Ah Curacao

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cdemith

Contributor
Messages
84
Reaction score
33
Location
Arizona
# of dives
100 - 199
Short Story:


Curacao great, All West Apartments great, Nos Krusero great, Go West Dive great, food great, diving really good, visibility this time of year was ok.




Long Story:


Ah, Curacao. We had an amazing time. You are indeed a beautiful country. Your weather was perfect, your waters warm. Above all, your people were wonderful. I have never felt as welcome in a foreign country as I did last week.


The trip from AZ began late at night. I very much dislike red-eyes, but there was no other way to get to our dive destination this year; Curacao. PHX-LAS-MIA-CUR, that's how it went. I will not even mention the flight home. Let's just say I could have made it to China.



Arriving on the island, we exited the plane to the easiest immigration and customs experience ever. Get a stamp, scan your luggage, leave the airport. The line was short and the process was managed very efficiently. We walked out of the airport to find our transfer driver, and soon to be guide and medic, Anne Marie. We had booked an apartment, car rental and dive package through All West Apartments/Go West Dive in Westpunt. Driving from the airport, Anne Marie showed us a number of important landmarks along the way. There was the California mini market, the gas station, the botica, and Cristoffel Park. Each ended up being very important in their own way during the coming week. She suggested we stop off at the market to pick up some essentials (beer), and some snacks. In total, it took us about an hour to get to the apartments. Along with being very helpful and informative, Anne Marie was fun. The drive went by quickly. I was surprised how much the landscape reminded me of back home.



Upon arrival at the apartments, we quickly went to check out our room, and the view. The view was beautiful. Unfortunately there was some issue with a water leak. Within minutes, the owner was working to find other arrangements for us. Louis was beyond accommodating, going out of his way to make sure that everything worked out perfectly for our vacation. He found us a room at another apartment, Nos Krusero. The room was beautiful, the view was better. Hendricks, the owner, made sure that we had everything we needed. He is a great guy. Best of all, the room was across the street from Go West. I can not thank Louis enough for making sure that everything was done right. That is the kind of person you want to do repeat business with. I also want to thank Andreas Curacao for all the help he provided on that first day.



The next day, after getting settled, and catching up on sleep, it was time to dive. Rent a tank, jump in the water. I could get used to that. Playa Kalki is an awesome dive site, and the house reef for Go West. It is simply beautiful. I'm one of those that like to see all the pretty fishes. This site had that, and then some. We dove to the south (left), as that was against the extremely mild current. Hit 40', dive computer battery dies. When we got back to the dive shop, I asked if they sold batteries. They did, but not the correct size for my DC. They did not have rental depth gauges, but Miguel knew how to fix that. He pulled a gauge from a console and rigged it with zip ties to make a nice alternative to a retractor. He also gave me directions to find a store that would have the battery I needed in stock in Willemstad. He certainly went above and beyond. Thanks Miguel!



I took that gauge on an afternoon boat dive to Watamula. This was a beautiful site. I had read on Scubaboard that it was a good dive, and it was. I do not think it was as good as Playa Kalki, but it was very good. The next day we drove down to Playa Lagun. We stopped for lunch at the restaurant right off the beach. If you go, and you should, get the tuna baguette. It was amazing. Just watch out for that little toe-pecking chicken. After a pretty long swim we got to the reef. It was in good condition and made for a very nice dive. We wanted to try Grote Knip, but did not bring any tanks with us. So, instead we went back to Kalki. This time we dove to the north (right). I thought I saw a lot of fish the day prior going south. The number of fish this time blew me away. I have never seen so many. The coral structures were also beautiful. I did this same dive for my final one of the trip. That was far and away the best dive of the trip.



We did one more day of shorediving. We started at Cas Abao. Walking in, we were quickly greeted by Raul from B Diving, the on-site shop. He gave us a good verbal description of the site. Once geared up, he came back over. This time he brought over a drawing of the site. This drawing helped tremendously. While we never did find the seahorses, or the frogfish, it was fun looking. I would definitely recommend this site. While not as nice a dive as Kalki, the beach was picture perfect and the facilities were very nice. Next time I might just see if Raul will show us those seahorses. After Cas Abao we drove up to Kleine Knip. I had read here that it was a good dive. Maybe it was good after a 15+ minute swim out to reef. I tired of finning after 10+ minutes. Instead we just swam from coral head to coral head across the broad sandy flats. It certainly wasn't a wasted dive, but I certainly will not do it again. We were told that the swim out at Grote Knip was even further. I am glad we didn't have tanks there a few days earlier. I wish I had followed Miguel's advice and gone to the wall at Tug Boat. I was also told that Porto Marie is a very nice site.



We did two other days of boat dives. We went to Mako's Mountain, drifted from Scooter to Playa Hulu, and Paradise. Mako's was a bit boring. Scooter and Paradise were both beautiful dives. There were eels at every turn, and plenty of cleaner shrimp. We also did Watamula one more time. I enjoyed the site much more this time.

For more info on many of the sites we visited, check out this post. We relied heavily on feedback from this forum from a few people to plan our trip.



It was interesting to see how many people were spearfishing lionfish. I was lucky to go out on a boat dive with Aruba Bob. It was nice to put a face with the Scubaboard name. It was fun watching him get a tubeful of lionfish. Even with that many people hunting, I have still never been to a location with so many lionfish. From comments by other divers who had been to Curacao for years, it sounds as if they can see the effect of this invasive species.



I truly enjoyed every dive in Curacao. As this was my first trip with any significant shorediving, my favorite part was 70+ minute dives. Even when going out with the boat, I did not have a dive less than 60 minutes. Those that ran out of air earlier just surfaced. My only complaint about the diving was the visibility. I did know this was not the season for the best vis. I estimate that we averaged 50' throughout our trip. Some locations were 30 at best.



We ate a few times at Rancho el Sobrino, once at Sol (thanks Louis), and twice at Trio Penotti. I cannot recommend Trio Penotti enough. This was some of the best food I have ever eaten. The prices were extremely reasonable too. If you go to Curacao you have to try Trio Penotti. Make reservations the day before. We saw more than one group get turned away for not having any. They are right across the Weg naar Westpunt (main highway) from Cristoffel Park. I mention this because I had a difficult time finding them. In all, the food was very good everywhere. The beer was Amstel, Polar or Presidente. After a week of those, I could have killed for a nice IPA. I just may open a brewpub in Westpunt (with an attached grocery store, ATM and botica).



This was a great trip, and one that I will make again. Next time I think I will focus more on the shorediving. I will certainly stay in Westpunt and dive with Go West. They were one of the best shops that I have used over the last few years.



Thanks to Andreas Curacao, ArubaBob, rayaslin and morecowbells for all the information they have provided in this forum. We found it all very helpful in planning out this trip.



Finally, I want to thank everyone that went out of their way to make this a trip to remember. Louis, Anne Marie, Miguel, Pauline, Raul and Hendricks, you are each amazing. Thank you!



Shorter Story:

Go to Curacao, head to Westpunt, dive!
 
Hey buddy, That was a very nice report and it was very nice to be able to dive with you guys. We ended up the 9 days killing about 900 lionfish. That was a awesome trip. Take care. Aruba Bob
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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