Curacao safe for single female? First visit..

[hrsedoc]

Hi. I am debating about either Cozumel or Curacao for an 8-10 day dive trip end of this month Aug 2009. I live in N. Calif and don't want to fly more than 8 hours max as this is a relatively short trip.

I am a fairly experienced diver. Like walls, deep dives, pretty reefs, pelagics.

Is Curacao safe for a female (49 yrs very fit)?

I would also like advice on where to stay and which outfit to dive with. Since I am going alone, I won't plan on shore diving unless I find people there who don't mind if I tag along, or do some easy reef dives near wherever I'm staying.

I like a comfy bed and clean room. Hilton? Marriott? Habitat??

 

[diverrex]

I liked Lion's Dive in Curacao, simple rooms, but nice beach and bar/restaurant. I'd say the resort areas are safe, probably town as safe as where you live.

But I prefer the diving in Coz, as long as you don't mind the drift.

 

[Divedoggie]

Overall IMO Coz is a safer bet. I love diving and visiting both Coz and Curacao, but if I were travelling alone, I would probably go to Coz.

In Coz, all of the diving is with an established Op where you can buddy with someone on the boat.

You can boat dive with an Op in Curacao, but most of the best diving is shore diving..very much
like Bonaire, where you can drive to each dive site and park and then dive. This isn't a safe bet as a solo diver and as a solo woman.
Check out the Kura Hulanda Lodge on the west end of Curacao. The shore diving out in front of the property(Playa Kalki) is outstanding. There is good security there and the onsite operator can take you to sites like Watamula and Mushroom forest.

On the other hand, Coz is fantastic and a much closer and easier flight.

Keep gathering info!

 

[diversteve]

The Hilton is older - at least the hotel building itself was - maybe early 80's?. The grounds are nice - I didn't see a room. Diving off their beach isn't the best as there's trash on the reef from parts of their pier falling down.

The Marriott next door is very nice. Nice pool complex, good restaurant right on the beach, pool bar etc. We had an excellent last evening meal right on the beach. Pretty nice beach also. Caribbean Sea Sports is the on-site diveop - I met but never dove with them - nice folks. Both resorts had small casinos also.

Both had visible security people - and controlled entrances. But it's really not an area I'd be too concerned with.

It's a fairly good swim out from either to the reef as it runs a little farther offshore there. Next door to the Hilton is Hooks Hut, a local bar/diveshop - from their beach we were shown the reef and decided we didn't want to swim that far - I'm 2 yrs. older than you also...lol.

Another option for escorted shore diving is the Dive Bus. They dive Willemsted all the way out to West Punt if they have enough divers. And will pick up in the Piscadera Bay area afaik. They're good people. The Dive Bus - HOME

Most of the west of the city divesites have an operator on-site - at several you could ask them to keep an eye out on your vehicle/possessions while diving there. Porto Marie, Playa Lagun, Varsenbaai and one of the Gnip's do. Playa Jeremi is the only site we dove with absolutely no facilities. Any site with facilities will ask for a small usage fee (in guilders) - most have tanks/weights available also. Almost all started off the beach in a small protective cove with the reef an easy swim offshore. Only at one site did we change our direction plans due to current - at most there wasn't any.

Habitat is not as nice. Two years ago it was a little tired in some areas. I've never been in the rooms but we did dive/eat there more at least twice.

Their house reef (Nos Kas) is pretty nice, maybe one of the best in that area. It starts just off the resort dock around 40' and goes deeper. We liked it so much we drove back there to dive after moving into town later in the week. In the morning you may find other divers to buddy with - after noon we had the divedock to ourselves. Tanks are stored on the divedock with lockers and nice high benches to setup on.

I did a solo there without any problem. If you want to shoredive elsewhere they have a tank pickup in the parking lot. Habitat is on a bluff, so it's 3 flights of stairs to the water. And no beach at all, just rocks/ironshore with coral just offshore. They have a sundeck to lay out on at the "beach" level and a decent pool on top - the restaurant looks out over the water.

It's pretty remote - about 20-30mins. from Willemsted and off the main road thru a housing development. The housing development had a guarded entrance but that might have been part of the sales pitch also. Should you want any groceries, it's suggested to pick them up in town (Centrum Market) before driving out there.

A lot of Curacao's population lives near Willemsted. And they've had some financial hardships as an island lately - lots of poor people trying to make ends meet and immigrants from other islands due to the port and refinery. A friend's wife is a native so shared some insights with us. One of those places with a lot of 1/2 finished buildings that look to have been that way for years. Downtown around the cruise port is very touristy - about 3 blocks of stores behind the famous waterfront buildings. Crowded when the cruise ships dock there - not so much at night.

Any grungy areas we saw were around the port/refinery - not Piscadera Bay - it's the convention area and quiet.

Should you also be considering Sunset Waters - don't. They just closed after bankruptcy and left a lot of people stranded. Though their website is still functioning.

So basically the better diving is in the west but other activities besides hanging around at Habitat would be in town.

Another option is Lodge Kura Hulanda in West Punt. It's on one of the best dive sites - Playa Kalki, with onsite diveop, Ocean Encounters West, and they do boat dives out past the west end that others. Including Watamula which I'm told is one of the best on Curacao.

It was very nice - one of the leading small hotels of the world - but it's 45mins. drive back to civilization from there.

One nice restaurant and a little snak on the beach. Not much of a beach as I recall also. West Punt locally has a couple restaurants within walking distance. It's really, really quiet out there at night - we may've found the only bar in that area one night - Rancho El Sobrino. My friend met his wife there.

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

I've been to both and am actually going back to Curacao in Nov and Cozumel in Dec. Pretty good advice from the other posters to each destination. Cozumel is pretty much all boat diving, no need to rent a car, just stay closer to town so you can grab a quick cab ride or walk. Lots of restaurant options. Last time I was in Cozumel was Dec 06 so I can't say what the diving is like after the last hurricane. It was nice diving, not my very top favorite but not my least favorite. More drift dives than Curacao has. It's also a little more tropical looking than Curacao in terms of greenery, palm trees. However, if you stay near town I don't think a lot of the hotels have really great beaches (more man made areas).

Curacao is dryer and more dessert looking but has beautiful beaches, interesting coral formations and tons of fish. It's a lot bigger of an island than I thought it would be and Willemstad is pretty industrial looking. You would probably need a car unless you hung out all week at the same place. We stayed at Habitat last time, we are not staying there in November. Sounds like things are even more dilapidated from our trip there in June 08. I personally would stay closer to Westpunt. Unless you stay near the city, the restaurants are a little more limited (car would be a must). Westpunt is the opposite of Willemstad but that's the vacation experience I'd rather have. There are several lodging options in that area, Kura Hulanda Beach resort is beautiful and right next to Ocean Encounters West. You could stay at Sunshine's and rent her apartment which is a really short drive to OEW. The best part of Curacao was the people we met! We ended up diving with two other couples along with Sunshine and David after meeting them all at her restaurant. I have a feeling this is a common occurrence at her place. You want to meet some good dive buddies, go to her place. I personally don't feel Curacao has as much shore diving as Bonaire. You could definitely do a week of boat dives and visit plenty of sites, but a few of the best sites are in Westpunt. If you wanted to do a couple shore dives I think you could find buddies easily. I just remember Watamula, thinking that I couldn't focus on one area because there were so many fish. Probably why I missed the eagle ray gliding by.

We never felt unsafe in either locations but like anywhere they both have areas of town I would stay away from. Have fun, whichever you choose!

 

[Seanpaul]

I made exactly the same decision last December which you are trying to make now. I chose Curacao, stayed at Breezes and dived with Ocean Encounters. I was very impressed with OE (both shore and boat diving) - there is a very large ex pat community (Dutch, Canadian, Amis) and by the time you leave you will feel just like you are one of them. Contact Bryan on this board - he is now at Ocean Encounters Westpunt (where I will be going the next time I go back). I have been told this is better diving than the East side however if I were you - I would do a split stay 3-5 days in each location, depending how long you are staying. You won't regret it!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

There is a newish place within walking distance of Punda called The Scuba Lodge. We've had guests who have split their trip with us and in town who liked it very much. The Dive Bus will pick you up there and if you rent a car you'd dive to a dive op with a boat. If you stay at The Royal Sea Aquarium, Lions Dive or check out some of the smaller places on the Dive Bus web site, you could walk to a few restaurants, the Dive Bus, Ocean Encounters and have a variety of other activities; Eric's ATV, seadoos, a gym and a few nightspots. I would say a single female would be safe on the island. Coming out of Mambo or Wet and Wild at 3AM for men or women might be a different scenario. We like Westpunt. Depending on your budget, The Lodge Kura Hulanda is very upscale, All West Apartments quite reasonable and as a single guest, we could work something out with you. We all use Ocean Encounters West. Bryan is the new manager and is very flexible about various things if you have read some older posts on the dive op. It is very safe to walk around Westpunt - I'd even say at 3 in the morning. There have been many single divers or those with non diving partners. Some stick with the boat schedule and others easily hook up with other divers. Feel free to ask Bryan, Andreas or us any questions about Westpunt. Habitat Divers are very professional and I have heard that since the transfer of ownership of the property they are renovating the rooms and have plans to create a small beach. It's a wonderful place to take an early morning or evening stroll but there is only the resort and houses in the area. Westpunt has a few places to eat, the fishermen in the bay and oh yeah, David's hiking or mountain biking trails at the end of the island. We'd suggest renting a car no matter where you stay although many who come to Westpunt don't and dive, dive, dive. Hope to see you when you visit the island.
Sunshine
Curacao Sunshine - Rental Property on the Island of Curacao

 

[AquaPixie]

My guy and I went last year with a dive group and stayed at LIons Den - It was very nice at the resort.
We decided to go into town and check things out and ran smack dap into a the middle of a gang street fight - it was scary as heck. Young males running thur the streets with bricks and sticks.

I personaly would not go back (if I did I would not leave the resort!)

Best of luck to you!

 

[kmcneer]

Curacao i believe would be safer. Beds were very confortable at the Hilton but we were on the diamond floor. Diving is better from Habbiat though. From Hilton you can walk to the Hooks /Hut , good bar, and dive from the Marriott. I still recommend gettin a car though. Me and my wife will be there begining the 5th if you need a dive buddy.

 

[Lions Dive]

You are more than welcome to stay at Lions Dive and dive with our on site dive shop Ocean Encounters. They offer boatdives to all popular dive spots on the island. Lions Dive is well-know for its great location and within 5 minutes you will realise you are not alone! And about safety? I am a single female living on Curacao and I never felt unsafe!