Not that anyone will feel sorry for my "plight" here, but due to a combination of carryover vacation days and an excessive amount of Marriott points it seems I will be going to Curacao for a week with my family in March.
The "plight" part of the story is that the Curacao trip will be two weeks before I go to Bonaire for a week with my buddy for our annual "guys dive vacation."
The reason we do the dive vacation each year is that neither of our wives/kids dive, so the idea is we dive on dive vacations and don't dive on family vacations. I think I'm pretty lucky in that respect - and my wife doesn't give me too much grief about diving here in NJ almost every weekend - but how on Earth can I go to Curacao for a week and not dive?
So help me figure out what dives I "must" do, as I think I can convince my wife to let me sneak off for at least one half-day dedicated to diving. I'm supposing something involving the Superior Producer as a "must dive site" would make sense.
My wife's issue is not how much time I end up spending "underwater" but rather how much time I spend "away" from the family, so I'm looking for strategies to be as time-efficient as possible. Are there any dive ops that do three-tank trips? If I'm gonna be gone "half the day" I'm in no more trouble if that means 8am-Noon or 8am-1:00pm
Secondly, is the shore diving right at the Marriott any good? I'm guessing I would be "allowed" to do a handful of 45-min dives if I was right there on the beach with the wife and kids without being gone for half the day. Figure at minimum one day dive and one night dive.
Anyone know if the dive op at the Marriott will allow solo* diving on the house reef? I suppose I could find a buddy or rent a DM, but what will help me out the most is having ultimate flexibility in when/how long I dive. Want to be able to be sitting on a lounge chair at the beach with the family and say "Hey honey, I'm gonna jump in the water for a quick dive. Want me to grab you a pina colada on the way back?"
Similarly, any decent diving/ops located at any of the "must visit" beaches on Curacao? Assuming I could pull off the same strategy as at the Marriott beach.
I don't want to drag all my gear from NJ to Curacao for just one or two dives, especially if they won't be decent ones. Assuming the diving will all be "decent" help me formulate a plan to get in about 6 or so dives over the 8 days I'll be there.
*No need for discussion of whether or not solo diving is a good idea in general, but I would like to know about any specific conditions/concerns at this specific site. I regularly do solo diving here in NJ due to the nature of the conditions (in 5' viz you are solo if your buddy is 6' away) the goals of many of the dives (Ill go this way to get lobster, you go that way to shoot fish) and my role as a crew member on a dive boat (setting the hook, pulling the hook, doing your dive while everyone else is on their SI.)
The "plight" part of the story is that the Curacao trip will be two weeks before I go to Bonaire for a week with my buddy for our annual "guys dive vacation."
The reason we do the dive vacation each year is that neither of our wives/kids dive, so the idea is we dive on dive vacations and don't dive on family vacations. I think I'm pretty lucky in that respect - and my wife doesn't give me too much grief about diving here in NJ almost every weekend - but how on Earth can I go to Curacao for a week and not dive?
So help me figure out what dives I "must" do, as I think I can convince my wife to let me sneak off for at least one half-day dedicated to diving. I'm supposing something involving the Superior Producer as a "must dive site" would make sense.
My wife's issue is not how much time I end up spending "underwater" but rather how much time I spend "away" from the family, so I'm looking for strategies to be as time-efficient as possible. Are there any dive ops that do three-tank trips? If I'm gonna be gone "half the day" I'm in no more trouble if that means 8am-Noon or 8am-1:00pm
Secondly, is the shore diving right at the Marriott any good? I'm guessing I would be "allowed" to do a handful of 45-min dives if I was right there on the beach with the wife and kids without being gone for half the day. Figure at minimum one day dive and one night dive.
Anyone know if the dive op at the Marriott will allow solo* diving on the house reef? I suppose I could find a buddy or rent a DM, but what will help me out the most is having ultimate flexibility in when/how long I dive. Want to be able to be sitting on a lounge chair at the beach with the family and say "Hey honey, I'm gonna jump in the water for a quick dive. Want me to grab you a pina colada on the way back?"
Similarly, any decent diving/ops located at any of the "must visit" beaches on Curacao? Assuming I could pull off the same strategy as at the Marriott beach.
I don't want to drag all my gear from NJ to Curacao for just one or two dives, especially if they won't be decent ones. Assuming the diving will all be "decent" help me formulate a plan to get in about 6 or so dives over the 8 days I'll be there.
*No need for discussion of whether or not solo diving is a good idea in general, but I would like to know about any specific conditions/concerns at this specific site. I regularly do solo diving here in NJ due to the nature of the conditions (in 5' viz you are solo if your buddy is 6' away) the goals of many of the dives (Ill go this way to get lobster, you go that way to shoot fish) and my role as a crew member on a dive boat (setting the hook, pulling the hook, doing your dive while everyone else is on their SI.)