Shore Diving Curacao

[Tuckster]

Wife & I are heading to Curacao in 2 weeks & staying @ the Marriott. We will do our boat dives with the on-site dive operator (CaribSeaSports) however, we are new to shore diving & need advice. I know a few sites (Habitat) require you to rent their tanks if diving their site but how about the more remote sites ?? Do we rent tanks from the hotel dive operator & drive to the site ?? Seems like a la carte is a bit more expensive than the packages offered.
Thanks for your help.


Tuckster

[sharon]

Sounds like you are in for a fantastic trip. I would recommend just renting the tanks where you are doing your boat dives with. I'm not sure of the rules with Habitat, I've have never dived there. You can contact Allwest Dive Center in Westpunt and see if they will rent you tanks for dives at Playa Kalki, which are fantastic dives. Their new dive shop is located on Playa Kalki Beach and this would save you the trouble of dragging tanks up and down the steps from the parking lot. This to my knowledge is the only site that you have to do steps to reach it. You can also inquire at Allwest regarding their boat dives to Watamula, most operators, especially the ones down where you will be staying don't travel that far for dives. Watamula is a fantastic site, and they usually do Mushroom Forest as their second dive on a 2 tank trip. The best shorediving site closest to town is at Vaersen Bay(AKA the police beach, this is where their training facilities are), easy entry, great site. The reef at Porta Marie beach is a double reef system, very easy entry, you have to pay a fee to enter the beach, but plan to take a couple of tanks and hang out on the beach between dives, there is a snack bar and restrooms. Cas Abo is another pay to enter beach with nice restrooms and snack bar, but I would do Porto Marie or both. Most of the remote western sites have no restrooms or food/drink available, so plan to take your own with you. Have you checked out www.shorediving.com for the great reviews and pictures and driving directions? Oh, if you want to see a cool underwater statue of Neptune, he is in the bay in front of Allwest Apts, ask at Allwest dive center for directions to find him, great photo opportunity. Hope you have a great trip.

[Desa]

Spent ten days diving with Habitat in October. You can lug your own tanks in and pay a fee to use their "house reef" but it would save a lot of work to just rent from them. Well worth it. There are a bunch of steps to get from the parking area to the shore. The pictures of coral in my gallery were taken on night dives from the shore.
We rented a small truck and went arround the island doing shores. Get a map called "drive & dive" it will help a lot. Beach diving is fantastic and super easy.

One word of caution. Do not leave anything in your vehicle if you dive secluded beaches. Things have a way of disappearing from your vehicle. I mean take with you only what you will take in the water. If you leaves towles, sunglasses, dive bags tennis shoes, ect good probability they will not be there whey you get back.

Not trying to make it sound bad, it is absolutly the best diving I have done in my life. Just take the keys with you, leave the vehicle empty and unlocked.

[fins]

Habitat is a great shore dive however as you have said they require that you get tanks from them. The good news is that they do tend to fill to 3300psi regularly. There is a rope that runs out from the dock and down the wall which serves as a great way to tell when it's time to turn towards shore. I've done 5 shore dives there. There are a good number of eels (spotted, green, conger, and chain) that hang out on the reef. Also a good number of flat fish, puffer fish etc. and a couple frogfish. I also hear that there is an octopus that hangs out in the rocks right near the dock. If Tuki is around ask him to go out with you, he will find every eel in the ocean

Porto Mari is also a very good shore dive site without any tank restrictions. There is also a dive op onsite that can rent tanks to you (although it might be good to call ahead as this site can get pretty busy)

Have a great trip

[Desa]

I also hear that there is an octopus that hangs out in the rocks right near the dock.

My avitar is the octo from habitat.

Porto Mari is also a very good shore dive site without any tank restrictions.

Excellent beach dive, but pay attention to your navigation, as it can get confusing if you drop down into the wrong valley. If you rent a car, this one is a "must dive".

Take lots of film with you, you will need it. I took a little over 400 35mm pictures and 300 digital (all underwater), and I am not a photographer. There is just that much to see and go "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" about.

[Pvandenb]

Hi,

I am currently living on Curacao and I must say the shore diving is great, there are lot's of different options ( around 50 shore dive locations around the island ) However if you want to shore-dive you will have to rent a car, because a lot of shore dives are on the West punt which is on the other side of the island, 40 min drive. There are some dive operators there, so you will not have to take all your equipment and tanks with you. The link in my signature will give you even more information about diving in Curacao, but iam afraid it is in dutch.

Caribbean seasports is a prety good dive operation.

Peter.