Next February?? I know we are going back in November, but another trip in Feb woudl be great!! Would love to meet and dive together!Super happy for you and your newly certified daughter. We (my wife and I) are there for the first 3 weeks of February at Coral Estates. If you should happen to be there at the same time then it is would be great to dive with you.
Beginner Diving in Curacao??
- Thread starter nldunn
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The dive was good, not as good as our other dives this week. The main reason was that the visibility wasn't good at all. The reef is very cool, lots of cool coral formations, the dive guide Stefan was excellent but he had to wrangle a father/son pair a lot of the trip. (That seems to be the case on any dive that has more than one group with it. I don't get it - why hire a dive guide to ditch them???)
My daughter wasn't that impressed. She like the reef on Coral Estates and the house reef of the Dive Bus much better.
In my experience, that is one of the best reefs on the Island (with Porto Marie). I usually drive in the morning to make two dives in a remote site, have lunch somewhere, and then come back to Coral Estates and do one or two dives at the house reef (usually). If I am diving Porto Marie, I stay there for the whole day doing three to four dives, then head back to Coral Estate for dinner and go to bed afterwards.
I didn't know that they have their own house reef. Is it that good and worth a dive there?
I know that for ME, the Dive guide exists to be 10,000% sure the boat is found again. I do not need the guide to find things or for underwater safety/back up. I also find that sticking right next to the guide makes for a slow/boring dive as the guide is limited by the least experienced person in the water.
I DO let the guide know I will not be staying right on top of them but I will be keeping my eye on them. Typically we will discuss a estimated turn time and some type of signal so I know they are ready to turn back.
I have never had a Guide have problem with this arrangement. IMO, again...IMO, a guide is a nice bonus but any diver should be self sufficient enough to dive on their own. THAT is one of the main goals of the WRSTC standards that all dive Agency's create their programs around.
"Open water certification qualifies a certified diver to procure air, equipment, and other services and engage in recreational open water diving without supervision.........A certified open water diver is qualified to apply the knowledge and skills outlined in this standard to plan, conduct, and log open-water, no-required decompression dives when properly equipped, and accompanied by another certified diver. "
If anyone NEEDS a Guide then they should reconsider the training they received.
morecowbells
Contributor
Sorry, but I disagree with you on this one. I was recently on a dive boat in Cozumel where one of the divers hired a private guide. It had been several years since she had been diving and didn't want to hoard all the dive master's attention. She wanted to feel comfortable, especially with the currents, before being more self sufficient. I would rather have a fellow diver somewhat uncertain of their skill level versus one who is cavalier and over confident( definitely not referring to you, but I am sure you have also witnessed these traits). I have seen disasters with the latter. While my husband and I shore dive in Curacao without a guide, I find it occasionally beneficial to find a guide who knows where to find the frogfish, seahorses etc. plus knows the reefs like the back of their hand.
As I am getting older, and dealing with the travails of finding the correct balance with distance and reading correction with contact lenses, the extra set of eyes make the dive more rewarding.
I would also think it both beneficial and safer to have a guide who knows the area if it’s an area you’re not overly familiar with.
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