Yes, the diving can be just as good in Curacao, better sometimes, although it is more important to pick the right location/operator and dive sites in Curacao to get the best experience. Unlike Bonaire, most hotels in Curacao are not serious dive resorts. I think there is more other stuff do to, see, eat in Curacao. Probably harder to go wrong diving-wise in Bonaire. The shore diving is a little different in Curacao in that sites are more spread out and some are at beaches that charge for entry, though that's not really a bad thing as they don't charge much and you may get bathrooms, snackbars, etc. for the fee.
Curacao is NOT all built up and busy, but lots of people come away with that impression because they stayed near town and didn't get away from there (or visited on a cruise ship.) Once you get away from town there's plenty of remote nothingness and it all looks pretty much like Bonaire.
St. Michael Bay Inn - is that Curacao? Been to Curacao 6 times and never heard of it, not that that means anything. We stayed at Lion's Dive long ago, it's ok and a good location if you want to be near a lot of activity and stuff, but further from IMO most of the better diving in Curacao.
Habitat used to be my favorite all around choice on Curacao, towards the other end of the island in in the boonies a bit, near the better diving, but still reasonable to drive downtown for dinner. They have a great dive op, though the house reef is getting beat up over what it was 10 years ago. Unfortunately the restaurant mostly sucks (always has) and the hotel itself is not maintained and is getting rundown so you might be disappointed with the facilities if you're at all fussy. Lots of people seem to like Sunset Waters nowadays, further down toward the other end of the island. Kura Hulanda Lodge is beautiful as is the shore dive there, though it's not a "dive resort" and the diving setup isn't nearly as convienient as someplace like Habitat. (I also had enough issues with the on site op Ocean Encounters West to discourage me from going there again while under the same management.) If the dive op from Habitat moved to Kura Hulanda it would be heaven.
), if your companions (and yourself) don´t care that much or just want to do "some" diving, then go Curacao. Never been to neither, but have been doing some heavy reading and enquirys.
