Curacao Hilton & Seascape Divers

[diversteve]

The operator at the Hilton is now Caribbean Sea Sports - http://www.hiltoncuracaoresort.com/hotel-information/scuba-diving/ - used to be Ocean Encounters. Makes sense because their main shop is next door at the Marriott. They provide shore diving support. Curacao Diving - Caribbean Sea Sports Curacao - diving, dive shop and boat trips The house dive there is a pretty good swim out to an average dive. Haven't done it.

Hooks Hut^ is now Pirate Bay also - good beach bar when you tire of the Hilton. Piscadera Bay is quieter than being in town. Drive a couple minutes east down the road out front and you're downtown - where the road "Y"'s to go north is one side of the swinging bridge - walk across to the shopping district - the colored buildings you see in their literature. Less than a mile east of the Hilton is the Superior Producer - Curacao's signature wreck. CSS must go there. That's much easier as a boat dive. You can only dive it when there's no cruise ships moving.

Curacao is better suited for renting on-site at shore dive sites than Bonaire. Just about all the better beaches are also dive sites. Which makes entries so much easier - the few that are on the ironshore have stairs/dive docks.

Short list of IMO better dives that also have facilities on-site. Most are west because we mostly dove there. Most charge a small usage fee (in guilders - about $5-6 US) if you bring in tanks - often waived if you rent from them. Listed mostly West to East:

Playa Kalki - Go West Diving - not the best beach. If Lodge Kura Hulanda opens back up by then - they have a shop on the dock there.
Porto Mari - Porto Mari Watersports
Playa Lagun - Discover Diving
Playa Jeremi - no services - get tanks at Discover - 5 mins. south.
Varsenbaai - Trunk Divers
Cas Abou - Cas Abou Watersports
Blue Bay - just west of PBay - Diveversity - I don't know it at all.
Diveversity also recently opened at the old Habitat (dive resort) location. That's a good dive. Inside Coral Estates but IIRC there's no beach there - pretty vertical. Just tell the guard shack you're going to Diveversity.
Jan Thiel - Scuba Do?
Tugboat - no facilities. Dive the wall east around the point first then safety stop on the boat - it's 15' deep.

Some (not all) Curacao shops are very non-solo oriented. So I wouldn't mention that if you plan to. Others don't seem to care.

For boat dives, one not to miss is Watamula on the far west end. Go West does it. Mushroom Forest is another signature Curacao dive - CSS does it weekly.

Other operators: Curacao Dive Operators- Curacao Dive Package- Dutch Caribbean Diving Specials

The Dive Bus does escorted shore diving at many better locations. They'll even pick you up at the Hilton afaik. Welcome to the Dive Bus Good people run it. (Suzy & Mark)

hth,

 

[LunaZ]

When I stayed at Hilton Curacao last month, the on-site dive shop was closed but I dove with Caribbean Sea Sports next door at the Marriott and had an excellent experience. They will soon be operating the Hilton shop also. They do boat dives, shore dives, night dives, and they have Nitrox. If you boat dive with them you get free unlimited shore diving that day. You can keep your gear in a locker and they will give you a key to access the gear rental area if you want to shore dive after closing. The staff is professional and friendly. I hadn't been diving in a few years so I took a refresher which included a shore dive on the Marriott reef and was lucky to have the same dive master on my boat dives; he made me feel at ease and made sure I had fun too. The owner Tom, and all the staff, are committed to making sure their divers to have a great experience.

Their website has all the info on rates, dive sites and schedule: Boat dives, shore dives, night dives and nitrox dives - Caribbean Sea Sports Curacao diving

 

[petemoss]

A repost of a thread I started earlier. Hope this helps.

Has been awhile since I've posted. So I'll give a quick trip report. Been to Curacao numerous times and only shore dive. We stay at the Marriott. Wonderful easy access house reef. Very busy now from Kura Hulunda closing. The folks at Carribean Sea Sports treat us very good. They are going to take over the operation at the Hilton next year also. This brings me to one of the best shore dives I've done on the Island and of course all will have their opinion on this. We went in at the Marriott and came out at the Hilton. This is very seldom dove and I enjoyed it as much as any dive I have done. Great shallow structure, a nice mini wall and a huge bank of coral with a valley between it. Loads of fish, eels,etc. A Porcupine fish the Diversity owner told us about from a few years back that looked like a submarine with a huge bulbous head. This will no doubt be a regular dive after both shops open. Unfortunately when you get closer to the Hilton it looks like a apocalyptic zone in the shallows from past abuse. Speaking of Diversity, Habitat is now open and we dove that a couple times. That place is REALLY shaping up now. This was the usual good dive as in the past. We did snake bay and it has been better. Unfortunately Mr Wederfoort the diving legend who live there lost his son to a diving accident a few months back. Went to Cas Abou and dove a few times. Fortunately JJ who works For CSS went out with us and showed us the local seahorse population. Around 5-7. Very nice diving at Cas abou.

Pete

 

[reefseal]

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful. From what reading, you need to boat dives to be able to do unlimited shore diving. I'm looking for similar set up like Bonaire. A place can pay for unlimited tanks (Nitrox) so can do shore dives when want to go. (even dusk/night dives) Dive Bus sounds ideal too. Going to write to them.

 

[diversteve]

A place can pay for unlimited tanks (Nitrox) so can do shore dives when want to go.

Tank rental/fill/exchange on the main road west a little past the airport rotary: Relaxed Guided Dives Curacao - Shore Diving Courses - Dive Shop Google Earth has it 7mi. from the Hilton.

Discover Dive in Lagun also let us take what we wanted all week (6 of us - we rented a truck just for tanks). Even have a truck height loading area. Discoverdiving & Restaurant -> Home   Long drive from the Hilton though (20mi?). Would be good for dives near the West End - Lagun, Jeremi, the 2 "Gnip" sites- listed here: Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Curacao, ABC Islands

Lagun is one to make an effort for - lots of turtles. Jeremi is one where you can't see the vehicle from the dive site so don't leave much.
Just south of there is the old Sunset Waters resort - abandoned but the breakwater and dive are still there - just thru the breakwater is Airplane Wreck of Curacao - the dive there is to the south. Blink and you'll miss the wreck - it's in 40' just off the breakwater exit. This is adjacent also - directions thru to the resort are in the 2nd post: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/Curacao/Wet_Suit_City/index.htm

 

[SandyDiverCur]

Hi Reefseal,

The Hilton is in a great location and you can go west or east from there. The west side has a lot of great diving with different reef structures, low current usually, and most of the time has really good visibility.

There are also a lot of good beaches on that side so your family can get in some sun.

Probably should check with Bas Harts Diving for guided dives - they always gets great reviews and is flexible enough to make sure your wife and daughter get to go along and get in their beach and snorkel time (and dive when either of them want to). They include pick up / drop off from the Hilton so not having a truck won't matter. Have a look if you want to at Bas Harts Diving Curacao - Shore Diving - Dive Courses - Dive Safaris - Dive Excursions - Cruiseship Diving -

 

[SandyDiverCur]

Another operator that knows the best remote spots on the west side is Bas Harts Diving. You may want to check out their reviews on TripAdvisor and email them also. They do pick up and drop off - always small groups - and provide pictures of your dives for free.

I've noticed a lot of people really impressed with their operation lately.