Lodge Kura Hulanda is 45mins. away so although it is very nice, it's a long ride for the non-divers even on their shuttle. Nice pool and they're on one of the better dive sites - Playa Kalki. Really there's not much else out there to do honestly. Only maybe 1/2 dozen restaurants - some open part time like Sol Foods also. One thing to consider is they have some larger cliff-front villas with full kitchens. If you were interested in doing some meals, stop at Centrum Market south of the airport rotary for food first. They sell cheap ($1) coolers for the ride out. The beach there is at best average - it's a lot of ironshore and coral in the water.
I've read similar comments about the Marriott as Damselfish but it has non-diver advantages. Piscadera Bay is 2 miles from downtown, it has a really
nice pool/bar area and a small casino on-site. Caribbean Sea Sports on-site but their shore dive isn't what our "expert" - my friends wife is a Curacao native dive guide - considers worth swimming out to since Blue Bay Wall is five minutes away by car and there's other better sites within 10mins. drive or less. I haven't
stayed at the Marriott or seen the rooms but have been on the grounds several times - we stayed a week in condos across the street.
There's two Marriotts also - we're both referring to the Emerald Beach property. The Renaissance is in the heart of the cruise area so it's always crowded during the day. It does have the advantage of being on one side of the swinging bridge right near the Rif Fort shopping/dining/fort complex. It also has the best casino on Curacao. Superior Producer is near there also. But if there's a cruise ship docking at the Megapier you can't dive it except at night. The
Dive Bus guides there as one option.
The Hilton in Piscadera Bay has been referred to as a dump. The grounds are average but the hotel building has to be 40-50 years old. I've not seen a room. Someone that posts here with Hilton Points stays at the Marriott. Had a really average meal there at their better restaurant and service was so slow I thought my server had left for the evening.
Another choice could be ScubaLodge. It's probably
just far enough from the downtown shops to be less affected by the traffic in that area - the cruise ships all dock across the harbor and cruisers walk/shuttle over to that side. I really don't know for sure though where it is. I'd be most concerned about morning traffic if you're driving out of there to dive somewhere else. Heading south should be fine along the road that eventually goes past Sunscape etc. They have a dive site there and a pool. Obviously the advantage for the non-divers would be they could walk everywhere downtown. Most of the really good south of town diving is 5-15mins. from there.
Scuba Lodge & Suites - Oceanfront boutique hotel Curacao
