Curacao suggestions

[gopbroek]

My lovely non-diving wife has decided she wants to go to a tropical island for our anniversary in late March, which is not Cozumel (again) . She recently watched a show on HGTV that featured Curacao and decided that is the place to go. Could anyone offer me suggestions on where to stay and what to do? My wife likes to snorkel and I was looking at getting some diving in while there. We plan to stay for a week and I was looking at possibly staying at the Nos Krusero Apartments, in Sabana Westpunt, and renting a car. I would welcome any reviews on this location or possible alternate suggestions, who to rent cars from, decent snorkeling locations, who to dive with and in general any other activities folks may suggest. I am a relatively independent diver and thoroughly enjoy slinging Lionfish.

 

[AdivingBel]

Wife and I were in Curacao this past October. We really enjoyed the Westpunt area. We stayed at Marazul in a condo we rented via VRBO. Nice place, lovely pool, two ocean access points via stairways with nice railings to an excellent house reef. We got our tanks and did a few boat dives (mainly Watamula, don't miss, beautiful dive) with GoWest, which was about a mile a way. We rented our car via D&D car rental. Easy to work with, nice car, included a cell phone with minutes, and comped us the gps unit which was nice. Several nearby beaches (with beach entries for diving) including Playa Piskado which was fun for both diving and snorkeling because of all the turtles (local fisherman clean their catch at the small pier which brings in tons of turtles).

We were there right after Matthew went by and while the storm missed the island it caused a good bit of surf on the leeward side. This put a good coating of sand on many of the reefs with beach entries and muted some of the colors at the affected sites. The diving portion of our trip was really helped out by the house reef being a cliff-side entry, not to mention it was a wonderful dive in it's own right. Bought groceries and cooked & grilled in several evenings. There are enough restaurants in the area to have a nice mix of eating in and eating out. Sunshine's (Sol Food) was nice for lunch and she's great for info and conversation. Her husband David is an avid lionfish hunter and he cooks it well too. Our favorite meal was at Trio Penotti. The coconut fish with the African peanut soup was amazing.

That's it in a nutshell. Feel free to PM me for more specifics. I'm by no means an expert, but I was just there and did a good bit of research prior to the trip. We really enjoyed the trip as avid divers. The shore entries were overall easier than Bonaire, but the diving logistics were a bit more work, IMHO. There is more to do topside than Bonaire, but the Westpunt area feels very rural though it's only about a 45 min drive from Willemstad.

 

[morecowbells]

I have been to Curacao several times. Every visit involved staying up in Westpunt. I feel that part of the island has the best diving. Like Adivingbel stated, the diving off the Marazul resort was my favorite on the island. There are a fair amount of steps down to ocean(perhaps felt like more with dive gear on), followed by a concrete platform for giant stride or metal ladder rungs along concrete. The swim out to reefs was ridiculously short and visibility was always sublime due to the lack of sand backscatter. Also in Westpunt is All West apartments. It is a perfect set up for divers. Not a bad view from any of the rooms. While you do not have a pool, the tank/storage room was a huge bonus. Afternoon dives from apartments pretty much guarantees turtle sightings. This is in shallow water too, so your wife would have a great time snorkeling there as well. On one visit we stayed at the Lodge Kura Hulanda. While the landscaping and pool were wonderful, the rooms were just average considering the price point. Personally, I prefer the Marazul or All West resorts. I have not stayed at the Nos Kursero resort, but have seen the exterior. It looks nice and people who have stayed there seemed happy with the resort.

Curacao has the advantage of fabulous diving and stunning beaches. Personally I love staying up in Westpunt; but keep in mind that it is a very sleepy, quiet town. If your wife wants to do more than snorkel, hang out by beach or pool, she may want to be closer to Willemstad. It really depends on what your preferences are. We always enjoy meals at Sol Food and Landhaus Misje. Other times we will grill our food and eat out on patio eventually looking at the time and realizing it is only 8:00 pm and say "damn I am getting old!" Sadly, we never made it to Trio Penotti which I hear is awesome. I plan to return to Curacao for many vacations. I like the get away from it all vibe of Westpunt.

 

[scubadada]

You might want to consider Lodge Kura Hulanda for your anniversary. Nice place, right next door to Go West and the house reef, Alice in Wonderland/Playa Kalki.

 

[tkaelin]

I am heading that way New Years Eve for a 5 nite trip. I'll post a report. Staying in Westpunt at Allwest Apts. and diving thru Gowest. From all I have read and from feedback from people I know who have been staying and diving in this part of
CUR it should be fun. TK

 

[diversteve]

I don't know Nos Krusero personally but they're right off Playa Kalki which is one of the better dives IMO. Go West Diving at All West must be pretty close - otherwise the other Go West shop (where they keep the boats) is just a mile or so north of there at Lodge Kura Hulanda - not by distance but by road. I recommend them also, good shop, nice people, convertible tank valves if you dive DIN.

It's good you're getting a car since there's about 6-8 restaurants in the area and everything else is a drive back towards town. Landhuis Daniel on the main road near town is pretty highly recommended also - poolside dining.+1 for Sunshine - Sol Food - I think she's still only open Fri-Sun though so check.

Also buy food b4 you drive out - stop at Centrum Market - there's not a lot of market options farther west. I'm pretty sure this is it - Centrum Supermarket Mahaai | Facebook

As you leave the airport there's a rotary - the first right is to Westpunt, the 2nd is Piscadera - take it and within a stoplight or two Centrum will be on the right. Maybe 2? miles. If you pass the Convention center you went too far.

They have used styro boxes on top of the the freezers for the drive out - like $2 each. Let the kids carry your stuff out and load it and tip them a few bucks - some sort of teen jobs program. Cost-U-Less is nearby also - IDK it.

Some divers like All West Apartments in Westpunt - the other Go West shop is there. The bigger one is their shop at Lodge Kura Hulanda in Westpunt - good dive at either place but lots of stairs at All West. Although pretty much everything in that area is 50-60' or more above the beach including Nos Krusero.

I thought Marazul had a different dive operator but things change.

You won't find a lot of other dive operations in that area. For your wife - if you go out on a dive boat (you should to Watamula at least) - if she goes in off the Lodge KH "beach" - to the west there's flounder she can chase in the shallows under the cliffs the lodge is on. Completely safe, although Lodge guests do kayak near there.

Another good option is Playa Jeremi - one of the better dives and the north side of the cove is on Frommer's top 10 Snorkels in the Caribbean list from a few years ago - probably due to all the orange cup corals at the base of the cliff. I don't snorkel but I did there while waiting for my friends. Bring everything - one of few sites with no facilities

On the south end of the island the Tugboat dive site is pretty famous. The better part IMO is the deep wall around the south point but the boat itself is 17' deep near one of the coral covered pilings just off the end of the beach. The cruise lines do their snorkel excursion there.

Some of this is old - for example Sunset Waters is gone but I guess the dives are still there - also there seems to be a shop or not at various times at the Tugboat. . Playa Lagun is a pretty decent dive also - not sure if it'd be a great snorkel though. There's a nice beach, a few covered tables and Bahia Apt's Bar/Grill is the balcony you see perched on the west side of the cliff. There should be turtles there out thru the cove entrance since the fishermen clean fish there.

The Carpile wreck sites are what they sound like - there's two in different areas. That's actually another good dive - Trunk Bay/Varsenbaai - has Trunk Bay Divers on site. Your wife should snorkel just east of the beach in 6' of water for the turtles eating in the grass - been there forever - or under the dive dock for squid.

If you dive south, follow the reef edge and maybe 10? mins. south there's the pontoon boat wreck used to drop the carpiles - it's pretty flat on top but stuff is living underneath it. The cars themselves are deeper down the wall there - we didn't go there so IDK exactly where. Also at the start of the dive we found seahorses a few feet off the mooring ball but it was years ago. Trunk Divers sells a Curacao Dive site book.

There's a second Carpile dive at Pierbaai beach in east Willemstad. And a Dolphin dive at Ocean Encounters/Sea Aquarium further east. It's over $200 now and not a wild encounter since the dolphins are used for shows at the Aquarium. The dive itself is done off the breakwater about 5mins. out by boat. Watch the dolphins go streaking overhead till you get to the site.

Superior Producer is the wreck on Curacao. It's in Piscadera but the cruise port traffic goes by it so only dove at night or when no ships are in port.

Relaxed Guided Dives is on the main road west a little past the airport. They have a tank/fill rental program although so does Go West. Discover Dive at the entrance to Playa Lagun has a truck height tank loading dock also but it's a little south for you. Check with Nos Krusero - they probably have somebody - possibly even with free delivery. Although many of the beaches are also dive sites with dive shop, food, etc. on-site. We did about 1/2 our dives with the onsite operator and half with our hauled tanks but there were 7 of us so we rented a 2nd truck just for tanks.

Some of this is old but still useful. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Curacao, ABC Islands Curacao also has a pretty serious Lionfish eradication progam so maybe contact them for places they need help.

I wrote too much...my buddy's wife is an ex-Curacao dive guide and they visit her mom often so we know a lot about it besides the 10 days we spent there a few years ago.

 

[dmaziuk]

Some divers like All West Apartments in Westpunt - the other Go West shop is there. The bigger one is their shop at Lodge Kura Hulanda in Westpunt - good dive at either place but lots of stairs at All West. Although pretty much everything in that area is 50-60' or more above the beach including Nos Krusero.

Ground floor AllWest appts have fairly large and relatively private terraces, though probably the closer they are the gear room, the more people will be walking back and forth past you. Not many: the place isn't that big.

Apartments come with a kitchen and most restaurants require driving. As I recall the next place to the left has one that's in walking distance. More or less. Sometimes boats sell the morning catch at the pier.

 

[diversteve]

Since we travel in a group, our "car rental" person found the best deal was Budget - also convenient since you walk to their desk then they walk you to the car in the lot.

Other attractions:

The old downtown waterfront (East side of the harbor) is the multi-colored shops you see in all their ads. I suggest parking on the north side of the swinging bridge and walking over. One day we tried driving into the old downtown but after waiting in traffic for probably 1/2 hr. parked and walked the last mile or two in. That's somewhat dependent on the cruise traffic since ships moor at the Megaport nearby.

Behind the shops there's large outdoor pedestrian market down one street at one end the fishermen sell their catch. Christoffel Park is a nice hiking area mid-island but the red fruit is poisonous. (there's signs) Everytime we drove by it there were birds singing in the trees - some sort of endemic parrot. There's an Ostrich Farm on the NE end of the island.

One I forgot to mention is Porto Mari - locals beach, good double-reef dive, snackshop, Porto Mari Watersports on-site. Fills up on weekends with the local crowd.

We do a lot of diving and some nightlife so we always found something to do at night. Many of the hotels have casinos - the one at the Renaissance in Piscadera probably the largest/best - like you'd see in Reno. Avila Hotel has Jazz events sometimes. All a good 30mins. plus from Westpunt.

If you look at a map, the main road west bisects mid-island. To the left goes thru more towns, is slightly more hilly and runs near some of the shore dives. The right fork gets you to Westpunt faster. Same road also goes east over the harbor on the big bridge (container ships go under it) until it peters out somewhere east - probably around Caracasbaai but IDK.

 

[irie1029]

Just finished our 9th year visiting Curacao! Boric car rental is the best deal... they are inexpensive and customer oriented. Not sure they will pickup or deliver to westend. Tehy will meet you at airport and deliver car. When we stayed for the last week at westend we left car at airport parking with no issues. GoWest is the way to go diving on westend. There are now plenty of restaurants other than Kura Hulanda on west end. Sol food Fri Sat Sun only. Landhuis Miesje, Trio Penotes, Rancho Sobrina, and more. If you wife snorkels left rather than right of Kura Hulanda around point by the fishing boats and pier she will see many turtles. Enjoy.

 

[a492levy]

I am also looking at Curacao for January, have been to Bonaire >10 times and love it there, (my husband is a newer diver and loves it there too) but want to check out CUR - my friend only did boat dives there on a package with Sunscape resort. I am hoping CUR is similar in the shore diving category as BON low key, accessible, etc. Thanks for this info.