Curacao Operator Recommendations

[trekkindave]

The wife and I are traveling in July with Royal Caribbean and there is not a dive available through the ship as an excursion. Last year the folks here on the forum suggested an operator and it worked out amazingliy for us. Can anyone here recommend a dive operator for us in Curacao, in or around Willamstad area?

We will be traveling with gear and we are still what i would call "advanced" beginners. I have close to 40 dives, and my wife just passed that 25 dive mark.

We are looking to see pretty things such as marine life and corals, but would not oppsed to seeing a nice wreck or attraction either.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[BUDMANOK]

the dive bus is pretty close to the terminal and I think will even pick you up. they have a house reef righ across the street that is a very nice shore dive. Mark and Suzy are very good operators

 

[trekkindave]

I just looked at the dive bus web site and it looks pretty good. Has anyone else used them? Im not sure how I feel about a shore dive in the caribbean though. We only have 6 caribbean dives under our belt and they were all boat dives. Does anyone have any photos of Curacao shore dives?

 

[diversteve]

Check with Atlantis - they will pick you up: Atlantis Diving Curacao - Cruise ships And are slightly closer than the DiveBus. Not that either is very far from the port. Both use a van but Atlantis seems to be able to take you to some of the better nearby sites. Many of which are 10-15mins. drive or less.

The DiveBus can't pick you up at the port. They don't have/want the permit. But if you did want to dive there - IDK if you saw these links: Cruise Ship Passengers and Useful info for cruise ship passengers

Pierbaai is an easy walk in off the beach dive if you wanted to try it there. There's two dives there - Pierbaai Beach and the Carpile nearby. Pierbaai would be better with no shore dive experience. Also there's often other divers/dive operators there.

And a couple places to eat. We liked Surf & Turf, not fancy but I'm reasonably sure that I saw the cook walk down to a submerged lobster trap to get ours for lunch. Not overly cheap but decent food in an outdoor setting. Before they expanded/moved, the Dive Bus used to be on-site there.

Pierbaai:

Shore entry:
Couldn't be easier...just walk the few feet from the gearing up area. Booty fins are recommended but not essential.
Swim out:
1 minute if you’re real slow…

Dive:
A lively, healthy reef with lots of macro stuff to look out for. Gently sloping. Quite different to the Breezes / Princess Beach 'end' of the reef, Oswaldo's Drop-Off.

You probably shouldn't try Carpile with no shore dive experience since:

Swim out:
From Pierbaai: 7-10 mins, against surface current, or dive it and stay shallow to save your air…
From next door beach: 5 mins, against surface current, or dive it and stay shallow to save your air…

Dive:
The barge carrying these vehicles was sunk as an artificial reef in 1973 and the 1950's cars and trucks have become totally integrated into the reef by now. Car Pile starts getting interesting at around 80-100ft / 25-30m so it's for Advanced or experienced divers only.

Curacao is one of the easiest places in the Caribbean for shore diving. Most entries are off the beach, a short swim out to the reef wall starting at around 40' and in a week of diving we did two where current was a factor- one was a planned drift dive.

Photos of some of the entries can be seen here: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/Curacao/index.htm
Anything from Vaarsenbaai east is a possibility except the Superior Producer because of your ship being moored nearby.

 

[RJP]

I just looked at the dive bus web site and it looks pretty good. Has anyone else used them? Im not sure how I feel about a shore dive in the caribbean though. We only have 6 caribbean dives under our belt and they were all boat dives. Does anyone have any photos of Curacao shore dives?

Dive Bus is highly recommended.

What has you wary about a shore dive "in the Caribbean" anyway? You walk into the water, put your fins on, and start your dive. At the end of the dive... reverse the process. Nothing easier. Typically you've got a bunch of cool stuff to see on your safety stop too, as you just do it swimming to shore.

Not sure what you want to see "picture wise" of Curacao shore diving.

 

[BUDMANOK]

I have used both Atlantis and the Dive Bus and they are both very friendly good ops but my preference is the Dive Bus but hey that's just an opinion. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Shore diving in Curacao is like diving in your heated swimming pool very,very easy but with cool stuff to see.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

We dove with Mark & Suzy at The Dive Bus and can't say enough good things about them.
All dives on Curacao have the same basic plan:
Put your gear on. Walk into the water. Swim a few yards and descend. Follow the reef to the edge of the wall. Go over and descend to your planned depth. Follow the wall till you've used up half your air. Come back up over the top of the wall and follow the top of the reef back to your entry point. You don't really do a safety stop, you just follow the reef in, and you'll spend more than adequate time at < 20 feet. It really doesn't get any simpler.
Most of the sites on Curacao have little or no current. The reefs are healthy and vibrant with tons of life. About the only thing in short supply are the big pelagics; don't expect to sharks.

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Have known Mark from the Dive Bus for many years. You will be well taken care of and have a great time.

 

[Bas Harts]

Does anyone have any photos of Curacao shore dives?

Check out www.facbook.com/bashartsdiving. We have lots of pictures and videos of shore dives on Curacao.

and we do offer dive excursions for cruise tourists, including pick up and pictures of your dives!

All our dive trips go to the westside of the island where the more remote and pristine reefs are located.

Have a look at www.bashartsdiving.com for more info or send us an email with your wishes to info@bashartsdiving.com