Family diving in Curacao

[ronbeau]

We decided to go to Curacao last July (my wife, son and daughter 11 & 13 yrs), mainly because the island offers great beaches/snorkeling, and land excursions for all to enjoy. We decided to go all inclusive, and stayed at Breezes.
Breezes offered free shore diving (1/day) from resort which was Oswald's drop. I dove 3 times and saw different things all three times. The great thing about Curacao, and Breezes is that literally less than 100 feet from shore, you are on a great reef. You don't read a lot about Oswald's ....but it is a pristine reef, with a slow 45 degree drop, that quickly changes to a steep plummet.
I dived with the on site shop...Ocean Encounters, and have nothing but good things to say about them.
During our stay I also chose to dive the Tug Boat (single tank boat dive) We started with a wall dive adjacent to the Tug, and it was fantastic. A lot of morays and various coral formations. We ended the dive at the Tug Boat which was encrusted with vibrant colored corals. The Tug is in a great spot for a decompression stop...so we enjoyed it for about 12-15 minutes before surfacing.
I also had to do the Mushroom Forest dive when at the island. I went with Ocean Encounters...and they drove us to Sunset Waters area, and boated there. The dive itself was the best I have ever been on....although I am a new diver with less than 30 dives....I was awestruck when in the Forest. (highly recommended) Plenty of morays, seahorses, spiny lobsters, sea snake, too many fish to identify. The mushroom formations were truly everywhere...and there was so much to look at and absorb....I could have stayed down there for 3 days.
Our captain decided to treat us to a cool surface interval at the Blue Cave....this is a cliff and where it meets the water the waves have eaten away at the limestone and carved out a large cavern....we snorkeled out from the boat and entered the Blue Cave...where it opened up to a 50 ft x 40 ft opening where you were protected from waves, and could snorkel in the shimmering blue water....nice stop
We had our second Mushroom dive at a place named Radio City where was also loaded with fish, corals and morays....
Besides all the great diving...we also rented a car and explored the island...I had read alot about the locals jumping from cliffs into the water...and decided to find the place and give it a go. We found the place at the west side of Curacao (Playa Forti) there is a little resturant/bar right there....and 3 ft from the bar is where you jump 30 ft to the water.....me and the kids did...my wife said no way.....a lot of fun.
Williamstad at night is a must do walk the old city streets and get a true feel of the island ....drinks at Iguanas adjacent to the floating bridge at night I will always remember as one of my best memories of Curacao, great atmosphere.

Hope my ramblings help
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You will need to repost your picture. The URL points to your C:\Documents Folder which hopefully (for your sake) most of us are unable to get to .

[MakingBubbles]

WOW! Thanks for all of these responses. They were very helpful... So much better than the information I got anywhere else. Less than 36 hours until I reach the island!!! I can't wait!

[MakingBubbles]

Well, I finally returned back home from Curacao kicking and screaming because I didn't want to leave!!! Seriously, my wife and I kept trying to figure out how we could move residence to the island. This was by far my family's favorite Caribbean dive destination yet. Mark and Suzy (from The Dive Bus) and Dave (from Sunset Divers) were some of the most genuine and nicest people I've ever met. The diving was phenomenal! We shore dived Porto Marie, Vaersenbaai, Playa Kalki, and Tugboat/Caracasbaai. I also did a boat dive to Watamula. Topside we visited the Hato Caves, downtown Willemstad, Aloe Vera Plantation, and the Ostrich Farm. We ate at Goodfellas, Iguana cafe, Aqua Cafe (at the Hilton), Hook's Hut (twice), the Hilton BBQ on the beach, and shared an ostrich burger at the ostrich farm. All of the food was good. I'll try to follow up with more details in the near future once I get the pictures downloaded off of my cameras. Thanks again for all of the informational posts. These really helped me plan this fantastic vacation.

-MakingBubbles

[arbin]

Awesome....glad you had a great time....
can't wait to go back myself.....your pictures will help ease my pain

[dogenia]

I'm happy you enjoyed yrself bud, come back anytime. Where exactly did you stay?

Don