Hi Sunshine here,
Marazul might like to eventually be a dive resort. The condos are nice and are located on the cliff over the water. I believe that there is a new dive something at the Rancho Sobrino apartments next door but I'm not sure if they have a boat. I can check when I go by. Westpunt is very small. If you look at google earth you will see Westpunt Bay. At the east side is Marazul at the West side is the Lodge Kura Hulanda. I believe the drive would be less than a mile on the road but only because you have to drive around the cemetary and through a neighbor hood. Dive magazines constantly rate Curacao among the top 5 if not 3 dive locations. The best ones are "out west". Our favorite is the one right off Playa Kalki, next to the Lodge and OEW dive center called Alice In Wonderland. Ocean Encounters West runs a nice operation. They have a 2 tank boat in the morning and one tank in the afternoon. But in our opinion, 90% of the dives can be done from shore and at a huge savings. The Lodge is very nice but expensive, All West, Blue View and Rancho Sobrino are much less but cater mostly to divers or budget travelers who are not high maintenance. We have a 3 bedroom vacation apartment we rent and there is another set of apartments on our road as well.
Again the Lodge has nice meals but is expensive. Jaanchies is a local who is in all the travel brochures. He sells iquana, goat, chicken and porkchops, but you go for the experience rather than the cuisine. Rancho Sobrino has a restaurant, there is a chinese food "shack" and we serve food here on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. You can buy local food at the fisherman shacks, at Boca Tabla and in Barber on Sundays. There is a BBQ in Lagun on Thursday nights and there are small lunch places at Kalki, Lagun, Cas Abou, Porto Marie and maybe Daiboii beaches. There is Daniels on the main road, The Butterfly Garden on the southern road and restaurants at Sunset Waters and Habitat. You won't go hungry.
We are from NH. There is always a chance if you leave your skis on the rack outside that someone will steal them. People have things stolen in US cities all the time. Here it's the same. If you were to have any trouble it would probably be with someone breaking into your car. Play it safe, buy the insurance and don't leave anything in sight in the car. There are some beaches that are secluded like San Juan and the site to park for the Superior Producer. But all in all the locals are very friendly and we haven't heard of any physical crimes.
Willemstad is a 40 minute drive away but if your main purpose for vacation is to dive, you probably won't go to town more than once or twice.
Curacao is a great place to visit. We prefer it out in the country. Let me know if you'd like more info on our apartment, Westpunt or Curacao.
sunshine
curacaosunshine@gmail.com
