Curacao Habitat, what happened to the dock, dive site ?

[ronscuba]

Anyone know whatever happened to the old Curacao Habitat site ?

I know Habitat is gone and condo's were being built along that whole area.

Wonder if the dock or dive site is still there.

It was my favorite place in the Caribbean. The combination of the great house reef, dive area setup, closeness of the the showers, lockers, tanks, onsite restaurant, seclusion.

I miss it.

 

[JohnN]

Anyone know whatever happened to the old Curacao Habitat site ?

I know Habitat is gone and condo's were being built along that whole area.

Wonder if the dock or dive site is still there.

It was my favorite place in the Caribbean. The combination of the great house reef, dive area setup, closeness of the the showers, lockers, tanks, onsite restaurant, seclusion.

I miss it.

I dove there about 1 year ago. A bit more posh than I'm accustomed to, but very much in operation. I liked the very short swim to the dropoff !

 

[ronscuba]

I dove there about 1 year ago. A bit more posh than I'm accustomed to, but very much in operation. I liked the very short swim to the dropoff !

Thanks. Is it part of the condo complex, a dive shop dock or a standalone public shore dive spot ?

 

[JohnN]

Thanks. Is it part of the condo complex, a dive shop dock or a standalone public shore dive spot ?

It is part of the dive shop, located by a restaurant/bar complex. I recall a very nice set of concrete stairs into the water (complete with handrail). They had a nice shower and rinse tank too. I rented my tanks from them, I don't know if what happens if you bring your own.

The dive-op had no problem with me diving solo, IIRC they had the usual Curacao problem with their tanks. All of the dive shops use a central fill station, and they are delivered to the different sites by a dude in a pickup. He apparently tends to slam the tanks into the back and often deforms the yoke valve so it can be difficult to get a good seal. Some of the valves are "pro" (Yolk/DIN) and it can be almost impossible to get a DIN regulator screwed into them. I think I had to try 3 tanks before I could get an acceptable seal.

 

[Bas Harts]

The shop changed owners not that long ago. This is the facebook page of the new shop:

https://www.facebook.com/DiversRepublic

It looks like they have no website online.

All of the dive shops use a central fill station, and they are delivered to the different sites by a dude in a pickup. He apparently tends to slam the tanks into the back and often deforms the yoke valve so it can be difficult to get a good seal.

Some of the shops on curacao you mean......

 

[keesmon]

I'm staying there for a week in July and will report back.
I think it's all called Coral Estates now?

 

[ronscuba]

I'm staying there for a week in July and will report back.
I think it's all called Coral Estates now?

Definitely interested to hear your report when you get back. Hope all the condo construction did not affect the reef.

I know everyone loves Bonaire, but I found the diving on Curacao much more interesting with better variety.

 

[keesmon]

I'm doing a week of Bonaire (4th or 5th trip) followed by a week of Curacao (3rd trip) this summer.
This way I get a week of convenience followed by a week of variety.
Will certainly report back on both, especially Divers Republic, as I plan to dive the house reef regularly.

 

[KathyV]

We stayed at Habitat Curacao for 2 weeks long ago in Oct 2015. We didn't lodge in the main hotel, Habitat had some small separate apartments with kitchens and we rented a car and had a terrific time. We were there during Halloween and that was a fun party! We had great diving and the dive op was excellent. I just checked my log book and we did 25 dives including 6 on the house reef. I was sad to hear that the resort had closed so it is good to know that there is still a dive op on the location.

 

[lmorin]

We stayed at Habitat Curacao for 2 weeks long ago in Oct 2015. We didn't lodge in the main hotel, Habitat had some small separate apartments with kitchens and we rented a car and had a terrific time. We were there during Halloween and that was a fun party! We had great diving and the dive op was excellent. I just checked my log book and we did 25 dives including 6 on the house reef. I was sad to hear that the resort had closed so it is good to know that there is still a dive op on the location.

Back to the future diving? Awesome!!