Curacao Questions--Where to Stay/ New & Experienced Diver Couple

[diversteve]

We wanted to do Mushroom Forest but our DM talked us out of it. He said it's deteriorated a lot in the past decade and is fishless since the corals don't provide good hiding places. We went looking for seahorses at Lost Anchor instead.

Watamula is one of the best western divesites - it's west of LKH but GoWest goes there. Not the easiest of dives though - often some current. You;ll do your surface interval snorkeling the Blue Cave nearby.

 

[Pittsburgh_Mom]

A house reef is what it sounds like, an easily accessible shore dive just off the property. Since you seem more interested in LKH - I'll describe theirs. The Lodge sits on a bluff overlooking the water. There's a short walking path down to GoWest which is on the east side of the property. They have a very nice facility. indoor lockers, showers etc. Directly out front is about a 70' long dock with stairs at the end that takes you part of the way out to the house reef. They also keep the boats at a dock 100' away. You can dive both directions but to the west you have to swim past the lodge - there's a lot of flounder there in the shallows so we snorkeled past it. It's really one of the better ones on Curacao, Lions Dive's is not as
good.

I can't speak to recent problems at the Lodge but when we were there they bent over backwards to accommodate us. My friend had some medical issues in their restaurant one night - the mgr. came over and gave us the use of a villa (and bed) while we waited for the ambulance - which he also arranged. And absolutely refused any compensation.

I thought the food was average but the view is pretty great. There's also a little grille at the water level about 50' from the dive dock for a quick lunch.

Sol Foods nearby is a weekend option and Landhuis Misje is nicer. You might need a reservation there - it's not especially upscale but small and crowdeds. We also ate once at Rancho El Sobrino - outdoor dining but just average food.

Westpunt is a small town. I only know of one market in nearby Barber. There are Snaks along the road, usually sodas, alcohol and some pre-packaged food items - some have ice cream. Small family run places though.

Willemstad/the airport is a 45min drive east on the main road that bisects the island.It's not waterfront but faater. The waterfront road is twisty and would take almost double the time. If you plan to do any other western shore dives - they're all off it. Once you get out of town there;s a lack of street signs so bring a map.

If your husband wants quiet at night - Westpunt is the place. Super easy to get there - leave the airport and go right at the rotary - follow the sign for Weg naar Westpunt and stay on it - it's paved and you can go pretty fast.

For any sort of grocery items, one option is Centrum Market - it's the south turn off the airport rotaty (I think it's marked Piscadera) - two traffic lights down and Centrum is on the right. They sell trhowaway coolers for$1 and I believe dry ice.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. The house reef--that makes a lot of sense! That is super helpful! It sounds like most people rent cars.... We typically take shuttle or taxi to where we stay, and figured we would do that here, and then use the lodge's/hotel's dive transportation. Do you think that is possible, or is it not likely to work well if we stay at LKH?

 

[Pittsburgh_Mom]

We wanted to do Mushroom Forest but our DM talked us out of it. He said it's deteriorated a lot in the past decade and is fishless since the corals don't provide good hiding places. We went looking for seahorses at Lost Anchor instead.

Watamula is one of the best western divesites - it's west of LKH but GoWest goes there. Not the easiest of dives though - often some current. You;ll do your surface interval snorkeling the Blue Cave nearby.

Aw, that makes me really, really sad to hear! Thank you for sharing, though. I appreciate it a lot. I absolutely plan to listen to their guidance since I am so new to this. I just want to have an idea of what to see/have some background ideas first so I feel more prepared when they encourage or discourage certain sites, so this really helps.

 

[Damselfish]

You definitely need a car for LKH. It’s too far from everything. I have no idea if there even are local taxis to get to the restaurants around there.

LKH did have some kind of shuttle when we were there. But I think it was oriented partly to getting some employees to work there, and between their resorts when they had one in town. The timing was terrible for guests, both for getting in afternoon dives or for going downtown for dinner. Only useful if you wanted to amble around downtown rather than diving in the afternoon, the last one left downtown at 6. Dunno what they have now. They could have always done something better, but ask them about the schedule before counting on anything.

I agree about Mushroom Forest. If you’re staying out west you’ll probably do it, and it’s fine and interesting enough, a bit unique. But it’s no longer a dive to jump through hoops to get to or lose sleep over if you miss it.

 

[Pittsburgh_Mom]

You definitely need a car for LKH. It’s too far from everything. I have no idea if there even are local taxis to get to the restaurants around there.

LKH did have some kind of shuttle when we were there. But I think it was oriented partly to getting some employees to work there, and between their resorts when they had one in town. The timing was terrible for guests, both for getting in afternoon dives or for going downtown for dinner. Only useful if you wanted to amble around downtown rather than diving in the afternoon, the last one left downtown at 6. Dunno what they have now. They could have always done something better, but ask them about the schedule before counting on anything.

I agree about Mushroom Forest. If you’re staying out west you’ll probably do it, and it’s fine and interesting enough, a bit unique. But it’s no longer a dive to jump through hoops to get to or lose sleep over if you miss it.

Thank you for all of that. That makes sense. We normally just eat dinner at the restaurants where we are staying. I thought I was reading that LKH has restaurants. But maybe it is time to bite the bullet and rent a car!

 

[Damselfish]

They have a couple places to eat. Whether they are currently good I have no idea, but even if they are I’d be tired of them in a week. There are a few local places worth checking out. Sunshines (open weekends), Jaanchies (sort of famous and very quirky place) and Landhuis Misje come immediately to mind.

 

[Pittsburgh_Mom]

They have a couple places to eat. Whether they are currently good I have no idea, but even if they are I’d be tired of them in a week. There are a few local places worth checking out. Sunshines (open weekends), Jaanchies (sort of famous and very quirky place) and Landhuis Misje come immediately to mind.

Thank you so much! We can only get away for four nights, but I hope to get back often!

Really, thank you. You are so appreciated!

 

[diversteve]

Some logistics:

It's a 45 min drive from the airport to Westpunt. I think that would be over $100 via cab, I don't believe LKH will pick you up. I did see a mention once of a shuttle to Willemstad so guests could shop but it might be the employee shuttle Damselfish mentioned - there's also a Hotel Kura Hulanda downtown.

Plus if you're comfortable enough after your cert dives, there's about a dozen shore dive sites within a few miles of LKH - most are beach entries with onsite dive facilities. Tank rentals are around $10-12 vs. most of $100 for boat dives. More than once we saw a dive boat tied up on the mooring at a site we were shore diving.

The Lodge has a restaurant with ocean views. There's also a snack bar down near the dive operation - good for lunch between dives.

Here's why you might want a car - the Lodge is kind of separated from the other restaurants mentioned since it's waterfront on sort of a point. I remember driving by Jaanchies once - the Lodge was 5-10? mins. drive from there. I personally would not want to walk that far. All the places we've mentioned can be found on Google Maps afaik. Rancho El Sobrino is almost across the street from Jaanchies - I don't recall where Landhus Misje is although we went by it once.

If you want to walk to things, re-consider Lions Dive. That would be about a $40 cab ride from the airport but there's restaurants within walking distance including all the ones at Mambo Beach Boulevard, the place where urban meets the sea!

Plus LD has a free shuttle to downtown Willemstad for dozens more. Bistro De Clochard is kind of pricey but has great harbor views of the Swinging Bridge which they light at night.

 

[Pittsburgh_Mom]

Some logistics:

It's a 45 min drive from the airport to Westpunt. I think that would be over $100 via cab, I don't believe LKH will pick you up. I did see a mention once of a shuttle to Willemstad so guests could shop but it might be the employee shuttle Damselfish mentioned - there's also a Hotel Kura Hulanda downtown.

Plus if you're comfortable enough after your cert dives, there's about a dozen shore dive sites within a few miles of LKH - most are beach entries with onsite dive facilities. Tank rentals are around $10-12 vs. most of $100 for boat dives. More than once we saw a dive boat tied up on the mooring at a site we were shore diving.

The Lodge has a restaurant with ocean views. There's also a snack bar down near the dive operation - good for lunch between dives.

Here's why you might want a car - the Lodge is kind of separated from the other restaurants mentioned since it's waterfront on sort of a point. I remember driving by Jaanchies once - the Lodge was 5-10? mins. drive from there. I personally would not want to walk that far. All the places we've mentioned can be found on Google Maps afaik. Rancho El Sobrino is almost across the street from Jaanchies - I don't recall where Landhus Misje is although we went by it once.

If you want to walk to things, re-consider Lions Dive. That would be about a $40 cab ride from the airport but there's restaurants within walking distance including all the ones at Mambo Beach Boulevard, the place where urban meets the sea!

Plus LD has a free shuttle to downtown Willemstad for dozens more. Bistro De Clochard is kind of pricey but has great harbor views of the Swinging Bridge which they light at night.

Thank you. I am really grateful for the help. We're still really torn between both places. It sounds like if we stay at Lion's Dive, we won't be able to get to the western dive sites that are highly recommended, unless we rent our own vehicle. Actually, it sounds like renting a vehicle is going to be the best way to do this, probably. Lion's Dive offered us the complementary shuttle and that was really nice, and they offered us a great rate. It is a little harder to find info on LKH; I feel like a lot of reviews are confused and start talking about LKH but really mean their hotel in the city, or vice versa. Ahhh, so hard! I guess it's not like I have to never go to one if I pick another--there can be future trips! If you HAD to pick just one or the other, as a new diver, which would you choose?

 

[AdivingBel]

We can only get away for four nights, but I hope to get back often!

I love the Westpunt area for diving and relaxing. We rent a condo at Marazul. That said, IMHO, going "west" adds a lot of complexity for a 4 night trip. I would stay at the resort near Willemstad, pass on the car, enjoy the very nice boat diving, the beach, the nightlife, get a "feel" for the island, and come back and head "west" for the shore diving when you can stay longer. If you want to get away from the resort for a day (or part of a day) and see the island, schedule an "excursion." Have fun. All IMHO, YMMV.