Trip Report Trip Report Dec 2017

[ERRN]

Hi guys, wanted to say thanks for all the great info and pay it forward. don't want to write a novella so will try and keep it brief.
Rental Car-D and D rentals, great guy, decent prices, very close to airport (2 minute ride), waiting right outside terminal in lot to your R on arrival. TIP-get the GPS, it is well worth it for beaches, stores, gas stations and getting around. TIP he was able to give me a mechanical car key and the alarm seperate on a fob so no worries on diving and shorting out the alarm- just ask for it on booking.

Lodging Curacao Ocean Resorts at Lagun- unit 6B I think. Price was $580 US for 8 days. Friendly owner, well designed layout, great back patio facing the garden and pool, very secure and gated entry. Huge bathroom, large fridge, well stocked kitchen for self catering. Access to beach by walking through unrelated restaurant but no issues from them, I asked. Steep steps to Lagun Beach, doable with tanks but it's a work out- gate open from 8 am till 10 pm I think, closed other hours. otherwise have to walk on road to access beach or drive down and park.

Dive shop 1
Rented tanks for 5 days from Discover Diving (Now owned by Bas Hart) great shop, awesome customer service, great prices. Originally was going to do unlimited and they were happy to give 4 or 6 tanks at a time for the two of us, but didn't dive as much as expected due to SO having some issues. They worked the numbers, figured it was cheaper to just charge us by the tank and did that instead at the end of our stay. free weight rentals for both of us and happy to let us keep a few for free diving even when we were not renting tanks from them that day. could walk from there shop to Lagun beach and easy tank loading. New rental equipment and huge rinse tanks, restaurant next door for good beer and decent food.Strongly recommend Discover Diving!

Dive Shop 2
Go West Diving
very professional shop, very good customer service. To use bathrooms/dock and lockers it is about $8-10 US a person. fair enough price, but you might as well just rent tanks from them instead for around the same price one time, and save shlepping your tanks down the stairs one dive at least. rope from dock to reef was a nice no brainer compared to compass headings or surface swim. well run, no complaints tip-avoid restaurant on right, insane prices for even a soda.

Warning on dive reports- I went with SO who was very rusty and never really got comfortable diving this trip, so all shallower dives and easy planning. Would have loved to get to directors bay and some of the other southern sites but wasn't practical since she called a few dives due to bouyancy issues or anxiety. But hey she tried like a trooper so no worries.

Diving and sundry
Lagun, great entry level shore dive along the cliffs, decent fish, small turtle, coral fairly healthy, avoid if breeze kicks up waves in bay, vis got to 10 feet and even outside the bay not too impressive those days, and kicking back in was a bit of a challenge. First self guided shore dive done here so bit of a challenge to try and find turn points under water on the way back in but nothing scary, could always surface and take heading or surface swim. Dives x 4 due to convenience and proximity to hotel and dive shop. parking lot large, short walk from car to beach, good scenery on swim out. Free beach!

Porto Marie- nice beach club feel but not too overwhelmingly touristy/pushy, decent swim to reef but great sand channel to follow down, not many fish relative to other reefs, but great vis and great day to hang out on the beach. onsite restaurant was solid get the chicken skewers,avoid the goat burger Plenty of parking, but rough grading on lot. Dive x 2 and would have gone back but long road to beach and pay to enter so only one day.

Playa Kalki- best diving this trip due to vis, calm water, ease of navigation and convenience. Rope then L first dive Rope then R second. Healthy coral, decent fish life, great infrastructure. Small parking lot, some steps to get to the shoreline, maybe 25? Dove one day 2 tanks.

Food
Self catered mostly so made 3 trips to local grocery stores (centrum) (like to cook) great selection of meats for an island and decent prices on produce, similar to a whole foods in the US price point wise. found everything i needed and bakery was solid.

I'll add restaurants and general thoughts in part 2

 

[ERRN]

Part 2

Eating out/day trips

Near Lagun

Lots of Batidas (fruit shakes) and small snacks at roadside stands. Discovery Diving restaurant did a good pizza, good seafood, not bad burger ($10-20) US for mains. Shelter Rock had an amazing view go there for the sunset, great service reasonable prices and good food (12-22 US). I had an amazing goat curry, SO had a fried lionfish that was good. Restaurant by Bahia Diving was very good if pricey, great view and ambiance (14-28 US)

Willemstadt

Grazed at Circular Market, good cheap street food, fun 3-5 hours walking around Willemstadt, parking free in dirt lot across from Renaissance Resort. Very touristy but very safe and a fun way to spend the day/explore. floating market fun and good selection of produce but speaking Spanish (mas o menos) helped a lot regarding prices I think. Did the cheesy cave tour in the afternoon, definitely fun but only if you go into it not expecting much

West End
drove around and explored back roads, day diving with West End, very quiet

General Thoughts

Tipping/money- I followed my standard 20% if you're not an ass at restaurants, and tossed a dollar or 2 in florins to stand holders and street food stalls, seems very much appreciated, often got me free food or extra drinks. ATM's are not all over the place but used the one at the airport on arrival and another near the Renaissance resort, they are not hard to find, but especially out of Willemstadt less common then I expected. Credits cards used no issues and US dollars happily accepted everywhere.

Very pretty island in the wet season or afterwards, might be a bit bare in the late dry season. Lots of hills and vistas

Driving incredibly easy and fun, great view, good drivers, GPS made it a breeze to just go exploring, watch out for speed bumps and get comfortable using roundabouts. Gas stations not every mile like the US but the island is so small I only used a half tank of gas over 7 days driving every day, prepay at window of gas station desk, then pump, you need to know your pump number when going to window.

Spearfishing for lionfish- Discover Diving gave me a zookeeper and I took my own spear along, but they also had some for rent. I honestly never saw a lionfish, but again shallow dives and mainly focused on SO being safe and having fun so only took it out once. I never got grief from anyone the one time I did go out. From what I hear near dusk and at the less popular beaches and/or deeper is best. Seem fairly picked over on shallow reef, which is a good thing.

Dive Flags- saw dive masters use them with some/most group dives, but never saw an individual use one and never got grief for not using one myself, but hey now i have a brand new dive flag for next trip. Never saw anyone shoot a SMB but had one with me in case. No issues with boat traffic near divers in my dives.

S.O stuff- I personally still think taking a newer/anxious diver on shore dives was not my brightest moment, fair amount of task loading on me and her regarding spatial awareness/direction/currents(mild or absent)/navigating/ refreshing basic skills. It was never more than mildly stressful to me but she really struggled I think with the absence of a dive master. She is used to shallow boat dives over hard bottom and there were a lot of new variables for her to handle. In hindsite, should have tried at least one guided shore dive or boat dive for her. She really enjoyed the island though and wants to go back

I was very impressed by the island and the people, polite but reserved customer service, great street food, good drivers, felt safe in every way.

Language- everyone was happy to converse in English, fairly fluent, heard a lot of Dutch spoken as well as Papiamento, I spoke some spanish to shopkeepers and at roadside stands

Photos- none sorry or at least none good enough I want to post lol, underwater I was focused on SO and above kept forgetting to or didn't have cell phone/camera with me. Everytime i debate taking a DSLR, but end up leaving it at home, both due to weight and packing space and not wanting to look like a "tourist" with a grand of gear around my neck. Next time lol

Crime- I was only nervous about car break ins so never left anything valuable in car, no worries about crime otherwise. But honestly at Go West, Lagun, and Porto Maria can't see there would have been any problems with leaving cell phone or stuff in car. As is I just hid GPS under floormat. But we never hit any "wild" beaches so YMMV.

Dress- board shorts or shorts and tshirts the entire week with a polo or dress shirt for the nice meals plenty of people do dress up but never felt out of place in shorts and a t shirt.

Weather- winds kicked up a few days so near shore vis was not great, one really bad day of vis, honestly 10-15 inshore, maybe 35 at the reef, but again all shallow diving, max depth I hit was 65, mostly in the 20-30 foot range. Otherwise few rain showers for an hour or 2 and one cloudy day.

Price wise the lodging was great $580, airfare was reasonable $600, food was not bad about $40-80 for dinner for 2 with 1-2 drinks, nad an app or dessert, tank rentals were a steal. I personally still lean towards the Yucatan and Coz simply because it is so much cheaper regarding airfare, food, and not needing a rental car, even if diving is more expensive per tank. I also like the variety of cenotes, diving, nightlife, food in Playa and nearby. Lodging is about the same for cute air b and b type places. But for a couple's quieter vacation this was great choice, and do plan on going back in the next few years. much more relaxed driving and roaming than Mexico, especially for the SO. Compared to other locations in the Caribbean would definitely be on the short list to return.

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the report. The island has some lovey beaches that you can dive from that have good dive ops with nice amenities on site.

 

[drrich2]

Excellent, practical report with the sort of info. a prospective 1st timer will need! Glad to see it.

But honestly at Go West, Lagun, and Porto Maria can't see there would have been any problems with leaving cell phone or stuff in car.

Considering how much flack Bonaire gets for the need to leave nothing of value in your rental truck least it be vandalized/stolen, and that Curacao has some sites where there's supervision, it'd be interesting to see more lists of places people can reasonably (never say never) leave stuff in the rental during dives. Some might want to plan around that.

onsite restaurant was solid get the chicken skewers,avoid the goat burger

But, it's like, now that I know they exist, I must have one...

Richard.

 

[Wicket]

Just a few tips for others that may read your nice report. Thanks for posting!
Dive flags. I have only been required to use them at the locations closer to town (east) and they all let me use free of charge. Honestly on my last trip with the amount of boat traffic at Mambo beach and Jan Thiel jet skis I can see why. I did have a very large offshore fishing boat come within 15 or so feet of our flag at Jan Theil.
GPS. Don't rent youse maps.me on your phone. Download the Curacao map before you go away or on wifi on island and you'll be able to use when the phone is turned off. Ive used it on three trips now and it hasn't got me lost yet.
Theft. Never felt more unsafe than parking a car in any downtown American city. Be smart keep stuff out of sight and lock the doors. Same goes for the beach areas some of the bigger ones ie. Porto Marie have lockers for rent. The one place I keep hearing bad things about is Directors but we have yet to visit.
Diving. Porto Marie If you keep heading south from the sand shoot and hit the far side its just as fishy as any of the other sites imo. Lion fish I wasn't looking for them but we saw 3-6 on every dive other than Vaersenbay. Most of my dives ranged 30-60' maybe I just had my eyes on them this time as my last trip I saw way less.
Just a few tips for others that may read your good report.
Bugs. Not sure if you noticed any but all of us got eaten alive this trip. Was way worse than my other trips this was our first wet season trip. They had a good selection of bug sprays at Centrum if you forget or run out as we did lol.

 

[drrich2]

Bugs. Not sure if you noticed any but all of us got eaten alive this trip. Was way worse than my other trips this was our first wet season trip.

Mosquitos, 'sand fleas,' 'noseeums' or what?

I ask still wondering why I've often read of the dreaded 'sand fleas' of Roatan beaches but don't read about them at other sandy beach destinations like Grand Cayman, St. Croix, Aruba...

Richard.

 

[tkaelin]

On our trip to CUR in Jan the only time we noticed bugs was when dining outside in the evening. None during the day.

 

[Wicket]

Mosquitos, 'sand fleas,' 'noseeums' or what?

I ask still wondering why I've often read of the dreaded 'sand fleas' of Roatan beaches but don't read about them at other sandy beach destinations like Grand Cayman, St. Croix, Aruba...

Richard.

On our trip to CUR in Jan the only time we noticed bugs was when dining outside in the evening. None during the day.

Same with us just at night eating out side or enjoying the deck at our hose. It was defiantly Mosquitos and noseeums. Didn't get one bite during the day at the house or beach areas.

 

[chorse]

ERRN, thanks for the trip report. How can we contact the lodging you and your S.O enjoyed. My SO and I are familiar with Lagun and Discover Lagun restaurant and dive facility. But it sounds as though you stayed somewhere other than Bahia next door. We need a new place to stay. Sounds like you had a great vacation.

 

[ErikNYC]

Thank you for this report. I'm headed to CUR in May.

PS: Thanks for the D&D tip.