So, we have been to Curacao 3 times now and Bonaire 1 time....a few observations we made:
The diving really is similar on both islands - everyone has their favorites but I think for us, after comparing all the diving we did - we preferred Curacao's house reefs as well as their diving. We did, however prefer the fact that in Bonaire the water was never choppy and the currents were always minimal to none. In curacao, we have found sometimes there can be a pretty decent chop on the surface - I get seasick, so they just gear me up and throw me off the boat and I wait for everyone at around 15 feet - then I'm fine.
The dive operations:
Both were great, we just felt we got more personalized service in Curacao. Shore diving from the hotels was equally simple and user friendly. Same with boat diving. Shore diving from a vehicle on your own is easy on Curacao, but a piece of cake on Bonaire - there are more shore diving access points on Bonaire than curacao - so it all comes down to your preference. We love shore diving but we also loved the house reef at our hotels so we were happy with that.
The food:
We found the food to be better on Curacao at the hotels and in the city. Willemstadt is also much bigger than Kralendijk and more tourist oriented so I guess one would almost expect that. We found dinner at Divi to be absolutely atrocious, along with a mosquito family on a mission to give everyone malaria I am convinced. Mosquitos were bad on both islands, but absolutely un bearable on Bonaire.
The hotel:
We stayed at Divi on Bonaire and Habitat Curacao on Curacao. The actual room itself at Divi was a little nicer - television, king sized bed, table with some chairs, a few more amenities as you would say. Habitat was a little more sparse - but by no means bad. They do need to seriously fix the satellite tv though. Wifi at both places was sketchy - if you need reliable internet, we have stayed at the hilton Curacao a few times and they have it without a problem. We also stayed at the hilton on the executive floor and highly recommend that as it includes cocktail hour in the evening and breakfast in the morning...it wasn't expensive at all. The hotel also has 2 beaches, 3 pools, and is an ocean encounters location.
Habitat is undergoing a lot of changes - hopefully for the better.
If you like to do more than just dive on a vacation then head to Curacao. If you just want to dive and nothing more than dive - either island is fine.
I posted 2 pretty detailed trip reports for each island, feel free to ask me any questions. I will have to post a link to some of our underwater pictures as well - we were trying out a new camera and a new housing. Would we go back to both Bonaire and Curacao ?
Absolutely!
Curacao is just our personal favorite...and we can't wait to go back. I think we would likely go back to bonaire with our dive shop or a group but Curacao has found a place in our hearts...Have a good night!
The diving really is similar on both islands - everyone has their favorites but I think for us, after comparing all the diving we did - we preferred Curacao's house reefs as well as their diving. We did, however prefer the fact that in Bonaire the water was never choppy and the currents were always minimal to none. In curacao, we have found sometimes there can be a pretty decent chop on the surface - I get seasick, so they just gear me up and throw me off the boat and I wait for everyone at around 15 feet - then I'm fine.
The dive operations:
Both were great, we just felt we got more personalized service in Curacao. Shore diving from the hotels was equally simple and user friendly. Same with boat diving. Shore diving from a vehicle on your own is easy on Curacao, but a piece of cake on Bonaire - there are more shore diving access points on Bonaire than curacao - so it all comes down to your preference. We love shore diving but we also loved the house reef at our hotels so we were happy with that.
The food:
We found the food to be better on Curacao at the hotels and in the city. Willemstadt is also much bigger than Kralendijk and more tourist oriented so I guess one would almost expect that. We found dinner at Divi to be absolutely atrocious, along with a mosquito family on a mission to give everyone malaria I am convinced. Mosquitos were bad on both islands, but absolutely un bearable on Bonaire.
The hotel:
We stayed at Divi on Bonaire and Habitat Curacao on Curacao. The actual room itself at Divi was a little nicer - television, king sized bed, table with some chairs, a few more amenities as you would say. Habitat was a little more sparse - but by no means bad. They do need to seriously fix the satellite tv though. Wifi at both places was sketchy - if you need reliable internet, we have stayed at the hilton Curacao a few times and they have it without a problem. We also stayed at the hilton on the executive floor and highly recommend that as it includes cocktail hour in the evening and breakfast in the morning...it wasn't expensive at all. The hotel also has 2 beaches, 3 pools, and is an ocean encounters location.
Habitat is undergoing a lot of changes - hopefully for the better.
If you like to do more than just dive on a vacation then head to Curacao. If you just want to dive and nothing more than dive - either island is fine.
I posted 2 pretty detailed trip reports for each island, feel free to ask me any questions. I will have to post a link to some of our underwater pictures as well - we were trying out a new camera and a new housing. Would we go back to both Bonaire and Curacao ?
Absolutely!
Curacao is just our personal favorite...and we can't wait to go back. I think we would likely go back to bonaire with our dive shop or a group but Curacao has found a place in our hearts...Have a good night!
