Nancyrobin
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Thinking of a trip to Habitat Curacao in Nov. Anyone been diving in Curacao lately? How are the reefs? Healthy? Opinions about Habitat Curacao Dive Resort? Thanks.
Diving in Curacao, at Habitat Curacao-opinions?
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keithdiver
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We stayed at Habitat for our the first half of our honeymoon and the diving was amazing...they've been making a lot of improvements and we are headed back in October. It's laid back, the food at the hotel is amazing and the house reef was pristine. We spent the second half of our honeymoon on Bonaire- but honestly, we liked Curacao better.
Damselfish
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telling someone to go to Bonaire when they ask specific questions about Curacao is like telling someone to buy a BP/W when they ask questions about a specific BC...
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I really liked the Habitat house reef (Nos Kas) as well. We saw several big moray eels, 1/2 dozen spotted eels, an octopus (night) a barracuda and lots of fish there. There was also flounder just off the "beach" west of the divedock - fun to snorkel with them.
It was one of the top 3 dives we did on the West side - the other two being Porto Mari just down the road and Playa Kalki in Westpunt. We liked it so much we went back a 2nd morning later that week even though we were by then diving/staying in Willemsted.
Nice setup at Habitat, we dove there one day on their unltd. pkg. They have lockers and tanks at the water level, high benches to setup your gear and it's a very short swim out to the reef. Also they have a tank pickup in the parking lot at the resort level for shore diving elsewhere. (you wouldn't want to haul tanks up all those stairs...lol)
It was one of the top 3 dives we did on the West side - the other two being Porto Mari just down the road and Playa Kalki in Westpunt. We liked it so much we went back a 2nd morning later that week even though we were by then diving/staying in Willemsted.
Nice setup at Habitat, we dove there one day on their unltd. pkg. They have lockers and tanks at the water level, high benches to setup your gear and it's a very short swim out to the reef. Also they have a tank pickup in the parking lot at the resort level for shore diving elsewhere. (you wouldn't want to haul tanks up all those stairs...lol)
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
Curacao reefs were in good shape during our third visit to Curacao Summer 2009.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/abc-islands/303421-june-20-july-4-2009-curacao-trip-report.html
We're returning to Curacao for a fourth visit in september 2010, hopefully we'll catch some of the September coral spawning.
We have never stayed or dived at the Habitat facility. We do like the more rural areas such as where habitat is located though. We like the Boca St. Michael area and the Westpunt area, Habitat falls in between those areas nicely.
We mainly do independant buddy team shore diving, so boat diving access / convinence isn't a priority for us.
Have a great trip!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/abc-islands/303421-june-20-july-4-2009-curacao-trip-report.html
We're returning to Curacao for a fourth visit in september 2010, hopefully we'll catch some of the September coral spawning.
We have never stayed or dived at the Habitat facility. We do like the more rural areas such as where habitat is located though. We like the Boca St. Michael area and the Westpunt area, Habitat falls in between those areas nicely.
We mainly do independant buddy team shore diving, so boat diving access / convinence isn't a priority for us.
Have a great trip!
TheDiveBus
Contributor
Hi there Nancyrobin,
Curacao's reefs are in great shape and perfect for spotting macro life (you'll be disappointed if you come here hoping to see the big guys). There's more info about diving in Curacao starting here if you're interested: The Dive Bus - DIVING CURACAO as well as a break down between East and West sites, as well as individual dive sites.
The focus is on shore diving, which is what we specialise in, but it applies for boat diving too should you choose to go that way.
The Habitat dive op used to be EasyDivers, but it's now changed ownership to Diversity.
If you need any other info, please feel free to PM me.
Happy planning
Suzy
The Dive Bus - HOME
Curacao's reefs are in great shape and perfect for spotting macro life (you'll be disappointed if you come here hoping to see the big guys). There's more info about diving in Curacao starting here if you're interested: The Dive Bus - DIVING CURACAO as well as a break down between East and West sites, as well as individual dive sites.
The focus is on shore diving, which is what we specialise in, but it applies for boat diving too should you choose to go that way.
The Habitat dive op used to be EasyDivers, but it's now changed ownership to Diversity.
If you need any other info, please feel free to PM me.
Happy planning
Suzy
The Dive Bus - HOME
jd950
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The reefs are pretty good, and for all practical purposes the same as Bonaire. Some Curacao reefs are better, being farther from development and less heavily used. Some are in poorer shape than on Bonaire. If you shore dive and want to hit many sites you will spend more time driving than you would on Bonaire.
I think Habitat has changed ownership or management recently, but I am not sure, maybe only the dive op changed hands? When I went there with three others about a year ago, we all agreed that the reef was fine, the place overall looked a bit rundown and the lunch was not very good at all.
We just dived and had lunch there, but didn't stay there. I think I have read that things are improved now? You might want to do a search and focus on reviews within the past year.
You can certainly skip Curacao and fly over to Bonaire. I went to Bonaire once and then later to Curacao....repeatedly. Nothing against Bonaire; I will probably go back. In the meantime, I really enjoy the Western side of Curacao, staying at AllWest, diving around the West side, doing a few boat dives with Ocean Encounters West and making a couple trips over to the East side to see the nice people at the Dive Bus and dive there and at some other sites.
I think Habitat has changed ownership or management recently, but I am not sure, maybe only the dive op changed hands? When I went there with three others about a year ago, we all agreed that the reef was fine, the place overall looked a bit rundown and the lunch was not very good at all.
We just dived and had lunch there, but didn't stay there. I think I have read that things are improved now? You might want to do a search and focus on reviews within the past year.
You can certainly skip Curacao and fly over to Bonaire. I went to Bonaire once and then later to Curacao....repeatedly. Nothing against Bonaire; I will probably go back. In the meantime, I really enjoy the Western side of Curacao, staying at AllWest, diving around the West side, doing a few boat dives with Ocean Encounters West and making a couple trips over to the East side to see the nice people at the Dive Bus and dive there and at some other sites.
miketsp
Contributor
We had a week at Habitat recently. The reef is in good condition and only a short swim out. There's a guide cable running out to the 30m line that makes navigation a breeze.
The only thing we found was very little life on the reef just after it gets dark. If you intend to do night dives do them well after dark, at least 3 - 4 hours after. Since you can dive 24 hours it's not an issue. Have dinner first.
Speaking of which, the food is excellent although you may find the service slow at times.
Rooms are big and spacious, great for divers.
WiFi in the reception area for a small fee.
Curacao is one of the few places where I saw more air-fill stations than gas stations.
The only thing we found was very little life on the reef just after it gets dark. If you intend to do night dives do them well after dark, at least 3 - 4 hours after. Since you can dive 24 hours it's not an issue. Have dinner first.
Speaking of which, the food is excellent although you may find the service slow at times.
Rooms are big and spacious, great for divers.
WiFi in the reception area for a small fee.
Curacao is one of the few places where I saw more air-fill stations than gas stations.
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