Curacao trip Jul/Aug 2016 questions

[sladerer]

All,

Traveling the end of this month, been reading the forums and doing research, but still have a few questions.

For context - 3 divers: me (SSI instructor), my wife (master diver) and 16 yr old son (24 dives) who is working on his AOW. Staying at Ocean Resort (behind SeaQuarium) and planning to use Ocean Encounters as our primary shop. Will probably shoot for 18-20 dives for the 8 day trip.

Car rental - recommendations for agency/vehicle for say 6-9 tanks and gear for 3, not too beat up but OK for wet/sand/etc?

Diving - seen the various "rent on site" and "rent in one place" discussions. Is there any real advantage to either? Easier to use Dive Bus for sites with no on-site op? Do you have to rent tanks from the Dive Bus to use them? We're planning to do a couple of West Punt trips - just rent tanks/weights there?
I've been trying to come up with a definitive list of dive operators, along with the sites at those locations. Please add to this if you can - operators, site names, correct any I've screwed up.

Ocean Encounters - Lions Dive house reef, Dolphin trip,
Atlantis Diving -
DC Pietermaai -
Divers of the Caribbean -
Goby Divers -
DiveVersity - (Holiday reef?)
Caribbean Sea Sports - Marriott house reef
The Dive Shop Curacao - Hilton reef?
BlueBay Curacao - Blue Bay
Trunk Divers -
Divers Republic - Coral Estate area
Playa Portomari - Portomari
B Diving - Cas Abao
North to South Diving -
Bahia Diving - Playa Lagun
Go West - Alice in Wonderland, Watamula

Any "must do" sites not mentioned above? We'll probably pass on Jeremy given what I've read re: crime.

Any other suggestions - restaurants, etc - also welcome.

Thanks

 

[irie1029]

I go to curacao 3 weeks every year for at least 8 years. I am a vacationer that dives so I am looking from my perspective. Never stayed or visited Ocean Resort. I think it is by Mambo Beach a ways down from Ocean Encounters. The schedule you have is way complicated and hectic for my taste. If I were you I would email with Dive Bus, Hans at Curious to Dive and Andreas at Go West and use them as the "base" of operation. No worries about toting tanks and such. Something missing is Directors bay and Tug boat wall curious to Divedoes that site. Watamula is a Go West boat dive and I think the first dive is the Garden (very nice!).. Alice in Wonderland is a shore dive. I would pass on hilton and marriott reef. Bahia has good food dive was just nice.

As far as food - West end Sol food - Landhuis Misje and Trio pennoti and Karakter(reservation to get into beautiful resort) also there is a place 1/2 way to or from Westpunt going to town lanhuis doctor Komedor good local but SLOW.

Near you - Pops place (awesome local) Golden Star (awesome local) Pinchos Garden - Boathouse Great view Spanish water - El Gaucho steak with great view and salad bar Seaside Terrace (walk to from where you are staying... Plaza beiu - downtown. Ginger downtown and Perla Delmar or one of the 4 adjoining on the water complex. There are a host I am forgetting.... food will not be your problem.

You probably become addicted to nice easy diving on Curacao. PM me for further questions.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

I would add Mushroom Forest to your dive sites. A very fascinating reef. Go West or Ocean Encounters might go there. I would replace hotel house reefs with it.

Also, get on the Superior Producer. Superb wreck dive been down a long time and covered in brilliant orange cup coral. By far the best wreck on Curacao and one of the better wrecks in the Caribbean. Can be done from shore, and I think Ocean Encounters runs boat trips to it. If any op is running a night dive to it, do that as well.

LIke the Producer, some of the dives you listed are worth doing twice instead of lesser reefs: Three that come to mind are Portomarie; Alice in Wonderland (which is also a fantastic night dive); and Watamula. There is lots of good diving in Curacao, but these are world-class sites. I would easily replace the hotel house reefs or coral estates area with repeat dips at these sites.

8 days--you will have plenty of time for everything. Driving to the north end sites is not that big of a deal. We did not use Dive Bus but heard good things about them. We rented a car, mapped the daily trips, and either rented tanks and took them with us (if going to sites with no rentals) or renting on site.

That being said, I would take 3 or 4 nites and stay at a place up north to save some time. Go West can rent you tanks for shore diving and runs boat trips.

You have it all well planned. But as we all know things can change. Some sites have limited access as trips only go there one or two days a week (Watamula, Mushroom Forest). But, the absolute "must do" dives that are worth a special effort are, in my view, these:

1. Portomarie. Beach dive, easy access. Gorgeous sloping reef from 10' to 130'. Huge black corals and sponges deep. Big sponges and absolutely solid beautiful colorful coral on the slope. Corals and sandy bottom at safety stop depth. In the shallows, there is a sandy "hole" surrounded by coral walls for a safety stop that could be an entire macro dive in itself. . We multi-leveled down to 120 and then up the slope and still ended up with 50 minute bottom time (we had steel 120s). Nice park with shade, lounge chairs, and kayaks, nice beach for non-divers, bar/restaurant on site. All in all, maybe our favorite. I would consider going early in the morning on a week day (its very popular on the weekends) and spending a half day there doing two dives with a long surface interval, it's very nice.

2. Watamula. Boat dive offered only a couple days a week. Beautiful hard coral shallow reef (40') with lots of corals feeding with their tentacles out and lots of fish. Done as a drift dive. There can be modest surge. At the end, you enter one of the most amazing forests of beautiful soft corals that I have ever seen. It is a dreamscape of long, flowing, waiving sea fans and soft corals. The surge adds to the atmosphere. It is hard to describe until you see it.

3. Alice in Wonderland. Shore dive. Another beautiful sloping reef and a cut above most others on Curacao. It is Go West's "house reef" and they have a dock right there at the shop. You just gear up, jump off and swim out, with nice stairs to exit.

4. Mushroom Forest. Boat dive. Very odd coral growths, where the corals have expanded their growth area over time. Thus, the tips are shaped like mushroom caps and sit on narrower stalks. Very aptly named and a unique reef.

5. Superior Producer, see above.

You will notice most of the reef sites are toward the north end. As a gross generality, the reefs and vis seem to be better towards the north (Lagun is also excellent).

We loved diving Curacao. Going to Bonaire in two weeks for 6 days. Will be interesting to compare.

 

[ScubaMarc]

check out D&D car insurance. It is a local guy nice guy. Car comes with 1 flat price with insurance and cell phone. They are diver friendly with the car/trucks. I used them in April and was surprised about the car/price and service.

 

[sladerer]

Thanks to everyone how replied. We got back home from our trip about 3AM this morning. I'll be putting up a more detailed trip report in the next couple of days. In brief, we had a terrific time - great diving, nice people, terrific weather.