Cabo San Lucas is lost. Options?

[emstuv]

Unfortunately Cabo suffered dearly under the recent hurricane. I hope and pray that all stranded there are getting the assistance they need.

We were scheduled to head there on the 6th October, this of course will not be possible. We (my wife and I) are looking for other options. We are new divers, diving generally in Norway in full drysuit rigs. So heading to the warm waters in the Caribbean will be a new experience.

Currently we are considering:

• The Grand Mayan Rivera Maya. My concerns are overcrowded beaches, still subject to possible hurricanes.
• Curacao - The Lions Dive - Beach Resort.
• Curacao - Marazul Dive Resort

We will be flying out of St.Paul (visiting the in-laws).

We are looking for a dive vacation to further develop our skills and having a great time. Both boat dives, but also shoredives just for honing skills. I would like to emphasize shoredives. Curacao looks very nice, the mix of old and new development.

I have never been to the Caribbean and would love some tips and ideas on either the places listed or alternate ones.

Thanks for any help. (This site is great for information.)

Marius

 

[diversteve]

IDK the Grand Mayan but I've been to or near both of your Curacao choices - never stayed at either so can't comment on the accommodations. They're both decent options, it more depends on what else you want to do/not do.

Lions Dive is pretty nice, I've been on the grounds but not in the rooms. They have a decent little beach, nice pool but just an average shore dive - I've done it. They're 50 yds. from the main Ocean Encounters facility - it's their on-site shop. Since the Sea Aquarium is across the boat channel there it's where they keep the dolphins for the dolphin dive. Nice beachfront bar and there's about 4-5 other bars/restaurants within walking distance. About a 5 minute drive from there to downtown. A more upscale resort. There are some good shore dives within about 5-10 minutes of either side of the resort. Tugboat, Directors Bay, Jan Thiel etc. Should you want to try a guided shore dive, the Dive Bus will pick you up there also.

Marazul is a little different. It's in "south" Westpunt so that area is really quiet. There's about 4-5 restaurants nearby - one that's a longer drive back to the main road but one of the best is Landhuis Daniel. No market to speak of, most people stop at Centrum Market for groceries 2 miles south of the airport before driving out. They sell recycled styro coolers for $1 and will pack your food with ice if asked.

Pretty much anything else is in Willemstad which is a good 40-45min. drive back to town. We sort of anticipated that so split our time between an apt. in Playa Lagun and a condo in Piscadera Bay just north of downtown - several members of our group like a little nightlife. Don't consider Marazul unless you rent a car - cabs out there are prohibitive and there's nothing close enough to walk to.

The Marazul dive site on the south end of Playa Kalki if I remember correctly - or the next bay over. That should be a much better dive than the one off Lions Dive. Have you seen the stairs though? We only saw Marazul from the water but it looked pretty nice.

Any boat diving would be done from Go West Diving nearby. Go West is on Playa Kalki. Watamula is accessible by boat from Go West - arguably the best boat dive on Curacao. They'll also dive the famous Mushroom Forest/Blue Cave dive/snorkel but so should Ocean Encounters from town. Near Marazul is also Playa Jeremi, Playa Lagun, Porto Mari and a couple others. All among the better west side shore dives.

I have a west side bias because we did most of our diving there. Even though the marine park is the east end of the island - it starts just west of Lions Dive - a lot is boat diving. We liked the Tugboat site - the best part is the wall around the point - the boat is 17' so makes a good safety stop.

Since your focus is shore diving, if you're looking for alternate locations there's only a few others to consider. Ranked by me personally best->worst.

Bonaire
Grand Cayman
St. Croix - tie
Cozumel - tie
Aruba

I've been to Bonaire and Grand Cayman and if you have any questions...this may help also: http://shorediving.com/Earth/index.htm

 

[emstuv]

Thanks for the reply.

After some more reading we are more or less set for Curacao. Flying to Cancun is a "short" hop compared so that can be done later.

As for resort/condo, we have access to some timeshares. So currently I think its the Sunscape Resort that is being looked into, it offers a dive+stay package all-inclusive. Never really stayed at a resort or for that matter an all-inclusive. I've been more of the "so here I am at the airport lets find a place to stay". If not there are also some deals at Go West I believe. Got a reply from Marazul Apartment and it was (I think) a fair deal for two people. But I agree that if we are in the North West a rental car is needed.

All that remains now is to pick up some gear to bring along, can save some dollars by buying stateside and it will let us dive with own gear.

On that note, wetsuit (2mm) or rashguard? I've noted that the water temp can vary.

 

[diversteve]

Sunscape is just north of Lions Dive. It's not as nice a property as Lions Dive. It used to be a Breezes kids resort so probably still has some of that focus (trapeze etc.) Haven't ever been there so I can't comment on it. Ocean Encounters also has a shop there.

The only timeshare I know of on Curacao is at the Royal Sea Aquarium Resort. It's just across from Lions Dive adjacent to the Aquarium. Curacao Resorts | Curacao Resort - The Royal Sea Aquarium Curacao
If there are timeshares at Royal Palm Resort - it's very nice also. In Piscadera Bay - 5mins. north of downtown - just far enough north of the cruise port to be oblivious to it yet good for activities/restaurants when they leave. Royal Palm Resort

I was on Curacao the last week of April. I dove in a t-shirt/boardshorts but I'm never cold. My friends mostly had 3MM suits but looked uncomfortably warm part of the time. I think you could get away with some sort of rashguard/skin. You do want something since there's some stinging jellies - mostly at night. And the usual sharp coral - in a very few places you still have to scramble over the ironshore to reach the water. On Curacao most of those places have dive docks though.

 

[BUDMANOK]

The Dive Bus on the east side and Go West on the west are great dive ops. I really enjoyed the shore dives on Curacao. Directors Cove was very nice.

---------- Post added September 19th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ----------

forgot eat at Sunshine Foods if you get the chance

 

[emstuv]

After reading almost every thread on the site, we have ended up going to Curacao and staying at the All West.

We are both very excited are to going there. 80F waters vs 45F here at home.....might leave the drysuit behind.

Thanks to the replies on this thread.

 

[diversteve]

Today's sea temperature in Willemstad, Curacao is 83 °F (Statistics for 21 Sep 1981-2005 – mean: 83 max: 85 min: 81 °F)

Willemstad, Curacao Sea Conditions

From the Go West dock at Playa Kalki - the one in front of the Lodge, not All West - swim north past the resort also. We thought that was the better dive after going both directions. More vertical in some areas. Right up against the cliffs there is a good snorkel also - lots of flounder. I haven't dove directly in front of All West though.

 

[emstuv]

Man that water is so warm.

I am having some issues on deciding exposure/protection. Might grab a 3mm full and a full rash guard to cover all bases.