We are Going on April 13th - 20th. staying At Breezes Curacao Resort & Casino Looking for good dive sites shore and boat, Wife doesn't dive so will need things to do and see on land as well. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks
The reef at Breezes is pretty decent and one free shore dive per day from the Breeze dock is included since you are saying at Breezes.
If you like wrecks the Superior Producer is located in 100 feet of water. When I was there I could see the whole ship just after I slipped below the surface of the water.
Ocean Encounters (they run the dive shop at Breezes) has a two-tank dive that leaves right from the dock at Breezes that includes the Superior Producer.
I did not get a chance to dive Watamula but others have said is outstanding.
You could go to Caracas Bay (Tugboat) and your wife could snorkel there. They have full facilities there including a dive shop, indoor and outdoor showers, bathrooms and snack bar.
Porto Mari has a double reef structure and facilities including a full restaurant and beach. This might also be a possibility for a combined activity with your wife.
The Tugboat is in 17 feet of water and there are a lot of fish swimming in that area. Your wife could snorkel there and see a lot.
My wife, daughter and I dove the Mushroom Forest with Sunset Divers. Since there were three of us is was cheaper to rent a car for the day than to use Ocean Encounters to book the trip.
The Sunset Divers crew was excellent. During the surface interval we snorkel in a submerge cave. There was enough headroom at the opening to snorkel into the cave. It was definitely one of the more interesting surface intervals that I have ever experienced.
Mark and Suzy run the "The Dive Bus" which is located right next door to Breezes. If you go out the from door of Breezes take a left. Walk to the end of the Breezes complex and you will a dive sign in front of building that houses a restaurant. The Dive Bus hut is located immediately behind the far right corner of the building.
They will pick you up at Breezes, take you to the dive site, act as your underwater guide, provide lunch during the surface interval and take you back to Breezes following the second dive.
Places to see.
The Ostrich farm is definitely worth a visit.
If you like shopping Punda and Otrabanda (sections of Wilemstad) are worth walking through. I am not a real fan of shopping and I found it interesting.
You could go to Mount Christoffel National Park.
Suggestions for Breezes itself.
There is an Italian (Pastafari's) and Japanese (Munasan) restaurant at Breezes in addition to Jimmy's Buffet. They server dinner at these restaurants in addition to Jimmy's Buffet.
You are allowed to eat at each restaurant once during your stay. I like Italian food and I thought the Japanese restaurant was much better than the Italian restaurant.
I would book the restaurant as soon as you can after arrival. If you arrival earlier in the afternoon you will be able to book it as soon as you arrive. If you arrive in later afternoon or evening you will not be able to book it until the next day.
We took an island tour that we booked at Breezes. The woman did a very good job. There was my family (3) and two other people in the tour van. The visit the historic places in greater Wilemstad, the fort on the hill (forgot the name), the Blue Curacao distilery (includes tour and sampling) and a few other places.
We also took one other tour to Boca Tabla and other parts of the park. The tour was run by a gentleman that was originally a tourism offical in the Netherlands. Unfrotunately, I can't remeber his name right now.
After you get to Breezes see if you can contact "Chef Jeff". He runs the entire food and beverage operation at Breezes. Besides being a diver he posses a wealth of information about the island. He highly recommended the fellow that does the Boca Tabla tours. We met "Chef Jeff" the first time we stayed at Breezes (stayed there twice). He started a conversation with me while I was in line at Jimmy's Buffet. He recognized a tee shirt I was wearing. It turns out he started his culinary carrer only 15 miles from my home.
The other thing that is not widely publicized is that if you ar going to be out and about the island during lunch you can arrange for Breezes to provide you with box lunches at no cost to you. You need to make arrangements 1 day in advance.
This post was rather long but hopefully it is helpful.
