Trip Report Just back from first trip to CURACAO

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a492levy

Registered
Messages
35
Reaction score
9
Location
nyc
# of dives
200 - 499
I don't want to put a whole trip report ... but I did a LOT of what tkaelin recommended in his trip report fr Jan. We stayed at Marazul condos and dove with Go West ( GREAT ). We rented a truck and did only shore diving. Different from Bonaire which we were used to but great nonetheless. Westpunt is the area to stay in. Low key, non-touristy, remote, scenic. Really look forward to going back. We had great conditions but were told the week before was NOT, and they had cancelled some discover scuba diving, viz was bad etc... Highlights included diving at Sunset Waters, a now empty and abandoned resort with a spectacular beach that had NO ONE on it, Playa Piscado, Porto Marie... (our dives were awesome) dining - SOL, Trio Penotti, Landuis Misje, and Blue View Sunny Terrace (at Playa Forti)... Curacao (Westpunt) rocks for shore diving, can't wait to do boat dives next time.

Almost forgot, we did buy the Curacao diving book at Go West; includes details on all dive sites, not just shore, that was extremely helpful ( you can get it on Amazon in advance slightly cheaper if you think ahead)
 
Big Marazul fan here. Did you dive the house reef much? Glad you had a good time. Headed back myself in October. :)
 
I didn't ! I was staying in a unit close to the road and kind of missed out on the pool and water edge area (though we did walk around the area of the resort some). Seemed like only that long staircase to the water, maybe I mistook !! Next time for sure.
 
There are staircases to the water at each end of the resort, far enough apart that it's almost like two separate sites. We found it easy enough to gear up especially for morning and late afternoon dives. On one trip we were there right after Matthew went by to the north and there was quite a bit of sand moved around on the leeward side of the island that dulled the coral a bit especially at the beach entry sites. On that trip we dived the house reef a lot. Due to it being a "cliff entry" there seemed to be less sand over the top of the coral out front. We really fell in love with the site and it kind of saved that particular trip divewise. :)
 
Glad to hear you had a nice trip and enjoyed CUR.
 
How many dives did you get to do? How did you find the experience of roaming around shore diving Curacao as compared to Bonaire?

Richard.
 
I don't want to put a whole trip report ... but I did a LOT of what tkaelin recommended in his trip report fr Jan. We stayed at Marazul condos and dove with Go West ( GREAT ). We rented a truck and did only shore diving. Different from Bonaire which we were used to but great nonetheless. Westpunt is the area to stay in. Low key, non-touristy, remote, scenic. Really look forward to going back. We had great conditions but were told the week before was NOT, and they had cancelled some discover scuba diving, viz was bad etc... Highlights included diving at Sunset Waters, a now empty and abandoned resort with a spectacular beach that had NO ONE on it, Playa Piscado, Porto Marie... (our dives were awesome) dining - SOL, Trio Penotti, Landuis Misje, and Blue View Sunny Terrace (at Playa Forti)... Curacao (Westpunt) rocks for shore diving, can't wait to do boat dives next time.

Almost forgot, we did buy the Curacao diving book at Go West; includes details on all dive sites, not just shore, that was extremely helpful ( you can get it on Amazon in advance slightly cheaper if you think ahead)
My wife and I dived in Westpunt in 2010 and visited Sunset Waters. It was totally derelict, is that the way it is now? We thought that someday it might be redeveloped. How was the house reef there? Did you dive Playa Kalki at Go West, how does it compare?
 
Reef was similar to playa Kalki at Go West which we dove twice, yes the Sunset Waters is totally abandoned still but so beautiful that whole area, amazing that it is not developed (or rebuilt) into a resort!
 
How many dives did you get to do? How did you find the experience of roaming around shore diving Curacao as compared to Bonaire?

Richard.
We did 10 dives. Loved it. The sites are a bit harder to find, more turns off of a main road, and some outside of Westpunt are difficult to find but we loved the beautiful sandy beach (easy mostly) entries. Some beaches have a dive operator (we always had our own tanks fr Go West) let you gear up in their dive shop area and some charge a small fee but they almost all have some types of amenities, shower, place to eat, chairs etc. The book saved us bc it has detailed directions.
 
Where is sunset waters? Never heard of it.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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