Curacao Help Please!

[Sea Bass]

Hello,

I just bookd a dive trip to Curacao and will be taking my certification course with my sister at the end of June in Curacao and we are diving with the Dive Bus. They seem like really nice people but here is my question. I am not sure how crowded Curacao get's in June/July so I am just wondering how early we need to book our flight? We are all booked for our hotel/Diving and wondering if we would have any trouble getting a flight if we waited until April/May to book it.

Thanks

 

[LI Diver]

I was there in July and it wasn't bad at all. Planes were not full. As far as when to book I don't know much about that but I usually wait for the last minute to book everything due to my work schedule and I had no problem. We did have a problem however with superclubs (Breezes) and not being able to recoup our money due to a canceled air jamaica flight. It ended up costing me $2500. more to get one way tickets for four people to PR and then on to Curacao to fly around hurricane Cindy.

 

[jeepguy]

Sea Bass
I would firm travel plans soon! As far as crowds, we were in Bonaire last July and go to Curacao every August. Those months seems to be the slower time of year for them. They seem to be busier when it is cold up here. You'll do well with the Dive Bus crew. Have a good trip.
Tom & Isabelle

 

[mikerault]

You will love the Dive Bus. Tell them hi from Mike and Susan.

 

[carib_traveler]

Flights to Curacao from the US are usually not so much of a problem. Getting a hotel room is, but that's already taken care of . July can be pretty busy with people from Europe (summer holidays), but those are not a problem for flights from the US.
So, you can probably wait a while with booking.

NB: end of the year there are several hotel projects scheduled to open (Renaissance, Hyatt, and some smaller ones). When these hotels open the flights from the US will probably be more busy because it's easier to get hotel rooms.

 

[Sea Bass]

We actually already have an apartment so we are set on our hotel. We just want to wait a while until we book our flight. I can't imagine it will be that hard to find a flight if we wait until May to book. Should we have signed up for part 1 of the certification before we left? I just thought it would be easier to get it all done at the same time so we don't forget anything.

 

[LI Diver]

Should we have signed up for part 1 of the certification before we left? I just thought it would be easier to get it all done at the same time so we don't forget anything.

YES you should do part 1 at home for many reasons!!!

 

[Damselfish]

If you're planning on doing this someplace warm, there's much to be said for doing "part 1" at home and getting an OW referral, rather than trying to do the whole thing on vacation. Hopefully at home you can take a little more time to absorb things rather than cramming it all in a few days. Also, if you do it on vacation you will spend a lot of your trip doing it. You'd be better doing your checkout dives right after you get there then having the opportunity to do more diving there and practice.

I agree it's not desirable to have 6 months in between or you will forget stuff without a chance to reinforce it. But spring is generally the big time for OW classes so you should be able to do it closer to when you go. When you do a referral they will generally see if they need to review anything before you do the actual checkout dives, a decent instructor won't toss someone unknown to them right into the ocean.

 

[LI Diver]

Thanks Damsel, I didn't mean to be short but had to attend to something else. SB good advice by Damsel, also you keep the video's and book so if your sister is local to you you guy's can review together before the trip.You also should have a relationship with a local dive shop because as you get into diving you will find that they are an important part of the picture. Gear and advice are just the tip of the iceberg. They may even offer a refresher before your trip at a nominal fee. The Curacao Seaquarium dive where you feed the fish in their lagoon was the first post cert dive for my son and myself. Very easy, guided if you like and a ton of fish in an enclosed lagoon. As close to being a confined water dive as possible and still be in the ocean. Also the Tug Boat and Jan Thiel beach has nice easy shore dives. Enjoy!