Trip Report Curacao Trip Report All West/Go West 2.27 to 3.6.21

[jonhall]

Nice detailed report.Thanks for sharing.

 

[NicKnit]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a nice trip.

It was a great trip, and an easy place to work from a beautiful place in. Curacao is offering visas to work from there, and if it were not for my husband who can't fully work from home, it would have been easy to stay!

 

[drrich2]

We recently returned from a week long trip to Curacao, and since dive trip reports for Curacao seem to be few and far between, I thought I’d share our experience, especially around COVID testing.

Thanks for giving some info. about the practical 'workflow' of getting from where you stayed to dive sites, such as time. I've dove in Curacao by boat, but not shore, and I've never hit the Westpunt area. I'm curious about it, mainly hoping for a 'like Bonaire, in addition to my Bonaire trips' experience of independent shore diving, with a little boat diving in addition.

But without that coast-hugging road zipping alongside the dive sites, and the odd place names that don't stick in my head, it's hard to get a mental handle on the practical dimension...how long does it take to drive from the apartment to each site? Which sites do you bring tanks to, and which do you rent tanks on-site? Which ones pose more of a risk of your vehicle being searched by thieves while you're in the water?

I've been blessed to hit Bonaire several times, so I've got an idea how to plan out my day when there (right down to the Cactus Blue food truck near Windsock). I know to hit 2 northern sites, or 2 southern sites, in a half-day. But judging from trip reports, most people don't do 'just shore diving' in Curacao. And it's more of a drive to sites.

It's my understanding from another thread that given the long site-to-site drives, a Curacao shore diver might choose to do 2 dives at one site, whereas a Bonaire shore diver might do 1 dive at a site, then drive a little ways up/down the coast and hit another site close by (e.g.: Hilma Hooker and Alice in Wonderland, or Tolo and Karpata). Is that a fair appraisal?

What drew you to Curacao? Do you guys plan to head back any time soon?

 

[AdivingBel]

Thanks for the report.

A few years ago when we used GoWest for our tank package they had a tank room next to the parking lot upstairs. You still would go downstairs and check in at the shop, but we didn't have to carry tanks up the stairs. We dived nitrox on the few boat dives we did. On later trips we used the dive shop at Rancho El Sobrino for our tank package which is next door to Marazul, where we stay. They gave us the combination to their gear/tank room, so we had 24 hr. access. They were easy to work with and pretty much did everything on a "handshake" until we settled up at the end of our stay. I understand the shop has changed hands since we were last there so I'm not sure if it's still as accommodating. We really enjoy Curacao and hope to return soon.

 

[BoltSnap]

BTW, Porto Marie has 3 reefs not two. One to the right, moderately shallow, one straight ahead and mountain like that drops down to around 28 meters/90ft at its deepest point. The third reef is to the left and is very shallow. I usually do 3 dives at Porto Marie, start with the deeper one making a full circle around it starting from the bottom and work my way up. To get to this deeper reef/mountain you take a straight heading out from shore swimming on the surface where the bottom is very shallow and then you will see a sharp drop off to a sandy bottom, if you continue to swim straight, you will get to this mountain but if you take a right, you will go to the reef on the right. The third shallow reef is to the left.

 

[markmud]

We recently returned from a week long trip to Curacao, and since dive trip reports for Curacao seem to be few and far between, I thought I’d share our experience, especially around COVID testing.

Curacao requires a PCR test for entry no more than 72 hours before departure. Our flight from Detroit to Charlotte to Curacao left Detroit at 6:30am on Saturday, with the flight from Charlotte to Curacao leaving at 9:21am. Because “departure” is unclear, we chose to get our test after 9:21am on Wednesday to make sure we didn’t have a problem later. The flight to Charlotte was completely full but the leg to Curacao was maybe 30% full.

Immigration and customs took less than 15 minutes. There were three of us, my husband and me and also my cousin. My husband and I were directed to a line where an actual person reviewed our documents and stamped our passports while my cousin was directed to a line for electronic kiosks instead of a person. They both took about the same amount of time.

We stayed in Westpunt at All West Apartments and dove with Go West. Between our flight arriving a bit early and getting through customs quickly, we had to wait a few minutes for our driver to arrive, but it was no big deal. We chose not to stop at the big grocery store, which allowed us to get to All West in time to check in and make it to Go West to check in and get weights. If we had stopped for groceries, we would not have gotten to Go West, and wouldn’t have had weights to do a shore dive that first day.

For groceries we went into Barber to Sunshine Market. The produce was not good, but they had plenty of juice, chips, fresh bread, meat, cheese, etc, and the prices were really reasonable. We got back to All West in time to do a shore dive right there, and came back up as the sun was setting on the water. It was a beautiful first night.

COVID testing mid-week
The US requires a negative COVID test taken 3 days or less before departure to the US. We signed up online to get the test Wednesday morning (flights were 3:30 and 5:30 on Saturday) at ADC Palu Blanku, which seemed to be the closest location (although later I saw something about a lab in Barber, but I don’t know if that would have worked instead).

For ADC, we chose a time online, drove into Willemstad, where it was really easy to find just off the ring. When we arrived, there was one other person in the waiting room. They had us fill out a clipboard with name and email address. Then took us into a curtained room to do the test, which was a throat and nasal swab. $90 for PCR, preferred on credit card, really easy. We had the test results emailed to us by the next morning. I emailed our three test results to Go West and they printed them out for us to have for the airport.

As for mask wearing in general, once we were through the airport, the only times we (or anyone) wore a mask was when you were clearly inside somewhere (i.e. the indoor part of the dive shop, the COVID test place).

About All West
Part of the reason we chose Curacao was because of the apartment accommodations (vs. hotel room). Between COVID and that this was a work-from-a-beautiful-place trip for me, the larger space and independence of shore diving was a better fit than a place like Cozumel, where we typically stay at Blue Angel. Wifi at All West was very good. I had no problem streaming video meetings on Teams, Zoom and Google Meet.

We were in apartment K, on the second floor, on the right end. My cousin was in L, on the first floor right next to the tank room. His apartment was updated with newer looking bathroom tile and fixtures, while ours was dated, but very clean. Our bathroom had a clothes line that could be pulled from its holder on one side of the bathroom to the other to hang swimsuits. Cousin’s newer bathroom did not have this. The balcony was huge, with strong wifi continuing out there so I could easily work and have meetings there. The two a/c units kept the apartment cool and controlled humidity well—anything we hung inside was dry by morning. I would definitely stay at All West again.

We had a rental truck from All West. It was fine. Nothing amazing but worked just fine. My cousin had stayed there before and said that tires on his truck then kept getting low and they had to put air in them, but we didn’t have any issues like that with this truck. It was a standard transmission. The trucks all have All West stickers on them, so they aren’t from a third-party rental company. Which also means no crazy paperwork. They just handed over the keys to us, no pictures to take of previous damage or list to sign off on. All three of us could drive at no extra cost. When we left, no one inspected the truck for damage, we just left the keys. When parked, we never locked the truck although always took the key with us. We also didn’t leave anything valuable inside.

All West didn’t seem to be completely full, and while we were there Saturday to Saturday, others arrived mid-week, so often apartments were empty, leaving lots of parking spaces and room in the tank room for equipment. It never felt crowded.

We drank tap water all week. It tastes good (or actually, it doesn’t taste). I believe they use desalinated sea water. There was one water pitcher in the fridge to have cold water.

About dive shop/tank room
We mostly did shore diving, taking tanks from All West, and therefore regular air tanks. They had both DIN and Int valves available in the tank room. It was easy to load tanks from All West into the truck because you can park right in front of the tank room, requiring tanks only to be carried more than 20 feet if you have to park further down in the parking lot, but even then it’s not far to carry (not that I did, that’s what my husband and cousin are for!). Tanks varied from 2700 to 3300 psi. They have a tester there, although half the time we couldn’t find it so we used one of our regs. No nitrox at All West although you can get it at Go West.

On the water side of the building, there is a small bench with tank holder with enough space for two people to setup tanks. Down some steps are more benches and a shower. From there, there’s another ~30 steps down to the beach. Those steps were the toughest part of shore diving from All West, especially coming back up after a dive.

The tank room itself has two long hanging rods with plenty of BC and wetsuit hangers for hanging equipment to dry. There are padlocks on the doors going in to the room to keep it secure. They also have plastic tubs that you can put your gear in to easily take it to your truck. We didn’t use the tubs, but plenty of other people did. There are also two rinse tanks.

My husband and cousin did two days of boat diving with Go West and I did one. The boat was not going out every day, so we had to plan ahead on what days would be boat days and which would be shore diving days (although we didn’t plan too far ahead—we asked about boat diving the day we checked in). The boat for Sunday was full so we couldn’t go then, the next boat went on Monday out to Radio and Watamula, and then on Thursday to Mushroom Forest and Allan’s Airplane Wreck. So a boat was running about every other day.

The Go West shop is down a set of stone steps that are fairly steep. Worth watching your step if carrying gear down. Staff was friendly and helpful. Plenty of space to setup tanks with two dedicated gear setup benches, plus picnic tables. If shore diving from there, there’s a ramp down to the dock and it’s an easy walk out to the end of the dock to giant stride in. Once back from a dive, there is an outdoor shower and rinse tanks. All areas are under cover and shaded.

Hi NicKnit,

Thanks for the report. My wife and I are going to All West and Go West in June. I am inspecting and testing our gear already. We are excited. We were supposed to be there in December, but Curacao banned people from Ohio (and other states from entering). So, we rescheduled.

We have used Go-West on two previous trips. We thoroughly enjoy their operation.

I don't want to get jabbed with the mRNA experimental vax. However, I am scheduled for my first jab in about 10 days. I am eliminating any and all excuses for not being allowed to enter Curacao. Curacao and Westpunt is worth the risk I face from vax's.

Cathy gets her second jab tomorrow.

cheers,
markm

 

[morecowbells]

Thanks for the report! I was hoping to visit Curacao in Feb, but booked Cozumel instead. Hoping to return to Curacao soon. I heard that Cactus Cafe was relocating to Westpunt. Do you know if they or Landhaus Misje are open? TIA

 

[NicKnit]

Thanks for the report! I was hoping to visit Curacao in Feb, but booked Cozumel instead. Hoping to return to Curacao soon. I heard that Cactus Cafe was relocating to Westpunt. Do you know if they or Landhaus Misje are open? TIA

Our debate for us was cozumel or curacao, so that's familiar!

Cactus Cafe is at Rancho Sabrino, supposedly. I Facebook messaged them and they said they were open, but we never figured out where. I think there is another location further south, but not sure.

Pretty sure I read that Landhuis Misje is closed.

 

[NicKnit]

We have used Go-West on two previous trips. We thoroughly enjoy their operation.

I can see why. They were good, and the setup at All-West was simple (except those steps down to the beach! ). I would definitely go back.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Fantastic detailed report
Thnx