First Curacao Trip in planning phase - dive shops and accomodations recommendations

[dierenarts]

We'll be going to Curacao for a combo conference/vacation. Bunch of veterinarians will be at the Curacao Marriot. That being said my wife and I aren't really big resort hotel people. Any suggestions for other local hotels or villas nearby? Any areas to avoid in that vaccinity? Dive shops recommended within short drive? Thanks all!

Koen

 

[irie1029]

I assume this is your first visit? I would blow off the conference and do day trips by renting a car it is easy to get around. The house reef at marriott is ok for starters but swing to Jan Thiel and have Hans at CURious2DIVE give you the Directors bay to tugboat dive. It is really nice my favorite. Definitely go West and stop at the various beeches You may consider staying at Sol Curacao Sunshine - Rental Property on the Island of Curacao which has apartments excellent food and honestly is in a remote pressureless side of the island. There are other local type restaurants near there as well as a resort. The famous dive spot alice in wonderland and GO WEST Diving - EN - Curacao Padi Scuba Dive Center - GO WEST Diving is right by Sol. I am sure others will see this post and add to it. Have a blast!

 

[Kenly]

I'm a local diver from Curacao! And i would also recommend the Director's Bay - Tugboat drift dive with Hans from CURious2Dive!! Great vertical wall at Directors Bay,and Hans is a great instructor/dive guide!!
Places to stay.. I could recommend The Ritz appartments..simple but nice, very close to the city. But in Curacao, you will need a car to visit the fun attractions the island has to offer.
I'd be glad to help you with more info about the island of Curacao or about diving!! Just send me a PM if you need any advice or suggestions. Enjoy your stay on my beautiful island!!

 

[RJP]

The Marriott is small as resort hotels go (tiny compared to the typical Marriott in say aruba, etc) so I would give it consideration if that's where your event is being held. I also hate large resorts,but have stsyedv3x at the curaçao Marriott... and would do so again tomorrow.

Are you splitting the trip - some time at conference and then staying longer? If this is the case I'd say stay at the Marriott for conference (and dive with Caribbean Sea Sports, onsite) and then afterwards head up west to Lodge Kura Hulanda and dive with Go West.

 

[diversteve]

While you're attending the conference at the Marriott you could stay there. It's one of the nicer ones I've been to yet smaller so there's more areas to get away from the crowd. The beach to the south will probably be pretty empty even if the Marriott's isn't. The Hilton on the other side of the Marriott is older and not as nice. If you wanted a nicer place to stay - look at Royal Palm Resort. You could walk from there to the Marriott and in case your convention is at the convention center - it's literally just down the street from RPR. Royal Palm Resort

Here's one of the units: Piscadera Bay Vacation Rental - VRBO 934970ha - 2 BR Curacao Townhome, Luxury Townhouse at Royal Palm Resort. at Piscadera Bay with a Center Location!! - if you work thru the links on the RPR website you can find others. Or on vrbo - they all have the same exterior so are easy to spot.

Caribbean Sea Sports is the on-site dive operator at the Marriott. The Hilton has an Ocean Encounters shop. Both do boat dives from there - recommended if you can work it into your schedule as the house reef there isn't the best of Curacao. I'd also suggest moving from that area for the vacation part. The West End is really quiet, Lodge Kura Hulanda might be an option - one of the leading small hotels in the world. Go West is their on-site operator and one of the best dives - Watamula is a short boat ride away. If you want to dive the Mushroom Forest, it's nearby also. And Playa Kalki - the shore dive off their dock - is IMO one of the best on Curacao also.

Not too far south is Playa Lagun - another good dive. Lagun makes Westpunt look busy. There's quite a few inexpensive apt (condo) type accommodations in that area - we stayed at My Dream Apt's there for a few days. But there's not much nearby including food stores etc. Playa Lagun has Discover Diving on site for tank rentals - from there Playa Jeremi is 5min. away and Westpunt about 15min further.

fwiw - all these suggestions about diving west - that's a 45min. drive each way. We kind of liked Piscadera Bay for it's central location - drive a few miles west to some of the better dive sites - Porto Mari, Varsenbaai etc. or drive 2-3 miles east to downtown for shops/restaurants etc. There's also Pirates Bay - a beach bar within walking distance. Superior Producer is about a mile + from the Marriott to the east. You can also drive to the turn around just past there and park and walk across the swinging bridge into downtown. There may be a lot of cruise shippers doing that also since the port is there also.

 

[mathauck0814]

I've really had terrific experiences with the All West/Go West operation. Our group visited them four years in a row for an annual Thanksgiving trip. This is not the easiest group to cater to: 8-10 people with a mix of tec/rec, open circuit/closed circuit, every-weekend-divers/once-a-year-divers. Brian really pulled together everything we've needed in those years to make our trip successful for everyone who attended.

Caveats: We rent the full apartments (king bed, separate living room) with the full kitchen and upstairs patio and cook most of our meals - if you want to be catered to, have turn down service, and go out to eat every night this is probably the wrong situation for you. We liked the lack of a schedule. Folks would dive when they felt like it, cook and eat when it met their whimsy and have their first beer whenever they damn well please.

Curacao isn't much topside (IMO) but there are a number of great sites and after four years we're still very content with the house reef (there's even a second house reef that's much deeper that we just discovered on our last stay).

Feel free to PM me, but I honestly can't say enough good things about how we've been treated there.

 

[LindaSSF]

Thanks for the great info here. My husband & I did one dive (tugboat area) when we stopped with a cruise ship this last Spring. We're returning for a 2 week dive vacation next April. I'm trying to soak up all the info!

We've reserved a spot at Atlantis Dive Apartments. Probably dive with several different operators.



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[dierenarts]

Thanks for all the advice folks. Since we're meeting friends for the conference, we've decided to do the first 6 nights up north with Sunshine and GoWest diving, then we'll be staying at the Marriott to be in the "thick of it" without having to drive 40 minutes each way for the remaining 5 days to catch up with friends.

Should we just dive with Marriott's dive crew or are they more cattle boat? Will try the tugboat drift dive mentioned any other recommendations on outfits (low numbers, low key, low speed time for filming etc.)?

 

[RJP]

Thanks for all the advice folks. Since we're meeting friends for the conference, we've decided to do the first 6 nights up north with Sunshine and GoWest diving, then we'll be staying at the Marriott to be in the "thick of it" without having to drive 40 minutes each way for the remaining 5 days to catch up with friends.

Should we just dive with Marriott's dive crew or are they more cattle boat? Will try the tugboat drift dive mentioned any other recommendations on outfits (low numbers, low key, low speed time for filming etc.)?

I've never been on CSS's boat with more than a handful of divers. The main thing you'll want to do is check true schedule to make sure they're not heading up west to where you just went diving with All West. Email them and ask fir schedule ahead of time.

 

[sphyrnidus]

If you have limited time and some money to spend, go with Bootduik avonturen voor de wat gevorderde duiker - Dive Charter Curacao
You're sure to have fun. The East Point is one of the most beautiful sites.
Klein Curacao is a nice day trip to a little island.
It's a little bit more advanced diving. But Niels, the owner, is a nice guy.