curacao advice wanted

[KLSanford]

I am in the very early stages of planning a vacation for both divers and non divers and would love some help with a few things. Never been to Curacao, but have been to Bonaire and loved it there.
Here is what we would like to find:
1. A 3 BR condo or house close to dive shop and walking distance to shops and restaurants.
2. recommendations on a reputable dive operation (we prefer smaller boats/ small groups)
3. Budget would be considered mid range...not looking for anything extravagant, but would like to have something nice and clean, preferrably w a pool and close to or on the beach. I have looked at VRBO, but having never been there I am not sure what would work for us.
Thanks in advance for all the advice!

One more question...is getting to Curacao as much of an adventure as getting to Bonaire?? We will be departing either from Seattle or Portland, whichever is more affordable and has a better schedule as we are located right in the middle of the two airports. Thanks!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

I'd suggest 4 nights in Westpunt; dive, dive, dive, snorkel and relax on the beach. Then 3 nights in Willemstad; casinos, bars, shopping, shopping, shopping.
The Kura Hulanda has a package where you can divide your time between the Lodge out West and the Hotel in town. They both have a pool.

 

[CT Sean]

My wife and I stayed at Lodge Kura Hulanda over the summer and we greatly enjoyed it. I think even if we weren't divers we'd have found plenty to do (even without a car). Go West diving (formerly known as Ocean Encounters West) is an excellent dive op right next to the beach below the Lodge. About the only downside is the limited for options for food. The Lodge is good but expensive. If you do go West, make sure it's when Sol Food is open (Fri - sun if I remember correctly) - absolutely worth eating there a couple times.

I second Sunshine's idea of splitting your time between locations. I regret not having time to go into the city or explore more of the island by car. But i will return again and do just that (after having enough pizza and brownie sundae of course )


Edit - regarding travel, I can't speak about the west coast but here in the east it was one stop in Miami and then on to Curacao (same on the flight back). I would think for you, it would be no harder than getting to most major Caribbean destinations - though a quick check of airfare on Kayak.com ( or whatever your favorite is) would tell you for sure.

 

[bkpix]

We found the travel to Curacao much easier then to Bonaire. From Las Vegas there was a change planes in Miami and then on to Curacao. Got to Curacao around 8:00 pm the same day we left LV. I've only been to the west side, 3rd trip coming up soon, but we love the diving out there. Might not be much for non divers to do though.

 

[Bryan.]

Hey KL Sanford,
There are excellent deals listed with Caradonna and Maduro-Fanta Seas for the Lodge Kura Hulanda!!

Additionally, you might want to check out All West Apartments and Diving!!

If there is any questions, please feel free to contact me directly... always happt to assist!

 

[tc_rain]

All West is great but they book fast. If they are booked you can always try Nos Krusero. They are right across the street from Ocean Encounters West / Go West Diving. In fact, when we stayed there earlier this year, we would just gear up at the apt and walk across the street to dive.

 

[KLSanford]

Thanks for the input so far. I checked the website for the Kura Hulanda Lodge - looks fabulous but more than we want to spend. The price looks great for the All West apt's, but it doesn't look like there is a pool. I will keep looking...would really love to find a 3 bedroom condo since there will be 2 couples and an 18 yr old who would like her own bedroom. Any other ideas are welcome! Thanks...

 

[diversteve]

Westpunt is 45 minutes from:

walking distance to shops and restaurants.

For that you want to stay in/near downtown. IDK of any condos in that area though.

We rented several duplexes at Piscadera Bay Resort, it's about 10mins. from downtown (driving) - there's several large resorts, restaurants, and several diveops in the area. http://www.piscaderabayresort.com/index_en.html

Not a lot of shops though outside of the few at the nearby resorts. They have 3BR units available. My unit had a full kitchen, big private yard with furnished deck, BBQ, small l/r and 2bedrooms/1 shared bath. It was nice enough but a little older. Like many places in the ABC's the only A/C is in the bedrooms. My friends rented a newly refurbished unit - it was very nice. I think they're mostly privately owned so the furnishings etc. varied. - a couple of them had private pools. Most had completely private yards also - even though it was a duplex I never heard/saw my neighbors.

They're fairly affordable and walking distance to both their private beach and/or the Hilton and the Marriott Emerald Resort/Casino complexes just across the road. Marriott has a nice beach. PBR is not on the water though, about 2 blocks away. It's gated and they have security all day/night. If you plan to do any cooking, Centrum Market is about a mile back towards the airport. On the picture on their "Types" page, the brown roofs are the PBR duplexes, the Hilton is the big blue building closer to the ocean and the Marriott is next to it. There's also a convention center nearby. We ate at the Marriott's beachfront restaurant one night, it was good food in a great setting.

Caribbean Sea Sports is at the Marriott, I believe there's also an Ocean Encounters shop at the Hilton. OE is the biggest dive operator on Curacao so maybe not what you're looking for...

IMO the best diving was all farther west around Lagun or Westpunt but it's real quiet out there at night. And I can count all the restaurants in that area (just about) on one hand. Pretty much everything was a drive back to town, we first stayed in some oceanfront apts in Lagun b4 moving to PBR mid-week. Unless the non-divers are happy to spend time on the beach, there's not much else out west for them to do. There are some nicer beaches (Porto Mari, Lagun, Jeremi, others) that are also good shore dives. Unlike Bonaire many of the dive sites are entered through small coves that break the ironshore so they're also good beaches. And the reef is a slightly longer swim out. Also you'll find that you'll be spending a lot more time driving into a dive site from the main road unlike Bonaire there's no road along the water in most areas.

Most of the week we found ourselves driving back out west to dive - the mid-island sites like Lagun and Varsenbaai were about 20mins. away. Tugboat and the Seaquarium were about the same distance east. So PBR is a good central location. There is a shore dive off the Hilton or Hooks Hut (might be called something else now) but the reef is a good swim out from there. Hooks Hut was kind of a bar/beach restaurant/diveshop combo - we had lunch there once and rented tanks from them for local diving.

One thing about downtown is that when the cruise ships are in, traffic can be really bad since the port is right there. After waiting in traffic about 20mins. one Saturday we parked and walked about a mile in to the famous downtown shopping area.

 

[catskill diver]

All great suggestions, we stayed at a vrbo in lagun this summer. 3 bedroom listed w/ scott in NJ.
Dont think you can go wrong at 1100 / week - if its still available. All west had great shore diving and lagon was great also.
Had a family of 6 w/ one non diver. You can make a week of just the shore diving. many secure and safe spots up west to park the gang for the day divers or not. All west sent a second boat out just for us on a day we wanted to dive a site we couldnt get to from shore. Have fun !