curacao trip report 7/2-9/04

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smokey braden

Contributor
Rest in Peace
Messages
841
Reaction score
31
Location
king george, virginia
# of dives
500 - 999
left dulles on AA changed in miami direct to curacao,
return was the same with no problems.
resort was sunset waters, with sunset divers as op.

jim, the general manager for the resort met our cab as we arrived and introduced us to his wife, gayna.
after checking in, while our bags were being taken to our 2 bedroom suite, we were given a brief orientation on the AI resort.

jim then showed us our rooms, which were very large with tile floors. a living room with tv, couch, table and wet bar with stove. a master bedroom overlooking the beach and a second bedroom for our 16 yr old son.

the food for every meal was either buffet or from a menu.
there were always several choices with as much as you wanted. my wife who is allergic to gluten was told that if she did not see anything she could eat, she was to order fresh grilled fish, chicken or steak from the kitchen. the cooks were so attentive she only asked one time. staff was wonderful, all very friendly and helpful. service was great.

the dive op was sunset divers with mike and his wife michelle.
their instructors were bernd, kevin and carlos. each with their own specialty. my son bo, certified ow with bernd as his private instructor. kevin knew the reefs, the walls, the currents and all the coral and fish we would see. carlos could show the photographers sea horses, flamingo tongues, mantis shrimp, scorpion fish, and juvenile spotted drums.

the dive conditions in general were temp 80f, vis 90-110 and no to very light current.
the boat dives were never more than 20 min. away.
the house reef has a nice wall, an airplane wreck and a marble statue at 71ft.
my wife snorkeled it several times a day.

i had the privilege of diving with a scuba board member.
i thought this was real cool and we talked about the good info we've read here.

hope y'all find this info helpful.

Smokey
 
smokey braden:
left dulles on AA changed in miami direct to curacao,
return was the same with no problems.
resort was sunset waters, with sunset divers as op.

jim, the general manager for the resort met our cab as we arrived and introduced us to his wife, gayna.
after checking in, while our bags were being taken to our 2 bedroom suite, we were given a brief orientation on the AI resort.

jim then showed us our rooms, which were very large with tile floors. a living room with tv, couch, table and wet bar with stove. a master bedroom overlooking the beach and a second bedroom for our 16 yr old son.

the food for every meal was either buffet or from a menu.
there were always several choices with as much as you wanted. my wife who is allergic to gluten was told that if she did not see anything she could eat, she was to order fresh grilled fish, chicken or steak from the kitchen. the cooks were so attentive she only asked one time. staff was wonderful, all very friendly and helpful. service was great.

the dive op was sunset divers with mike and his wife michelle.
their instructors were bernd, kevin and carlos. each with their own specialty. my son bo, certified ow with bernd as his private instructor. kevin knew the reefs, the walls, the currents and all the coral and fish we would see. carlos could show the photographers sea horses, flamingo tongues, mantis shrimp, scorpion fish, and juvenile spotted drums.

the dive conditions in general were temp 80f, vis 90-110 and no to very light current.
the boat dives were never more than 20 min. away.
the house reef has a nice wall, an airplane wreck and a marble statue at 71ft.
my wife snorkeled it several times a day.

i had the privilege of diving with a scuba board member.
i thought this was real cool and we talked about the good info we've read here.

hope y'all find this info helpful.

Smokey

Whoops--I sent a PM to you the other day and had the wrong guy! Welcome back--I hope you guys had a good trip back home. Yeah I know, it's never a good trip when you're going HOME right? :)

How was your trip to town? Did you dive at all on Thurs? Man, Scott and I wanted to get on that boat Wed morning--it just killed us to have to pack up our gear and watch the dive boat pull away.

It was so good meeting you, Shirley and Bo and I'm glad I had the privilege of diving with you. What are the odds of meeting someone off the board when you didn't plan it? LOL I hope we all have the chance to dive together again someday. Tell Bo to keep going--he's a natural. He'll be an instructor before you know it! :)

Angie
 
hey angie,
you should have gone on that wed. boat.
carlos showed us 3 seahorses and a mantis shrimp.
i'd like to dive with y'all again someday too.
let me know which island you pick.
maybe we could celabrate your 200th dive then.
best regards,
smokey
 

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