What should I do with 10 wonderful days in Curacao?

[CuracaoJ]

Sunshine,

If that's the gated area before Santa Cruz, it would be for access to Santu Pretu (Mushroom Forest area). That road was washed it with all the rain and hasn't been repaired lately, so a key wouldn't do a lot of good. Plus its also walkable from Santa Cruz. The road also stops with a short hike to Blue room for the road.

If you have guests that really want to go there, I can probably see if I can get you access to a key. I know a Dive Op that has a key, as well as a friend that knows the owner of the property.

Jeff

 

[pgarch6]

Andreas,

thanks for the smugmug tip. could spend hours flipping through those shots. will probably give you some thoughts while on vaca this time. who is your replacement? they'll have some big flipppers to fill.

 

[Diver OnLu]

I met the guy who should have replaced my at OEW by now on a trade show in Germany in January - he is what felt like 1ft taller than I am, so I guess he must fill my flippers well Sunshine will be able to tell whether he can eat as much pizza as I used to do...

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Thanks Jeff, Once the Landhuis is finished - by March 4th, right? Guests, smecsht, we could schedule a dive together. I'm just curious about where the road leads to...
Everyone... Andreas is irreplacable.... sob.
The crew at Ocean Encounters West is great, but everyone (not only me, David and the puppies) returning to All West misses you. Glad to see you on Scubaboard.
Coming to Westpunt? The dive shop is very diverse these days with dive masters/instructors from Canada, England, Spain, the Netherlands, Serra Leone, Ireland and of course Curacao. Dirk is really tall, I need to take a look at his flippers. He was very excited that David had a large bike frame for him.

 

[Korsu]

No body can eat as much pizza as Andreas. Somebody may fill Andreas'
fins but it's the eyes that will take a long time to replace.

pgarch6 Thanks for stopping by the web site. I do miss the daily diving but have some future trips planned. Lots of things in mind for land photography, even taking some classes. So keep checking in.
Shooting nature on land is a lot like underwater but on land you can hang out a little longer.
This could be a school of fish!

 

[curious2dive]

Hi curious2dive,

So are you saying that a dive-operator running boats that may carry up to 20 divers are not able to offer good service, safety, and quality? - Very interesting...

I have worked for Ocean Encounters West in Westpoint for 3 years, and I believe that we have grown a very good reputation in all 3 aspects you mention, even in times when demand is high and boats fill up; or should I say that high demand is most probably a result of the good service offered?

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to re-start the pointless, but obviously never-ending discussion in this forum about the advantages and disadvantages of both shore diving and boat diving on Curacao (that makes it look like only one or the other can be good or worthwhile). I value both very highly, and while imho there is no need to take a boat to a dive site that is equally well accessible from shore (as long as you don't struggle with shore entries due to physical handicaps or dislike any sand on your gear), it is equally true that there are quite a few top dive sites both on the East and West ends of the island that are well worth diving, and can only be reached by boat.

What I do dislike very much are any attempts of promoting ones business simply by discrediting other dive operators' service. By the way, there are not many dive boats on Curacao for more than 20 divers, and even those that may carry that many divers are not full all the time. And even from a boat with 20 divers on it you can dive in smaller groups, depending on the operator.

My advice for all divers visiting Curacao is to find a good mix following their priorities - like that you will spend an unforgetable dive vacation on this beautiful island :blinking:

Greetings from Germany
Andreas

Hi Andreas,

You're right this is an endless discussion. It's client who decides if it met the requirements.

But self promoting is part of the forum. Doing it by discrediting other operators is not the way to do it. Who am I to judge. I just give the divers a different possibility.

By the way if you do a good job you will be promoted on the forums by others users.
My opnion as long as you give the best service, safety and quality, that's what we stand for, you'll be rewarded.

On the other hand I've had a clients complaining about big groups on boats and bad safety, service and quality. That's why we specialized in small groups. I had no intention discrediting other operators, because with most of the operators on the Island we work together.
And I never said that the boat cannot offer what we offer. I think offer something different for a fair price, and that makes the difference.

Greetings from Curacao
And if you're here lets dive
Hans Pleij
CURious2DIVE

 

[Korsu]

I don't have a dog in this hunt but the size of a dive group neither guarantees safety nor quality of the dive experience.
During the three years I was diving on Curacao, I think I had a pretty good sampling of various dive operators and dive boats. There were times when four people on a boat made you want to swim to shore and others where 16 divers seemed effortless. It just takes one diver to ruin a trip no matter who else is on the boat (or in the shore group for that matter).
Further there were times when I watched Andreas at work and knew I could never do his job and I was glad to hide behind the camera.
Good divers and good dive masters make for safe, pleasurable trips and good service comes in all sizes.

 

[diverdanmcg]

Amy and I survived out 10 days. The only problem we had was our cheeks getting tired from smiling. We stayed in Westpunt at Marazul Dive Resort, rented a Suziki jeep-type vehicle and hit many great dives. The majority of our dives were at the OEW house reef. I was having problems with my ears early in the trip so we had to cut back to one dive a day for the most part. Sadly, that caused us to cancel our boat trip to Watamula. We did get to meet many of the characters you see regularly on the Scubaboard.

As far the OEW dives, a few to the left and a few to the right, I think I vote for going to the left. We swam a little quickly one day and started to get caught in the current near Watamula. That was a little disconcerting, but it was easy enough to change direction and get back. Many great dives, change your depth a little and it's bascially a new dive.

I had one very strange experience at OEW. Amy and I were mid was through our dive and I saw this guy that looked like he was in trouble. At first I didn't see anyone with him, but eventually I saw some bubbles coming up from a distance away. The guy was wearing heavy gloves and kept grabbing the coral. His bouyance was similar to a tub of concrete. He kept bouncing off the bottom, I thought he was struggling he was flaying so much. Suddenly he stopped and took a picture. I couldn't believe it. That was easily the worst diver I have ever see, both in terms of keeping with a buddy, bouyancy, disregard for the environment and scaring the crap out of me. I really wasn't sure what to do so I spoke to Bryan at OEW. He later spoke to the guy. Bryan and the crew at OEW are great, very helpful and fun.

We were able to catch up with Mark and Suzy at the Dive Bus. I got my AOW cert there several years ago, got to check out the new building, chat with Mark and Suzy and dive Pierbaai. Pierbaai has a lot more open space than Mushroom Forest, the fish are easier to spot. I think there's more variety of soft coral than out west. That is a great dive and the new faclity looks great. The Dive Bus is a great operation run by great people, check it out if you get a chance.

We did a boat dive with Niels and Kevin in the rib boat. THE OCEAN WAS ROUGH!!!!!! We sat in the front of the boat and had a very entertaining ride. We went as far east as Niels dared. We did one dive out in the roaring water and the second dive clost to the new Hyatt. Trying to get in the rib boat with the boat bobbing was an adventure. The Eastpunt area has a lot more soft coral. The reef near the Hyatt was my favorite of the 2. It was fairly shallow, not below 50 ft. so we got a lot of bottom time, great soft coral, loads of fish. Both dives were great, but Dive Charter Curacao, Neils operation, is just a boat on a trailer. You have to haul your gear back and rinse at your own place. Neils and Kevin a good guides and good fun.

We also did a dive at Lagun. We picked up tanks and weights at the LDS. The reef there is spectacular. Like the reef at the Hyatt, the dive is shallow so you get a long dive. The dive shop recommends going left for half your air, then returning with at the reef or closer to the shore, There is an abundance of life as soon as you descend. I found the reef a little difficult to navigate, it is fairly flat with little drop off. I got used to the depth dropping of as you got further from shore and used that as a navigation guide. With the wide area with little variation I just kept leaning left until I got close to the cliffs at the shore.

The food in the Westpunt restaurants is difficult to recommend. They seem to overcook everything. The exception is SolFood. We made it there for a visit with Sunshine and a meal that was not hard and chewy. As reported many times, the food and company are great. The rest of our meals we cooked ourselves.

This was the first time we did shore dives and not have to follow the boat schedules. It far more relaxing to dive when you want, as often as you want and not watch the clock. I think every dive we did was the best dive. 10 days is a great luxury, we didn't feel pressured to do anything. Shete Boka is a must see, as are the various lagoons along the southwest coast.

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Dan and Amy are obviously referencing Mark, Neils and Bryan as the Characters of Scubaboard and not the sweeties, Suzy and Sunshine.
Glad you had a great time, sea you next visit!

 

[tarponchik]

Yes, if you go N (right) at Kalki you can get cought into a current.