Trip Report Trip Report: Family trip of 2 divers and 2 non-divers (snorklers)

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sportyluis

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Location
Canada
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50 - 99
Just got back from Curacao and still dreaming of their beautiful beaches! I thought I'd write a quick trip report geared towards those going with non-diving partners / friends / family that may be helpful for those doing research on going

Group: 2 divers (1 certified only 5 months ago and these were the first dives since) and 2 parents (relatively fit)

Location: We stayed in Westpunt area

Beaches + Diving!: I didn't get to dive many locations as we only allocated 3 days for diving but we dove Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki) and a boat dive to Black Coral Garden and Watamula (all via Go West Diving which is on site at Playa Kalki). I LOVED Alice in Wonderland as a dive site with a lot of coral and very very short swim out to the reef. This was also the perfect spot as there is good snorkling on site so the family could stay together and we didn't have to worry about being in different locations as the parents. There are many other beaches with local dive shops but I didn't get to dive them as I didn't have a buddy for those dives as my girlfriend got a bit of a cold. Black Coral Garden and Watamula have lots of corals and were easy dives although there was no current the day we went. I can't comment on what you can see there as I was busy trying to follow my buddy who kept kicking the whole time so no chance to look around carefully.
The beaches we visited were: Playa Kalki (really good snorkling with lots of fish around. As mentioned I love the diving there because it was easy so my girlfriend felt comfortable there), Playa Lagun ( less fish than Alice in Wonderland but we saw octupus, reef squid, scorpionfish and a small turtle), Cas Abou, Porto Marie, Grote Knip (Beautiful beach, see pic below, but snorkling wasn't good), Klein Knip (supposed to be good snorkeling but didn't get to snorkel there) and Playa Grandi where we swam with turtles each time we went! I highly recommend going to Grandi in the morning as there are less people there. We would wake up and go there first as the first boats come in around 7:30 and the turtles follow. At this time there was usually just myself and one or two other snorkelers in the water so great time to swim with the turtles.

Lodging: We stayed at Sunshine's getaway which we really enjoyed as it was a 4 minute walk to Playa Grandi (turtles) and 7 minute walk to Alice in Wonderland.
Food: We cooked most meals as there aren't many restaurants around and the parents don't like burgers / pizza, etc so they cooked most meals. We did eat at Sol Food which was delicious! We also ate the last day at Daniel's restaurant (about 20 minutes towards the city) which was very tasty as well. I recommend the dutch pancakes with ham and pineapple there

Car Rental: We rented from Alamo but then I was scared they'd be closed by the time I got there. I wrongly assumed they'd stay open for the last flights but they don't. They close right at 11 pm (some others close earlier). when I go back I'll rent from a private car rental company such as Just Drive Curacao or D&D.

Other tips: Bring a rashguard or wetsuit for snorkeling (and definitely a wetsuit for diving). I was surprised how cold the water was but I was told that's why the reefs are so nice! I found it very little current although I've read others say there is current on those boat dives (although I've dove Cozumel and West Palm Beach where there is a lot of current). One of the snorkelers wasn't too comfortable in deep water so we rented her a life jacket for $5 a day and she had a great time using that. She also braved the cold as the snorkeling was well worth it.

We had some underwater point and shoot cameras which were great. Great visibility on the dive and amazing light coming in so didn't use any flash although obviously if you are a pro strobes are good. We just aren't good enough for that yet.

Snorkling we saw lots of trumpet fish, colorful fish, trunk fish, octopus, reef squid, scorpion fish and lots of turtles!
Diving (forewarning I'm not great at finding things and my girlfriend was just happy to see anything and practice her diving). Highlights were moray eels (spotted and green kinds) (found one or more on every dive in Alice in Wonderland), spanish lobster, seahorse, trunkfish, trumpet fish, saw a huge fish we couldn't identify that was about 4 feet long, banded shrimp. There was a lot more but we just were content in looking casually and I was focused on keeping an eye on my girlfriend instead of looking for creatures.


Final Report: I definitely need to go back. The diving was fantastic, easy and beautiful. Some of the best corals I've ever seen (better than Grand Cayman and I want to say better than Turks & Caicos). The snorkling was great (girlfriend's dad was spending 4-5 hours a day snorkling). I personally recommend staying near Westpunt as that's where we found all the nice beaches but depends on the kind of traveller you are. We had no problem cooking our own meals and the beauty of that area is there are a lot of beaches so we basically did a morning beach, lunch at our lodging, afternoon beach and then dinner as it gets dark around 6:30. We met a couple from Pennsylvania who seemed to be doing boat dives in the morning and shore dives in the afternoon. They did other shore dives too and their comments made me want to just dive all day every day but alas it was a family trip and I was happy with the diving I got in!

I'll post my pics on instagram at luis.reyes2 if anyone is interesting seeing them (I'll post over the next week as right now I'm at work looking outside at a snowstorm)

Grote Knip
IMG_5021.jpg


Porto Marie
IMG_5041.jpg


I hope this helps!

Luis
 
Thanks for the report. On the water temps you are likely hitting them at their coldest in Jan/Feb and they do go up from what you experienced. Glad you enjoyed your trip and Westpunt. We thoroughly enjoy staying on that part of the island. Sunshine is great. DIving at Gowest Playa Kalki a/k/a Alice in Wonderland really is super easy and sure to please.
 
saw a huge fish we couldn't identify that was about 4 feet long

Thinking over some possibilities, you might Google rainbow parrotfish, midnight parrotfish (not quite that big), tiger grouper, tarpon and cubera snapper and see if any of those resemble what you saw.

Enjoyed your report. Good one!

Richard.
 
With out more by way of description almost impossible to try to guess what it could be. There are all kinds of game fish that could have come into view. We saw the outlines of what we thought was a very large barracuda on one dive and of a very large grouper on another. The tuna was a definite. Are you still thinking of a solo trip? We are tempted to return in May.
 
True, with the ocean you never know. I was thinking in terms of what I saw most commonly in that size range in nearby Bonaire. For whatever reason, the only large grouper I saw in Bonaire in past years was the tiger grouper; no black, Nassau or yellow-fin. If he got a good look at it, he might recognize it from a picture.

I'd love to make a solo trip and try the Westpunt region. For my workplace to secure coverage and approve time off well in advance can be difficult.

Richard.
 
unfortunately the large fish was right at the edge of my visibility. I turned around to get my girlfriend’s attention and she thought it looked like a grouper but I wasn’t sure there were groupers in the area. I personally thought tuna but tbh I’m TERRIBLE at id’ing things. She did say the tail didn’t look like a tuna (I was too busy looking at how big it was... I should’ve paid more attention to those details!

It was long (rough guess of 4 feet long and about 1 foot tall to 1.5 feet tall?) unfortunately it wasn’t close. Definitely not barracuda. Someone suggested afterwards it may be a cabi.... something?
 
Now see, you're just gonna have to go back and look for it again. You may have to visit and dive Curacao multiple times before you find and identify one.

I thought I'd write a quick trip report geared towards those going with non-diving partners / friends / family that may be helpful for those doing research on going

Destinations that appeal to this mix are often asked for, but regional options are limited enough another is welcome. Off the top of my head, Grand Cayman and Cozumel fit the bill for 'fun for the whole family,' and I think Curacao belongs in that mix. There are other locations if the family's not too high maintenance.

Undercurrent.org, a paid subscription online scuba magazine, in their Sept. 2011 issue identified Barbados as one - Hightide Watersports and Gibbs Bay Inn, Barbados (note: free article). Somehow I haven't seen Barbados rise up and 'take off' in word-of-mouth on Scuba Board in recent years, but Curacao has.

Richard.
 
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