Curacao Suggestions/Recommendations

[RV22]

Looking for a little information/recommendations for various restaurants and some of the activities to do that may not be listed on sites such as trip advisor...

Also, although I know it's not a hot bed for sharks and bigger life. Any specific dive sites that anybody could recommend where I may be able to find some of these guys (not including nurse sharks). I'm heading there for a week in the beginning of Feb, and I'd like to maximize my experiences.

Thanks.

 

[diversteve]

Someone told me they see sharks at Watamula off the northwest end of the island occasionally. Ocean Encounters West runs a boat out there a couple times a week. In a week of mostly west end diving we never saw a shark - not even a nurse shark.
We had a good meal at the Ribs Factory in Salina.

 

[scubadada]

We recently returned from a great week at Lodge Kura Hulanda and diving with Ocean Encounters West. We saw no sharks or Eagle Rays but the corals were fantastic and there were many Green, Spotted, and Goldentail Morays, Sharptail Eels, seahorses, turtles, Ocean and Queen Triggerfish...

The dives more to the north were best for us including Watamula, Elvin's Plane Wreck, and the house reef, Alice in Wonderland.

Have a great trip to Curacao

Craig

 

[curious2dive]

There is one dive operator that provides dives to the bigger fsh areas at Eastpoint and the Northcoast. He goes out with a rib for a 2-tank dive. At those spots it's common to see the big manta's and sharks. Allthough I can't guarantee. But besides that there are also parst of the reef where (shoreentries) where normally there are no divers. We can provide you with more information if you want.

Regards
Hans Pleij

 

[irie1029]

+1 for Hans at Curious to Dive. Personalized very small group shore dives to less frequented sites. I suggest a visit to Sol Food as soon as possible Sunshine the owner is a wealth of awesome island information. Open weekends only... so go as soon as you can get to westpunt. Sol Food, Curacao - Restaurant Reviews - TripAdvisor

Also Happy New Year to all our friends on Curacao .

 

[NJMike]

I'm checking out the trip advisor site. I'm looking for a good dive package. The only thing I've found so far is Ocean Encounters West...they are hooked up with All West Apartments.

Has anyone found any other dive packages in Curacao?

 

[Bryan.]

Happy New Year!!

There are many awesome tours and activities to do while on Curacao!! One of which of course is to go diving!! My recommendations are to dive everything west of Daaiboibaai up to and including Watamula!! Some of these are shore dives and others are boat dives! there are some awesome dives to the east such as Eastpoint!

Btw... we just saw a 4m manta while diving Watamula!! Sharks... well this is something really rare including the occasional nurse. Rays are the most common though!

Accessibilty will be limited depending on where you will be staying and you will definitely need to rent a vehicle.

As far as restaurants, there are many awesome places to eat such as the following;
Sol Food, Landhuis Misje, Landhuis Daniel, the Gouverneur, El Gaucho, Equus, etc... If you contact Sunshine from Sol she can provide you with her notes.

Additionally, OEW has a tour desk that you can contact to arrange land/water based tours for you and your family.

If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. I am always happy to help you make the most of your vacation!!

See you soon on Curacao!!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Bryan recommended "the notes"! Didn't see any mention of all "the theories"....
Best of dives in 2011 everyone! Sea you in Curacao!

 

[Damselfish]

I'm checking out the trip advisor site. I'm looking for a good dive package. The only thing I've found so far is Ocean Encounters West...they are hooked up with All West Apartments.

Has anyone found any other dive packages in Curacao?

Trip Advisor isn't a great place to look for dive packages. You may find a few on general travel sites but nowhere near an inclusive list.

Better place to look is at all the websites for either hotels or dives shops where you want to go. Or, sometimes the websites of travel agencies specializing in diving will have good information, although often they don't cover/sell everyplace that might be available.

Don't know if "good" means you are looking for deals or convenience, but don't get hung up on a "dive package". It's not that much more trouble to book things separately. And a package may or may not be cheaper than what you can get otherwise. There's such a variety of accommodations in Curacao it's better to first figure out where/what sort of place you want to stay at, then figure out the best way to book it.

 

[NJMike]

There are a couple things we're looking for. First we want to be able to walk from our lodging to the beach for shore dives.

Second, we want to be able to walk to eat. A restaurant on the premises would be desirable.

We're looking at 5 days of 2 tank morning dives plus unlimited shore diving to fill in other times.