So Torn, Im sorry!

[Damselfish]

I have been to both Cozumel and Curacao, and my opinion is a week for a brand new diver is better spent in Cozumel. Curacao isn't worth the extra travel time. It's a big place, with highways and city stuff. Scuba is a small part of it. Cozumel can still feel like a relatively laid-back Mexican town if you avoid the main drag. And scuba diving is a big part of it.

Curacao can be a laid back remote Caribbean Island, or someplace with city stuff - it depends where you choose to stay. Travel really depends where you're traveling from - Curacao is generally easier and cheaper travel for us than Coz, though if it were not I'd still pick Curacao.

 

[DiveProKoko]

Curacao....and it's not even close.

 

[Rob9876]

I consistently fail to see the draw of Cozumel having been. Curaçao by a mile.

It is interesting how people can have diametrically opposed viewpoints. Personally I find Cozumel better in almost every aspect (diving [viz, variety of critters], food, travel time, other topside activities, roads, convenience, costs [travel, lodging, food & diving], etc.), except that I'll acknowledge that the hills/mountains on Curacao are more visually appealing than Cozumel's relatively flat topography. To each their own, since if we all liked the same place it would be over-crowded and prices would soar.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Curacao can be a laid back remote Caribbean Island, or someplace with city stuff - it depends where you choose to stay. Travel really depends where you're traveling from - Curacao is generally easier and cheaper travel for us than Coz, though if it were not I'd still pick Curacao.

Sure, you can get away from it all if you wish. We had a so-called "destination wedding" on Curacao and we rented a villa in the suburbs for our guests. But you still had to go into the built-up areas to get supplies. There's the picturesque center of Willemstad ... but there's also an oil refinery! For the same quality of diving, I'd rather go to laid-back Bonaire--a compact "desert island" where beat-up pickup trucks rule. I just don't get the attraction of Curacao for a dive vacation, though unlike Bonaire (or perhaps even Cozumel) I can see how it could make for a comfortable life if I wanted to live somewhere with good diving.

I'm surprised Curacao is cheaper for you from Boston than Coz. From Atlanta, we often have a choice of reasonably priced 2-1/2 hour flights to Cancun, though they charge a premium to fly directly into Coz. For us, Curacao is a much longer and more expensive flight. Anyway, the OP says Curacao is a 14-hour flight versus a 6-hour flight to Cancun. If I were okay with a 14+ hour flight, I'd go to the Asia-Pacific region for much better diving than almost anywhere in the Caribbean. But it sounds like, for whatever reason, the OP is set on the Caribbean.

 

[tursiops]

No. Islands outside Hurricane belt would be Curacao, Bonaire, Grenada among the common dive destinations.

7 Hurricane-Free Caribbean Islands

Hurricane free? No. At best, fewer hurricanes problems.
The reason Bonaire has almost no coral in the shallows on its west side is because of Hurricane Lenny in 1999; it was not a direct hit...but the storm waves were sufficient to wipe out the shallow staghorn and elkhorn, and ALL the docs on the west side. You don't need a direct hit to get massive damage.

 

[Dan]

Hurricane free? No. At best, fewer hurricanes problems.
The reason Bonaire has almost no coral in the shallows on its west side is because of Hurricane Lenny in 1999; it was not a direct hit...but the storm waves were sufficient to wipe out the shallow staghorn and elkhorn, and ALL the docs on the west side. You don't need a direct hit to get massive damage.

If you want to see lots of Elkhorn Corals, go to Jardines de La Reina, Cuba.

 

[davecampbell]

just back from a week in Curaçao. the diving was super.