I did 2 shore dives with Curious 2 Dive on a cruise ship stop in Curacao.
TLDR: Easy to set up, picked up right outside cruise terminal, good dives, would use again.
BOOKING: Easy to do, they provided good information. Very prompt responses to email questions I had.
GETTING THERE: They picked me up at the Starbuck’s outside the cruise terminal (3 minute walk), then we drove the 20 minutes to their shop.
CHECK IN / PRE-DIVE: Easy since they already had all my information. I wasn’t renting any gear but the other diver was. Cressi BCD, not sure of regs but everything looked in good condition and he didn’t have any problems.
DIVE 1: Caracas Baai. Their shop is directly across from the Caracas Baai beach, so we walked across the road and entered the water. Surface swam about 100’, then descended and followed the underwater peninsula out and around, returning to the entry point.
At the beginning and end of the dive, we swam by a coral nursery run by Coral Reef Restoration Team Curacao, which is an initiative of Hans Pleij, the owner of Curious 2 Dive. They grow coral, then transplant it back to the reefs.
SURFACE INTERVAL: Back at the shop, no food or drinks provided. After 40 minutes we loaded out gear into their truck for the 5 minute drive to the next site.
DIVE 2: Director’s Baai. After dropping us off our guide drove the truck to the exit point of the drive then walked back to us. It was an easy shore entry, then we swam slowly along the wall until we hit the Tugboat Wreck (small tug in 20’ of water). Next we swam around to the pillars of an oil platform next to Tugboat, then back to shore and the truck.
POST-DIVE: They have rinse bucket back at the shop, then they drove me back to the cruise terminal.
Overall it was a good day. The guides’s pace was appropriate, there were no issues and I had a great time.
TLDR: Easy to set up, picked up right outside cruise terminal, good dives, would use again.
BOOKING: Easy to do, they provided good information. Very prompt responses to email questions I had.
GETTING THERE: They picked me up at the Starbuck’s outside the cruise terminal (3 minute walk), then we drove the 20 minutes to their shop.
CHECK IN / PRE-DIVE: Easy since they already had all my information. I wasn’t renting any gear but the other diver was. Cressi BCD, not sure of regs but everything looked in good condition and he didn’t have any problems.
DIVE 1: Caracas Baai. Their shop is directly across from the Caracas Baai beach, so we walked across the road and entered the water. Surface swam about 100’, then descended and followed the underwater peninsula out and around, returning to the entry point.
At the beginning and end of the dive, we swam by a coral nursery run by Coral Reef Restoration Team Curacao, which is an initiative of Hans Pleij, the owner of Curious 2 Dive. They grow coral, then transplant it back to the reefs.
SURFACE INTERVAL: Back at the shop, no food or drinks provided. After 40 minutes we loaded out gear into their truck for the 5 minute drive to the next site.
DIVE 2: Director’s Baai. After dropping us off our guide drove the truck to the exit point of the drive then walked back to us. It was an easy shore entry, then we swam slowly along the wall until we hit the Tugboat Wreck (small tug in 20’ of water). Next we swam around to the pillars of an oil platform next to Tugboat, then back to shore and the truck.
POST-DIVE: They have rinse bucket back at the shop, then they drove me back to the cruise terminal.
Overall it was a good day. The guides’s pace was appropriate, there were no issues and I had a great time.
