Curacao in May

[JenTeach]

My husband and I are looking at taking a trip to Curacao in May. I have read the various postings on the board, but still had a few questions.

Has anyone stayed at All West?...their studio apartments looked like a good deal and it sounds as though they have good shore diving.

Additional advice/thoughts on Limestone?

Is a car an absolute must? We are not big shoppers or tourists...we just want to dive.

Has anyone taken food into Curacao? We went to Cayman a while back and took along some canned (ckicken, tuna) & boxed items (hamburger helper) to cook while we were there.

We are wanting to book in the next couple of days, so any advice would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!

Jen

 

[TedJ]

Jen,
All West is at the farthest away west corner of the island. You need a car if you are going to get there and be able to go anywhere. I usually take flat packaged tuna on trips but I didn't this past fall to Curacao. I don't think it would be a problem. Check me trip report under my name for more details about Curacao and I have a nice shot of the new All West dive center. The shore diving there was easy and enloyable. If you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to help out.

BTW, welcome to the forum!
TedJ

PS: It appears that the link to my trip report is down. I'll look into it.

Try this link instead, until I can figure out what's wrong.
http://www.digitaldiver.net/trip_reports.php?reportID=97

 

[sharon]

Jen, Hello and welcome. My husband and I are self admitted AllWestaholics. Their place is a little piece of heaven here on earth. It is wayyyout on the westend. But that is where all the great shore dives are. We love it there. They have dive trucks and can arrange car rentals as needed. If you rent from them, they offer a 10% discount on dive/room/rental packages. You cannot go wrong with them. Some people find that they don't hover over you enough, but we like our independence with diving. It is a small place, only 4 apts and 3 studios. There is no lobby or checkin desk. So be sure to address your arrival times and your pickup at the airport clearly with them. Ask ahead of time via email for a contact number on the island incase of a delay in them picking you up at the airport. On our first trip there, we were ask to send in a deposit, they met us at the airport and took us to the apts. On our second trip, we reserved 3 units, Louis the owner, said not to worry about a deposit and when we arrived at the airport they had our dive truck there and we just drove ourselves to the apts.

I would suggest taking some basic food to get you by till you can get to the store. On the westend there are a few options for food, but they do close early and depending on your arrival time, they may not even be open. There are not any snack machines at Allwest. So do stop on the way and pick up pop, juice, milk, beer. The water at the apts and all over the island is wonderful and safe to drink. We always take some food, like tuna, chicken packets, granola bars, nuts, snacks to hold us over. They have a wonderful supermarket not far from the airport, Centrum. Great bakery, deli, and the dutch cheeses. I miss that island.

We always stay 3 weeks when we go. So staying at Allwest makes it affordable. The last trip there, Louis upgraded us to an apt for a studio rate. He is a great guy. We are mainly there to dive and relax. We do venture into the town for meals and shopping and we have traveled all over the island in the 6 weeks we have been there, and there is no other place that we would even consider staying.

One of the nice things about the place is the decks and watching the sunsets. Another is the mix of people staying there, many europeans stay there and we love meeting people from europe so we can visit them when we travel there. We can answer any of your questions you may have, so please don't hesistate to ask. Hope you have a great trip.

Sharon

 

[NJ_diver]

Jen, how was it? I am also going to Curacao with a non-diving spouse in April. We are staying at the Marriott. From what everyone has written, it looks like we'll enjoy the 5 day trip. I was hoping to get a few dives in and it sounds like the dive outfitter on property is good (relief). Any suggestions on restaurants, and good beaches and snorkel spots would be helpful.

 

[sharon]

If you like a nice/pretty beach, don't miss seeing Big Knip. If you want to see some arerial views of the beaches check out www.shorediving.com and you will get some great info. Good luck.

Jen, how was it? I am also going to Curacao with a non-diving spouse in April. We are staying at the Marriott. From what everyone has written, it looks like we'll enjoy the 5 day trip. I was hoping to get a few dives in and it sounds like the dive outfitter on property is good (relief). Any suggestions on restaurants, and good beaches and snorkel spots would be helpful.

 

[JenTeach]

Jen, how was it? I am also going to Curacao with a non-diving spouse in April. We are staying at the Marriott. From what everyone has written, it looks like we'll enjoy the 5 day trip. I was hoping to get a few dives in and it sounds like the dive outfitter on property is good (relief). Any suggestions on restaurants, and good beaches and snorkel spots would be helpful.

NJ Diver - Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much I can help you out. We stayed in an apartment on the far west point of the island. I'm thinking that this is probably no where near the Marriott. We did most of our own cooking. We did go to one restaurant called JaancHie's. (It is also on the west end.) We loved it! It's a small Ma & Pa place with authentic food. Service was great!

As for diving and beaches, we also stayed on the west end. Our favorite beach was probably PortoMari (The Valley). They had good food and dive/snorkel equipement and info. Make sure to bring cash for your beach entry fees. Be sure to also have change for the showers.

For a little nightlife, you may want to check out Mambo Beach. (This is in the main town area.) On certain nights of the week they have what is basically an outdoor night club. Tons of people!

I hope this helps a little. Have a GREAT trip!

Jennifer

 

[Knight1989]

Jen, how was it? I am also going to Curacao with a non-diving spouse in April. We are staying at the Marriott. From what everyone has written, it looks like we'll enjoy the 5 day trip. I was hoping to get a few dives in and it sounds like the dive outfitter on property is good (relief). Any suggestions on restaurants, and good beaches and snorkel spots would be helpful.

Personally I loved the Iquana Cafe in downtown. If you have a car and want to try some more exotic food, drive out to Westpunt, about 45 min, go to Jaunchis, I know I spelled that wrong. Its right off the main road, Westpunt Weg, cant miss it. There really arent any bad places to eat.

As far as diving, deffintly do the Superior Producer, its a great shipwreck at about 90ft and litterally right off shore. Its a great dive for a first wreck dive. There are litterally tons of great dive spots around the island. Mushroom Forest is one of the most popular. I worked as a Divemaster for a while down there so if you have any questions let me know.