I am heading to Curacao in late August 2023. Planning a two or three dive day, while I am there. Just wondering if anyone with knowledge and and experience in the area have any suggestions on reefs or wrecks that would be most recommended? I am staying right next to Ocean Encounters, which looks like it get good reviews. I have limited experience (9 dives) and Open Water certification.
Diving in Curacao
- Thread starter Billg68bg
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During a month long stay at the Sunscape Curacao in 2021, I split diving between Ocean Encounters for boat diving and The Dive Bus for shore diving. Both dive ops were excellent. Ocean Encounters tended to use the reefs closer to their dive ops at LionsDive and Sunscape. The farthest north we got with their dive boats was the Superior Producer wreck and Double Reef. The rest were split between Director's Bay, Tug Boat, Cornelius Bay (my favorite), Saba, Shipwreck Point, and Jan Thiel. The Dive Bus trips were all shore dives, and tended to use more northern dive sites such as Cas Abao, Playa Kokomo, Puerto Mari, Playa Lagun, and two across the street from The Dive Bus, Carpile and Pierbaai. To get a better taste of diving Curacao, I can highly recommend using both of those two dive ops so you can fully enjoy both types of diving over some really nice reefs. FWIW, shore diving with The Dive Bus is very user friendly, with transportation from/to their dive op and shore dive sites, with easy in/out at the beaches. Much easier than shore diving Bonaire. I highly recommend renting a car so you can add additional dives at the many sheltered bays all the way up to Westpunt. Also, don't miss diving or snorkeling with the turtles at Playa Piskado, but get there early due to parking availability.
looks like altamira covered everything you need.
i would def suggest using a dive op and not going out on your own though. no offence but with your limited experience i don't think it would be a very good idea.
my wife and i loved diving directors bay and kokomo on our own (two of the suggestions above. we stayed in playa lagun for awhile as well and also enjoyed that reef. but it was a bit of a swim from shore if that is a concern.
tug boat was meh. and not a very nice location imho.
we had friends who used dive bus and they were very happy with their trip.
i would def suggest using a dive op and not going out on your own though. no offence but with your limited experience i don't think it would be a very good idea.
my wife and i loved diving directors bay and kokomo on our own (two of the suggestions above. we stayed in playa lagun for awhile as well and also enjoyed that reef. but it was a bit of a swim from shore if that is a concern.
tug boat was meh. and not a very nice location imho.
we had friends who used dive bus and they were very happy with their trip.
Yeah. I'm not near the point of striking out on my own yet. Besides. I learned the value of the buddy system on a recent dive, when my regulator failed. Not that I would dive alone regardless.
sorry. i did not mean to imply you might be solo diving. although there can be a time and place for that. i meant not using the support of a local dive shop. but i am glad to hear you recognize your limitations. someday you may find you are ready to do some buddy diving or maybe even solo diving without using a dive shop. my wife and i love when we are able to go dive on our own without having to follow the crowd and follow some elses schedule. it is a much more relaxing way to dive imho.
Don’t discount a Tug Boat, there is a lot to see in that area
the dive bus home reef is nice
you can go from Tug boat to Dirctors bay and there is a lot to see if you get lucky
look at VRBOfor the best living conditions
the dive bus home reef is nice
you can go from Tug boat to Dirctors bay and there is a lot to see if you get lucky
look at VRBOfor the best living conditions
ps444mike
Contributor
Ocean Encounters will treat your right and take you to some amazing dive sites.
The double of Tug Boat wreck & wall and then mucking under the pier showcase a complete contrast of species. We truly love those dives. In three trips, it has been a request for a destination all three times.
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