Curacao Trip Report - June 20th 2009

[Just another Cinderella]

Well I grew up in the Bronx and I am a lifetime Red Soxs fan......
So I guess my credibility has to be questioned as well.

I read porsc's original report as if he were a tourist as well, and I posted my reply as such.
Had he simply come on and said I just finished a stint as a DM at OE on Curacao and these are my impressions, I might have responded in a completely different manner.

melg, looks like you're going to have a long trip to get here but don't sell the island short just yet. You may be very pleasantly surprised. I have met visitors who came to Curacao even though they were a four hour flight from the Red Sea. They were tired of the crowded dive sites at the Red Sea and will be back to Curacao next year. We would all love to help you find the best places to make your stay memorable.
Right now I've enjoyed a nice piece of barbecued salmon watching a full moon with beautiful Easterly breezes off the Caribbean. The Red Soxs are on TV, it's windy and I'd have to get the tripod out, otherwise I would send you a picture!
Guess I don't really care if there are some folks who don't like Curacao, I'll take their share.

 

[Diver OnLu]

OK then. I guess I couldn't distract you with baseball or basketball...

Hi Sunshine,

It's because you still didn't find the time to enlighten me and make me understand the rules and tactics of your favourite sports

But what about tennis? I loved watching this year's Wimbledon final match; it was almost as exciting as last year (and with less rain; now that they have an expensive roof on the center court, they hardly had to use it in the full 2 weeks of tournament)!

Greetings from Hamburg
Andreas

 

[Diver OnLu]

I have also traveled quite a bit in Asia and I am sure that the diving experiences i've had are superior and even though i am excited about my upcoming trip to Curacao, i know it wil not be as good as Malaysia or Indonesia.

Hi melg,

Where in Indonesia have you been for diving? I am just back from a trip to Bali. I really liked it, the diving was very interesting! I love the critters, and there was a huge variety to be found in Bali (an eagle ray being the only "big fish" I saw on 22 dives). While the number of different species is higher than in the Caribbean, I think the coral reefs are nicer on Curacao, and there is more fish around compared to what I saw around the north coast of Bali. I guess you won't be dissapointed coming to Curacao. But of course it depends on your priorities of what you want to see. Let me know when you are on the island; maybe we can meet at Sunshine's for a drink or dinner. I'll be there from July 30th again. Of course you are also welcome to do some diving with us at OEW!

Greetings from Hamburg
Andreas

 

[Diver OnLu]

I have never been to Curacao, but have done alot of research for an upcomming trip and OEW gets mostly positive reviews. Your scathing review is unique in my research. (Although, a few have complained that the boat dives are too regimented in terms of where you dive on which day.) I plan to dive with them since the great majority of the trip reports are positive.

Hi bqualls,

When are you coming to Curacao? If it's after July 29th, I guess I'll meet you there at OEW. I've worked for them from Dec 2007 till March this year, and will be back as one of their dive instructors again by the end of this month.

You know it's a funny thing with boat trip schedules? Whatever you do, you run a risk of getting complaints:

Many divers - don't ask me why - never want to repeat a dive site during their vacation (at least on the first time at a new destination). That is one reason why at OEW we implemented a schedule that covers all good dive sites in the reach of our boat trips; the only sites we do twice a week on our 2-tank trips in the morning are Watamula (because it's simply the best to most of our guests, though I prefer Rediho City and Scooter) and Mushroom Forest (because it's simply the most famous one, so demand is high). If you want to dive Watamula or our plane wreck site close to Watamula more often, there is the chance to go on additional 1-tank trips in the afternoon. Other dive centers sending divers to us as well as individual divers who make a booking with us to dive specific sites, rely on this schedule. So many people are happy with the way we do it.

But of course, there are other divers who, let's say, would like to go to Rediho City more often, because they think it to be the top dive site. They maybe will not like our schedule that much. Now, how do you decide what to do in the position of the dive operator (usually we have only one boat running at the same time, so we cannot split the trip) - choose the dive site after holding a public poll? Actually, we had cases when all divers on the boat agreed to change the schedule for the day, and of course we did!

In addition, there are times when weather conditions are better for certain dive sites than for others. In that case it also might be a good idea to change schedule and go to a site with the best diving conditions. But again, there will be divers who don't like this because they booked the trip relying on the schedule. I remember once we had quite some waves at Mushroom Forest, and you could see from the surface that visibility was very bad that day. Still there were divers who didn't want to go anywhere else, and it was hard to convince them that they were going to have a by far more enjoyable dive at any other site, that day.

So I guess it is really not that easy to find a solution that makes everybody happy at all times, but we try our best running a reliable schedule and still being flexible to address specific customer needs wherever possible - you just need to tell us.

Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
Andreas

 

[TN Traveler]

When we were there last December we found OEW very accommodating - no one in our group wanted to get up early for the morning 2-tank dives, but we easily got them to change their schedule so we could dive Watamula 2 times in the afternoon. Several members of our group rented equipment and even though they did not dive every day, OEW kept their equipment aside for them for the week and only charged them for the days they used it.

They helped us get our equipment and tanks from the shop to the Kura Hulanda lockers for our night dives.

To me - that is top flight service.

Added to that beer and dinners at Sunshine's was special - like a party at a friend's house. Made the trip a special experience - to be repeated again in December 2009.

 

[bqualls]

Hi Andreas,
We haven't booked yet , but are tentatively set for week of sept. 7th. The dive schedule sounds fine to me as a first time visitor, but I could see maybe setting out on my own on some days if I like Curacao well enough to visit again just to see some of the sites that you don't regularly dive. Looking forward to hanging out with all of you in the west end.

 

[Diver OnLu]

Hi Andreas,
We haven't booked yet , but are tentatively set for week of sept. 7th.

Hi bqualls,

Do you already know where you want to stay? If you need any help with accomodation, please let me know.

Greetings from Hamburg
Andreas

 

[bqualls]

Hi Andreas,
Kura Hulanda Lodge looks nice to me. Thanks for your offer. We'll book as soon as I get a couple of scheduling issues ironed out at work. Have fun in Hamburg.
best fishes,
BQ

 

[jpepper70]

Sorry...I won't mention Seldom again..Enjoyed diving with Stan. Great pictures!!!

 

[Just another Cinderella]

It can be hard to tell a Tar Heal at 60 feet