Venezuela + Curacao/Bonaire for honeymoon

[ericande]

I'm trying to plan our honeymoon for Sept of 2010 and right now one of our top 3 choices is a mix of the ABC islands and possibly Venezuela.

We'd like to kind of mix up our trip a bit and combine some sight-seeing, adventure activities, scuba diving and a smaller, more romantic resort on a nice beach time.

I'm wondering if going to Venezuela, then Curacao followed by Bonaire may be able to accomplish all that? Where might the best places to go be? Is it easy to travel between those destinations? We'd like to dive a total of 4-5 days so we could either do a liveaboard (which I know nothing about) or split up the dives between the locations if there is reason to do so. Are all three places worth diving at?

Thanks!

 

[DiverVince]

Eric..If you're American, personally I wouldn't be too anxious to visit Venezuela. Out of what you mentioned, IMHO the best diving will be found on Bonaire. Aruba has some great beaches which you might enjoy, so if it were me, I'd spend a couple of days on Aruba & then pop on over to Bonaire for the diving.
Whatever you decide, best of luck & enjoy your honeymoon!

 

[diversteve]

There's no liveaboards in Bonaire or Curacao. The reef is really close to both islands and given that Bonaire is the Shore diving capital of the Caribbean - you get the idea..

 

[darook]

I agree with DiverVince on Venezuela not being too great of an idea right now for an American to visit.

For the diving I can only speak for Bonaire and say that it is fantastic. A good friend of mind (and a more experienced diver than I) dived in Aruba in March and said it was OK. I do hope to dive Curacao in the not too distant future though I am going back to Bonaire first.

Regardless, I hope you have a great honeymoon and even more importantly have a great marriage!

 

[melissabeads]

Another... Do not go to Venezuela...

We did a 2 week trip to Curacao and Bonaire.. and although Curacao was neat.. the diving was not as good as Bonaire.

If you do go to Curacao... Dive with Ocean Encounter WEST... Watamula, The Mushroom Forest, Alice in Wonderland are great diving spots and they are a wonderful Dive op..

Going to Bonaire only and not having to worry about packing up and flying.. etc.. would be my advice.. especially for a honeymoon! You really want to relax after a wedding.. IMO... There are so many cool restaurants to enjoy in the evenings together after each day of diving.. It is really a perfect place for a newly wed couple to really just enjoy each other!

 

[Damselfish]

yeah, skip Venezuela. I'd split a 2 week trip between Bonaire and Curacao. I prefer the diving and island on Curacao and others prefer Bonaire, you can decide for yourself. Resort choice for divers is somewhat more critical on Curacao; on Bonaire pretty much everyplace is oriented towards divers and the island is more consistent, but that's not true of Curacao.

There's no liveaboards in the area and I don't think there is diving from mainland Venezuela; there used to be a liveaboard operating in the Los Roques islands years ago but they found it too difficult to operate in Venezuela. Margarita Island is a big tourist place but I don't think it has good (any?) diving.

If you want "sight-seeing and adventure activities" you might consider looking into Belize, though September is riskier hurricane-wise.

 

[kmcneer]

Been to Curacao and Bonaire 2 times and going back to Curacao in Sept. If your looking for land and sea Curacao is the place to go. If you go to Venezuela you will need to hire a trustworthy guide to stay with you. Even the islanders from the ABC say not a good idea to go over there though. There is a guiide service that will take you to Angel Falls though. Getting there is not easy.

 

[naga]

I wouldn't be too worried about the usual American paranoia regarding Venezuela, you are not going to communist Russia circa 1962. The average Venezuelan does not share their government's view, nor indulge in their propaganda.

The average Venezuelan is more interested in knowing when the next party starts and who's bringing the whiskey...

The best place for diving is 'Los Roques', which is quite isolated and great for diving, it does not have the crime problems that other Venezuelan places/cities have. If you are adventurous, then go for it.

Curacao has fantastic diving, the only question you need to answer is where do you want to base yourselves from?

There are plenty of 5 star resorts and more boutique ones; personally, i dive with 'The Dive Bus', they are a great little outfit that give extraodinary personalized service, much better than most of the operators, including those mentioned above....imo.

 

[muzicgirl]

The closest I would get to venezuela is the venezuelan horizon we could see from Curacao's beach at sunset...if you're looking to upgrade a hotel stay and do some awesome diving, We have stayed at the hilton Curacao 2 times before....before it was ocean encounters but still- their beach and house reef were great..seahorses,frogfish, and great sealife all around...Looking forward to our first trip to bonaire this fall...but, I would stick with those.

 

[Bonairetrip]

Travel to Vz is not something to be taken lightly -- it is a very large and complicated place. There are serious crime issues. It is also much harder to get from mainland Vz to BON/CUR than one would think. And I am not aware of anything from Los Roques or Margarita to BON/CUR that doesn't go through the mainland.

Personally, I would stick to the ABCs. Bonaire, IMHO, has the best diving and a laid back vibe. Shore diving capital of the world so there is no need for anything like a liveaboard. Aruba has the best beaches and casinos. Curacao is sort of in between.

Travel from BON to CUR is very easy (Divi Divi air -- super reliable and flys about every hour during daylight).

From Seattle, here are your major choices: AA to MIA to CUR. CO to IAH/EWR to BON. Delta to ATL to BON.

Not aware of any live aboards in the area -- although one that started in BON and worked east could be very interesting...