Where to go in Lesser Antilles?

[Damselfish]

We haven't used the Ferry yet, but it is a 1.5 hour trip to Saba with no worry about the "wait to fly" rule that you often encounter when happing between Caribbean islands to dive.

From St Martin there’s also ferry service to Anguilla and St Barts which are not far, makes it easy to check out some other places. Not necessarily for diving - you don’t hear much about diving on those islands and I have no idea what it’s like, but they do appear to have a number of dive shops. Could be a hidden gem for all I know.

 

[jonhall]

Aruba (is there really enough to do)
Antigua?

Between these two, there may be more to do (horseback riding, ATV, catamaran sailing, sightseeing) in Aruba than in Antigua (mostly sightseeing) although taking a day to ferry over to see Montserrat with a guide is a great day trip and you can also go to Barbuda for a day. You could also dive in Montserrat, although I didn't do that. There is more to see diving in Aruba than Antigua.

Here's some info about shore diving Aruba, but I've never been there so I don't know if it is accurate.
Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Aruba, ABC Islands

Took a quick look at the link and most of the shore dive spots are located in more remote (from hotels/resorts) areas of the island. I did all boat dives and never entertained the thought of any shore dives, so can't speak to those.

Agree with @KathyV that Bonaire seems logical. Wish I could personally tell you about diving there, but I can't!!

 

[diversteve]

Are you planning to go from Curacao to this other island directly. Because I believe that limits you to Aruba or Bonaire unless you want overnight in Miami.

There's some smaller (2-3br) house rentals waterfront in Belnem from about Punt Vierkant to about Bachelor's Beach north - many are good dives but not on necessarily named sites. Towards the southern end it's the same double reef structure you dive at the named sites in the area. No idea on the wifi but some are older so it's probably a retro-fit.
Subbelt Realty lists a few of them.

I would think the Piet Boon properties would have good wifi - and they're right on the water. I've seen them on vrbo.com. They might be more house than you need though.

 

[KathyV]

From St Martin there’s also ferry service to Anguilla and St Barts which are not far, makes it easy to check out some other places. Not necessarily for diving - you don’t hear much about diving on those islands and I have no idea what it’s like, but they do appear to have a number of dive shops. Could be a hidden gem for all I know.

You can ferry from St. Martin to Saba and I believe that there is also ferry service (on various days) between Saba, St Kitts, Nevis, and Statia. You might be able to access St Kitts directly by ferry from St. Martin, I'm not sure. I don't know if the wi-fi service is reliable on some of these smaller islands.

 

[KathyV]

This page discusses flights available from Curacao and the most popular destinations are Bonaire, Aruba, Miami, Amsterdam, and St. Martin:

Direct (non-stop) flights from Willemstad, Hato (CUR) - FlightsFrom.com

 

[jonhall]

If St. Maarten becomes an option for you, the diving is not bad IMO. Some nice wrecks (one was a very nice swim through) around Simpson Bay and some nice sites around Great Bay. Reef Sharks were pretty common on most dives around Great Bay. Was planning to go to Saba one day on our last planned trip to St. Maarten in Sept/Oct 2017, but that was at the time the hurricanes came through so the trip obviously didn't happen. Besides the ferry to Saba, there is flight that takes ~15 minutes and flies at a low altitude. I was pretty sure I was going to go the ferry route.

There are a few shore dives. The only one I did (I actually entered from a boat) was in Little Bay. A bunch of junk in a protected marine park at a 20-30 foot depth. It was okay.

Topside, there is a lot of sightseeing, beaches, catamaran sailing, jet skis/tours, and ATV tours. I think they have zip lining and a lazy river type of attraction that is not in water. We did a catamaran tour around the island and made a stop at a small French-side island. We snorkeled, swam, and enjoyed the beach. As we were loading up, another catamaran pulled in next to us - they were doing all of the same activities we had done......but were nude! A catamaran tour from the French side of the island.

 

[Damselfish]

If you get interested in St Martin we stayed in an 1BR apartment on Grand Case beach that Octopus diving (just down the street) recommended at this place - Flamboyant Beach Villas Grand Case Beach petite plage. (Don’t get it confused with other places with flamboyant in the name, there are lots of them.) They have free wifi but don’t appear to use it much themselves - e-communication with them was slow and unreliable, and I finally made a deposit/reservation by telling the dive shop and she would run down the street to tell them and make a deposit. As it turned out she never made the deposit and they just took her word...a quaint and pretty much cash only operation. Not fancy, but fine and comfortable with plenty of space. It got whacked in the hurricane with everything else but looks like they are fixed and open again. I don’t know how the rate compares to typical VRBOs there but may be a good deal for what you get. Easy walk to all the restaurants along Grand Case beach, which at the time was everything from fancyish to a food court of local joints. The beach itself apparently comes and goes - it was missing when we were there.