Curacao advice

[pa diver]

Thanks for all of your posts. We ended up booking at the Atlantis apts, we needed to act quickly and they responded in time. We plan to rent a car/truck so the location works well for us. Speaking of car/truck...........I like a truck for shore diving, are they readily available? I'll read a few other reports before asking additional questions.

 

[jdcpa]

Yessir

 

[tarponchik]

looking for advice on a beginner u/w digital camera with stobe for under $1000. we are going to curacao in the next couple of months. never took any pictures u/w but am sick of not having any rememberances of our dives. usually we see something(s) that would be nice to review when home. any can't miss equipment out there?

In terms of quality/$$$, I do not think anything beats Canon S90 which you can buy online for something like $340. With S90, you will be able to shoot in RAW and use manual focus. It is also pretty good for macro, and in Curacao you will be tempted to shoot macro a lot. Canon's housing is around $160, Ikelite's is around $300. Buy a cheap slave flash like Intova ISS 2000/4000, or Fantasea Nano. These are around $100-140. If you go for Ikelite's housing, be aware that they have unique screw threads for the strobes, and attaching flash from another manufacturer will require some engineering. With Canon housings this is normaly not an issue.

 

[curious2dive]

Hi pgarch6

We worked with a lot of different cameras. Almost every year we had a camera with a leaking housing. I must say we use them professionally on every dive we make.We have done Sea life flooded with the first dive. We had different Canon an Nikon (D70, D80 , D100) also flooded and it has nothing to do with maintenance. Now I've decided to buy the Olympus Stylus Touch. A water-resistant camera to 30 ft depth. I also bought a housing to make sure when there is a leak the camera will survive. And yet the camera survived two times already. So I'm very happy about the pictures. You want an idea check CURious2DIVE on facebook. Every dive we make we make pictures and provided them to the clients. So my advice will be buy a water-resistant camera with housing. Double security but it's worth it.

 

[curious2dive]

There are more facilities doing a great dive job on the island. Small groups and transport to all the dive sites. Mostly shore dives and some boat dives. Working with local dive guides who can inform you about the island and it's culture. And many more.
But the most important is serving the client with good service, quality and safety.

 

[Mike C]

We stayed at the Marriott Hotel last April. Nice place. Plenty of shore diving right off the hotel beach, and a few steps to Caribbean Sea Sports dock for some boat dives.

 

[CuracaoJ]

pa diver -- Trucks are readily available for rent on the island through lots of different places. You'll certainly need one if you plan on going out on your own to some of the more remote shore dives (playa largu area etc., although playa largu itself has been washed out). Don't leave anything in the back of the truck, even in town though. Shon Mosa, next to Largu is a great place to dive and take a little picnic lunch.

pgarch6 -- They sell the DC1200 with strobe, extra battery and 2MB flash card down here at Royal Gems in Punda for about $10 less than you can get the camera and strobe alone for on Amazon. I've been using it since it came out, and an older model since before then, and they both have been worry free and take great pictures.

 

[pa diver]

Thanks for all the answers. We have a truck, place to stay and the first few days reserved with Dive Bus. I assume the standard dive info that applies to Bonaire applies to Curacao i.e. leave nothing in the car, water for a quick rinse, windows down etc...... any advice on not to miss dive sites or above water sites would be appreciated.

One more thing...........any tarpon or bonefishing readily available?

 

[marine9]

We just returned.
Stayed on the West Side, better beach country
and less people!
Really enjoyed Lagoon Ocean Resort with it's cove.
Food in the West end is the best.
Enjoy your time there