Diving in Curacao, at Habitat Curacao-opinions?

[joyceschur]

I just got back from 2 weeks in Curacao. Most of the information I used to plan that trip was a result of this thread so I'll report back and many thanks to all the people who posted here and provided such valuable tips:

For the first part of my trip I stayed in the Willemstad area and used The Dive Bus for shore dives. I was completely satisfied with their services and all the dives I did with them were magnificent. I would use them again. What I wouldn't do again is stay at a dive dedicated resort in the Willemstad area (why bother when The Dive Bus offers reliable shuttle service) or use a Willemstad area dive operation for boat dives (you'll be spending a lot of time on a boat getting to all those fantastic dive sites way out on the west end of the island - it's easier to drive to Westpunt, spend a day or 2 and use Ocean Encounters WEST for boat dives in that area).

For the second part of my trip I stayed in Westpunt (All West Apartments) and did a combination of boat/shore dives using Ocean Encounters West. Again, services all around were superb and dives were spectacular. I would do this again. In fact I WILL do this again, I think I'll go back in October because the diving was so awesome.

I would also eat all my meals on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Sol Foods (because the food was reasonably priced, incredibly good, and this is where all the divers hang out so it's a real feel good crowd).

The reefs are in excellent condition, some of those coral formations are take-your-breath-away. Macro diving doesn't get much better than this because of the visibility and negligible currents (except for Watamula where the current is schizophrenic).

Thanks again to all who posted on this thread and whose input contributed to my extraordinary vacation.

 

[muzicgirl]

It really depends on what your are looking for - we stayedat habitat in October last year and look forward to our second stay there this upcoming october. They are going through some changes for the better. Dive staff was awesome, food was awesome, diving - was whatever is better than awesome - I highly recommend.

 

[craracer]

I just checked flights from MSP to CUR, and it looks like it would be 10-13 hours in duration (late September).

 

[Cynjohnson]

We will be in Curacao the 18th through the 26th, also hope to catch the spawning. We will be at the Breezes, where are you staying?

 

[Nancyrobin]

We will be in Curacao the 18th through the 26th, also hope to catch the spawning. We will be at the Breezes, where are you staying?

Our dive shop set up the trip, and we are staying at Habitat Curacao, second week in Nov. Can't wait.

 

[curious2dive]

Hi,

If you want to do some beautiful dives you can join us at CURious2DIVE. We travel with small groups over the Island to visit the different divesites. We offer 1-tank, 2-tank dives and packages. Visit our website ww.curious2dive.com.
If you're interested you can mail us at curious2dive@gmail.com. We send you the different posibilities we have.

Regards
Hans Pleij

 

[tarponchik]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Curacao, which was our 2nd trip there. Some observations on reefs and sea life:

1. The further North you go the better the reefs are. Especially, if you are into macro. I saw just one giant anemone on Habitat reef but counted dozens and dozens on every reef to the North (Cas Abou, Mansalina, Lagun, Jeremi, the Kenepas, Forti, Kalki etc). Nudibranches in the North are so numerous that sometimes I saw 5-7 at once, of different color.

2. Many corals are bleached to sugar-white. The locals believe corals will recover but who knows.

3. Lionfish is omnipresent. I counted them and I can calculate the average I saw per dive, but as I recall the most were at Plaia Forti where I counted 11 encounters with LF in a single dive. Haven't seen lionfish in PMarie where they probably got killed ny local divemasters.

4. Not many turtles, maybe 5-6 encounters only, and all the turtles we saw were small. Locals believe turtles migrate elsewhere once they grow, but I have a strong suspicion this "elsewhere" is in turtle Heaven.

5. Gone are the large groupers like tiger, black and nassau. In 2 weeks, i saw one juvenile tiger or black maybe 1 and 1/3 feet (40 cm) long, that is it. Also, barracudas we've seen were mostly <2 feet; just 3 large adults in the last couple days.

6. Suprisingly, though small and medium size reef fish are plentiful, not too many angelfishes, and very few of them were mature. Most of angels were juvenile French still with yellow stripes.

7. Very few lobsters but many clinging crabs--counted 6 on one night dive.

 

[Korsu]

Many corals are bleached to sugar-white. The locals believe corals will recover but who knows

Did you take any photos? Are you sure this was bleaching and not recent storm damage? I have always been impressed over the last three years at the lack of bleaching at the West End and in Curacao in general. My own theory ( with no scientific backing) was that the corals were pretty resistant because of the generally high water temps.

Not many turtles, maybe 5-6 encounters only, and all the turtles we saw were small. Locals believe turtles migrate elsewhere once they grow, but I have a strong suspicion this "elsewhere" is in turtle Heaven.

I think seeing turtles is somewhat seasonal. Also with the weather being so bizarre, hard to say what is influencing wildlife at present. Large turtle sightings are never all that common.

Gone are the large groupers like tiger, black and nassau. In 2 weeks, i saw one juvenile tiger or black maybe 1 and 1/3 feet (40 cm) long, that is it.

Haven't seen a Nassau grouper in over three years. Small Tigers and Marbled occasionally.

not too many angelfishes,

Very seasonal, especially Queens. Large French can be seen in groups of 3-6 when the water is "warm". Grays are very uncommon.

Very few lobsters

Sadly true just about everywhere.

I think your findings are pretty typical for the ABC islands and certainly for Curacao. While somewhat fished out for the larger stuff, it hasn't changed all that much in my experience over the last three years. I am not saying that is a good thing but it is what one should expect while diving in Curacao. The macro life seems to be fine and will keep keen eyes busy. Until local measures are taken in the belief that Curacao is now a true dive destination I doubt there will be a great deal of change in the fishing policies etc.
These photos are of pretty typical sightings: Underwater Curacao - sbysshe.smugmug.com

 

[sansky]

Been to Curacao twice and stayed at Habitat twice and loved it. Divemasters were great and showed you alot of stuff! Diving on your own (shore) was more adventurous and it took longer to get to dive sites because of winding roads, but it was worth it once you found the sites.

 

[tarponchik]

Did you take any photos? Are you sure this was bleaching and not recent storm damage? I have always been impressed over the last three years at the lack of bleaching at the West End and in Curacao in general. My own theory ( with no scientific backing) was that the corals were pretty resistant because of the generally high water temps.

Yes but had no time to edit yet. This is definetely bleaching, not mechanical breaking up. It looks weird, brain corals especially. But it feels slimy if you touch it, so most likely the coral is still alive.

I think seeing turtles is somewhat seasonal. Also with the weather being so bizarre, hard to say what is influencing wildlife at present. Large turtle sightings are never all that common.

I can only compare to Bonaire where in Dec 2007 we saw at least 1 turtle on every dive; often 2 or 3 in one dive.