Heading to Curacao in a few weeks - few questions

[mbs]

Since you are staying at All West are you doing the unlimited tank package as well? The tank room and gear storage layout are the reason we return to these units. It is a far more diver friendly set up than the Kura Hulanada. You can pick up and return tanks any time. The storage area is well ventilated, clean and spacious. There is a gear set up/donning bench right before you take the steps to the shore. While there are several steps, it was not as difficult as I anticipated. While the steps at Go West are less plentiful, they are far more difficult for me to negotiate. Some steps are wider and steeper than others. I know I am getting old when I look at the steps and think how bad the orthopedic injuries would be if I bit the dust. Not a deal breaker, but I much prefer the steps and layout at All West. Attached are photos of the tank room and set up bench at All West.
View attachment 219826

View attachment 219827
View attachment 219828

Oh boy, starting to sound like my wife/buddy is going to hate me by the end of this trip Now she is about 1 yr into a titanium knee so that should handle the stairs better than our original old ones!!! We booked the diving thru All West as well so I assume we have full access to tanks etc there as well as at Go West. Appreciate all of the info!!! Last time in Curacao we stayed at Sunset Waters, long gone now! Was a cool place and a great dive op.

 

[ml3456]

I'll be staying at Kura resort. Going to do some boat and shore diving. Are the shore entrances sand or rock/coral? I usually bring closed heel fins to the caribbean, but when I went o Bonaire there wasn't much sand!!

Thanks, ML

 

[diversteve]

Lodge Kura Hulanda? Or the Hotel in town?

Here's the setup at the Lodge. The coral is shallow enough near one end of the beach that you'd want to be floating by then - a few coral heads breaking the surface at low tide. Really there's no reason to even try, just walk down to the dive shop instead and go off the dock - it gets you out into slightly deeper water. Plus the lockers/showers etc. are right there - the shop is the thatched roofs on the end of the dock. IIRC there was also a path/stairs directly to it from the resort above.



Most of the other entries on Curacao will be doable with full foot fins since they're beaches. The few that need a little help have dive docks installed by the on-site operators. Pay their fee (few $) if you use their facilities. About the only trouble you might have is at Shon Mosa or Snake Bay since it's all ironshore into the water. Notice the comment about the oil drilling ship parked there in August, it might still be there.

And Pestbaai but that also requires basic climbing skills to get down to so just pass on it completely. I wore my soft boots all week with no problems anywhere.

Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Curacao, ABC Islands has entry pictures for all the sites they list. Which is really most of the better ones. They don't list the Tugboat which is one of the signature dives, but there's a rocky beach there also. I think you'd be able to manage - it's rocky but kind of flat. Some beachgoers were there when we were. There's also the pier there closer to the closed dive school.

 

[tkaelin]

How is the shore diving at All West? Does it compare to a good house reef on Bon?

 

[ScubaMarc]

With your wife's knee, you might find curacao easier to enter but longer swims out. Bonaire has a lot of rocky entries and short swims, curacao is mostly sand entries with a very slow drop offs, but much longer swims. I think curacao is easier. Just take the swim out slowly and enjoy them, when you hit the reef, then sink down. On the way back, just swim under the water too the beach.

FYI, I always did shore dives in curacao and so many times, the dive boat was right above us. No dive boat = no boat schedule and much cheaper.

 

[morecowbells]

How is the shore diving at All West? Does it compare to a good house reef on Bon?

The dive site in front of All West is spectacular! If you are hoping for a turtle encounter, this is the place to dive. My experience is that if I turn left, the visibility is better, healthier more rugged topography. If I turn to the right, I have found more turtles and seahorses. Personally I think it is better than a lot of Bonaire dive sites(oh no, stirring the pot with this generalization).

Oh boy, starting to sound like my wife/buddy is going to hate me by the end of this trip Now she is about 1 yr into a titanium knee so that should handle the stairs better than our original old ones!!! We booked the diving thru All West as well so I assume we have full access to tanks etc there as well as at Go West. Appreciate all of the info!!! Last time in Curacao we stayed at Sunset Waters, long gone now! Was a cool place and a great dive op.

If the steps are a worry for your wife, she can ditch the weights at the bottom of the stairs and you can retrieve them

 

[mselenaous]

We stayed at All West in Feb 2014. Stunning views. The house reefs were lovely. IMHO the diving in Curacso beats Bonaire. We spent a couple days exploring the island.

Brian is no longer at Go West. He now drives the submarine for Substation Curacao which is a really cool adventure to dive down to 500ft.

Also do not miss dinner at Sol (near All West) and give SBer, Sunshine, the owner a huge hug from me.

Sent from my SM-T337V using Tapatalk

 

[mbs]

The dive site in front of All West is spectacular! If you are hoping for a turtle encounter, this is the place to dive. My experience is that if I turn left, the visibility is better, healthier more rugged topography. If I turn to the right, I have found more turtles and seahorses. Personally I think it is better than a lot of Bonaire dive sites(oh no, stirring the pot with this generalization).

If the steps are a worry for your wife, she can ditch the weights at the bottom of the stairs and you can retrieve them

Actually her strength and balance is way better than with the original patched knee! And yes, I fully expect to be schlepping a lot of stuff up and down We have a nitrox package thru Go West so the question will be if we bother with it when diving the house reef at All West... Really looking forward to this house reef!!!!

---------- Post added November 18th, 2015 at 12:04 PM ----------

With your wife's knee, you might find curacao easier to enter but longer swims out. Bonaire has a lot of rocky entries and short swims, curacao is mostly sand entries with a very slow drop offs, but much longer swims. I think curacao is easier. Just take the swim out slowly and enjoy them, when you hit the reef, then sink down. On the way back, just swim under the water too the beach.

FYI, I always did shore dives in curacao and so many times, the dive boat was right above us. No dive boat = no boat schedule and much cheaper.

In Bonaire we tend to dive the southern sites so we are used to long swims out. We are both real good on air so drop down immediately and check stuff out on the way out and back. Sandy entries do sound like a nice change from Bonaire though. Vista Blue in Bonaire has become one of our favorite sites just for that reason!

 

[diversteve]

re: your wife's knee. She's not going to be thrilled with access at Go West at Lodge KH either. Which you do for boat dives. There's a really bad set of stairs there though also... Just a lot less of them - it's about 20 uneven stone steps built out of natural rock down to the shop level. The mason apparently never read the book about making risers equal either.

Here's another option to get down at All West. Jump in the car and drive north. The very first turn-off you should hit is a minor road that leads down to Playa Piskado - just north of All West. There's a little dock there used by fishermen in the Bay - I'm almost positive I saw a truck there once loading something. Or maybe not - one thing you lose on the map is how vertical that area all really is. From there if you went north I might even try for Go West at the Lodge - they could probably give you a ride back with notice - there's not a lot of staff there.

The whole area:

 

[diversteve]

I agree with the other posters - Playa Kalki is among the best dives we've done on either island - and we try to dive the recommended ones during a week of mostly shore diving. North (West?) from the lodge was especially good but stay on the surface till you pass the hillside villas. The swim from the dock is shallow, lots of coral and there's flounder for your amusement. We found a couple of small vertical walls - just not deeper than about 200' or so.