diver. I saw several casinos, dance clubs and the like. We went to primarily dive and eat so our touring was limited to the search for the required been there, done that, got the t-shirt t-shirt but there seemed to be a lot for the non diver.
The food on Curacao was great. We found lots of choices within walking distance from the resort, many with good views of the harbor and Queen Emma bridge. In our group was a couple of vegetarians and 2 dedicated meat eaters. All the restaurants we ate at were more than accommodating to our needs. One of the best meals my vegetarian friends had was a special, not on the menu meal custom made for them at a steak and rib joint. We had excellent seafood, chicken and beef at several places. A restaurant guide given to us at the airport listed many more places so finding food on Curacao is easy. Like Bonaire, the water on the island is desalinated seawater and is safe to drink.
All in all this was an excellent trip, easy flights, good resort, good food and good diving. While in the end we all agreed that we still prefer Bonaire, mainly due to its smaller size and more homey feel, we all were happy with the trip and would (will) return to Curacao. Curacao strikes me as the perfect place for the group than wants the diving freedom of Bonaire but needs more topside activities for non divers or wants more nightlife.
We stayed at the Holiday Beach Resort in the edge of Willemstad, a short walking distance form the Punda shopping district and plenty of good restaurants. The resort has an onsite casino, restaurant and dive shop. Overall it was a nice resort and a place I could recommend to others with the possible exception of the dive shop. The dive shop was OK for our minimal needs but left much to be desired. The equipment storage area was in need of a good bit of repair and the rental gear was scary. All we needed were tanks and weights so it served our needs. Had we needed rental equipment or dive instruction I would have looked elsewhere. On the up side, we had the run of the dive shop so we could dive pretty much as we pleased. The dive staff were all friendly and did know the diving in the area. At this time they do not have a boat but in the near future they will have a nice boat- it was on the dock being refitted with new engines and hardware. This was not a problem for us as we had planned to shore dive exclusively. While touring around the island, I saw several dive shops that appeared to be a lot better choice had we needed gear, instruction or wanted to boat dive.
The diving on Curacao is similar to Bonaire in some respects and different in others. Fish and coral life is pretty much the same. Vis was always in the 80 to 100ft range. The water in front of the resort was considerably rougher than the resorts on Bonaire. Shore entrys would have been very difficult had it not been for a man made cove that provides a sheltered swimming beach, dock for the boat and a good shore dive entry point. The entry at the resort was a lot easier that it first appeared due to his cove. This site turned out to be a nice dive on a double reef with lots of life. We did several dives at this site. At the suggestion of the dive shop, we chose to dive the reefs at the northern end of the island. Unlike Bonaire, many of the sites on Curacao are developed and charge an entry fee. The entry fees are minimal, 3.50 to 4.00 Nfl ($2 to $2.25 US) and are well worth the price. The sites have very easy entrys, shade, good parking areas, restrooms, dive shops and food. Because these sites were 10 to 15 miles from our resort, we would bring enough tanks for the day and spend most of the day at one site. The 2 pay sites we dove were Cas Abao and Porto Marie, both are excellent sites for a mixed group of divers and non divers. The diving at these sites is very similar to the southern sites on Bonaire. The basic site profile is a long swim out over sand area that gradually increases in life and depth with a sharp to depth where most of the life is. They are perfect sites for novice divers or photographers. My group included divers with 100s of hours under Bonaire and we were all satisfied with the sites. The biggest difference we all noticed was the lack of divers. Most days we had the sites to ourselves for diving, there were always some snorkels and swimmers around.
Curacao offers a lot more above water than Bonaire. Downtown Willemstad is clean and picturesque. There are plenty of shops and museums for the non diver. I saw several casinos, dance clubs and the like. We went to primarily dive and eat so our touring was limited to the search for the required been there, done that, got the t-shirt t-shirt but there seemed to be a lot for the non diver.
The food on Curacao was great. We found lots of choices within walking distance from the resort, many with good views of the harbor and Queen Emma bridge. In our group was a couple of vegetarians and 2 dedicated meat eaters. All the restaurants we ate at were more than accommodating to our needs. One of the best meals my vegetarian friends had was a special, not on the menu meal custom made for them at a steak and rib joint. We had excellent seafood, chicken and beef at several places. A restaurant guide given to us at the airport listed many more places so finding food on Curacao is easy. Like Bonaire, the water on the island is desalinated seawater and is safe to drink.
All in all this was an excellent trip, easy flights, good resort, good food and good diving. While in the end we all agreed that we still prefer Bonaire, mainly due to its smaller size and more homey feel, we all were happy with the trip and would (will) return to Curacao. Curacao strikes me as the perfect place for the group than wants the diving freedom of Bonaire but needs more topside activities for non divers or wants more nightlife.
