Hotel with nice house reef and solo diving option in Curacao.

[svs]

Are any hotels in Curacao set up similar to such in Bonaire where you can store dive gear near the shore,
pick up tank anytime you want and dive solo if in the mood? Will hotel dive shop fill pony without asking
question? Are hotel house reefs in Curacao comparable to house reefs in Bonaire (e.g. Buddy or Divi)?
It would be also nice to have a kitchen.

 

[asha]

All West apartments in Westpunt.

 

[Bryan.]

Thanks Asha for the recommendation @ All West Apartments!!

All West is a great place where you can chill out and dive as much as you want whenever you want! It has an onsite tank room complete w/ rinsing facilities, full kitchens in every apartment plus stunning sea views off of every balcony!! All of the packages include room, vehicle (choice between a truck or car) and of course diving!! Diving can be package as either a boat diving package which includes no limit shore or just a no limit shore package! The diving portion is run by GO WEST Diving One of the questions is regarding SOLO Diving and filling of pony bottles... let me say that I never have a problem filling spare air, pony bottles, etc... but that is not without questions as it would not be prudent to do so, additionally GO WEST Diving does not support the SOLO diving practice. As there is no 24 hour onsite management at ALL WEST, we cannot monitor divers and what they do therefore we trust that each diver respects our safety protocols and act as responsible divers. There are always plenty of divers at Allwest and GO WEST to buddy up with. Thanks again and we hope to see you soon!!

 

[svs]

Thank you Asha and Bryan,

Solo diving is not mandatory for me but it is nice to have such option e.g. if I wake up at 5 am and decide to jump in the water.

Another question: Is it possible to pick up rental car at the airport? If it is at the hotel, what is the best way to get from airport to All West Apartments?

 

[diversteve]

If you eliminate AllWest for the reason stated above, Lodge Kura Hulanda adjacent - they also use Go West - I'm hard-pressed to come up with a viable option. Lions Dive, Breezes and the Hilton all use Ocean Encounters which has a similar solo policy IIRC. There are other dive operators on-site at many of the dive sites - Playa Lagun, Varsenbaai, Tugboat etc. but none have an on-site hotel/resort. Some have rental houses/condos within walking distance nearby but no gear storage at the dive site. And all are not close to much of anything else - i.e. restaurants, shopping etc.

About the only place I can think of is the Marriott Emerald Casino - probably no kitchens either - IDK what Caribbean Sea Sports policies re: solo diving are but IIRC they had on-site gear storage.

The house reef at LKH/All West - Playa Kalki - is better IMO than either Buddy's or the Divi. Didn't the Divi's reef take a lot of damage in a recent hurricane? In general the diving off Curacao is as good as Bonaire. There's dives on Curacao you don't see on Bonaire - Mushroom Forest/Blue Cave is one. But it's a boat dive. At some sites if you were dropped on the reef you'd be hard pressed to tell where you were - same water clarity, same blue fish/other animal life. We seemed to see more big eels there also. One other difference is that the reef generally starts farther off-shore on Curacao - at a lot of west sites you enter off a sandy beach and swim out thru a wide opening in the ironshore cliffs. And Curacao has the dolphin dive.

my .02

 

[diversteve]

You should get a car at the airport - it's a 45min. drive out to Westpunt. Pretty expensive cab ride. It was $50 to Lagun for a friend of mine several years ago and that's about 2/3rd's as far.

All West does have car rental options:

• car rental prices incl. insurance

There was a group of us so we rented a truck for tank hauling and an SUV for protected gear storage - theft is an issue there like Bonaire at more remote sites. Our apt. mgr. warned us not to take much of value to the more remote sites - like the Gnip's. At many of the other locations it's less of an issue due to an on-site dive operator/snack shop/beach rental place - most are setup so they'd see anyone suspicious. Playa Jeremi was one that was a little isolated also - and the dive is down the hill from the parking lot so you lose visibility of your vehicle in the water - or once you round the point out to the reef.

If you're going to cook, you probably also want to stop for food in town - there's not much out in Westpunt or along the way - Centrum Market is often recommended. To get there: south of the airport is a rotary. An arrow to Westpunt points right. Instead go straight thru (south) and Centrum will be on the right - I believe it's two stop lights down. As you approach it there's an old white water tower (brick) on a hill to your right, Centrum is the building under it - there's a sign. Centrum sells cheap ($2) disposable styro coolers for perishables.

 

[svs]

Thank you Steve

 

[Bryan.]

Thank you Asha and Bryan,

Solo diving is not mandatory for me but it is nice to have such option e.g. if I wake up at 5 am and decide to jump in the water.

Another question: Is it possible to pick up rental car at the airport? If it is at the hotel, what is the best way to get from airport to All West Apartments?

I forgot to mention, our package prices including Room, Car/Truck and diving include the airport transfer to/from All West!! So we are waiting for you at the Airport, depending on your arrival time we will take you for suppplies and then meet you at the Apartments. If your arrival time is late in the evening, we will have a welcome letter for you at the apartments and then see you the next morning. On arrival, your apartment and vehicle will be waiting for you.

If you would like to have a quote, please email me directly and I will be happy to send you the rates and availability.

Thanks again for understanding our safety policies and I will look forward to hearing from you.

 

[RJP]

About the only place I can think of is the Marriott Emerald Casino - probably no kitchens either - IDK what Caribbean Sea Sports policies re: solo diving are but IIRC they had on-site gear storage.

When I asked there about solo diving they said "No problem. As long as you are solo certified... and your buddy is too!"

That said, they rent tanks that you can load in your car and drive away... perhaps to "meet your buddy" elsewhere?

 

[jd950]

Our apt. mgr. warned us not to take much of value to the more remote sites - like the Gnip's. At many of the other locations it's less of an issue due to an on-site dive operator/snack shop/beach rental place - most are setup so they'd see anyone suspicious.

I have to disagree a little. Just as on Bonaire, you should leave nothing of value in the vehicle and leave the door unlocked and windows down at least partially. It is just a facet of diving on these islands. You are likely to have someone check the truck for valuables and take anything they want. If you are not willing to lose it; don't leave it, and if you lock the truck you may have a broken window.

The situation is better at some sites, such as where there is organized parking, paid admission, more people around, etc., but why spend the time worrying about which site is safer? I suppose I might be willing to lock the vehicle at Porto Mari and Cas Abou, but we just don't leave anything that would cause us much grief if it was taken. I know we have had our vehicle gone through both on Bonaire and Curacao but so far, no one has stolen our solar shower, sandals, water, snacks or towels, but I am sure we will lose something one day.