bobfmdc
Contributor
Had a great time in Curacao. We stayed at the Kura Hulanda Lodge in Westpunt, which is 25 miles out on the Western tip of the island. It is really a resort--probably the best place we have stayed in our recent diving trip history.
The diving was beautiful in and around Westpunt--the reason we stayed up there. For the most part, I think that is where serious tourist divers familiar with Curacao go. Ten years ago when I was there on an archaeology project, some of the local divers told me that, so that is why we went. About half the people on our dive boat had been there one or more times before.
Not many larger fish and animals. I think the area is spearfished because the larger fish are very skittish, despite the restrictions against it. Very few lobsters, and I realized late in the trip that we had not seen a single barracuda. They were on the menu in at least one restaurant where we stopped--a bad sign. We saw a few eagle rays at a distance, maybe only 4 or 5 turtles, and a lot of small critters like sea horses and lettuce slugs, plus many schools of various fishies. There are many, many lion fish here also. Got a lot of pictures of them, most out of focus. They need to start shooting these things and serving them in the restaurants. Plenty of big ones available.
We dove with Ocean Encounters West (..:: Ocean Encounters West Curacao ::..), which has a shop next to the Kura Hulanda Lodge. Really good group. Same guides--Dirk, Steven and Paol every day, and they actually found stuff for us. Some gear repair is also available there.
We rented our vehicle from one of their subsidiaries at the hotel. Cheaper than renting at the airport, and more convenient. However, the only shore dive we did was the night we arrived, and it was on the house reef. We bought a package of 6 2-tank boat dives for the price of 5. It was actually about as expensive as 3 a la carte boat trips, so I thought we would maybe drop a couple of boat trips and take a shore dive or two. We found that Curacao is not as compatible with shore diving as Bonaire. The western end of the island is a lot like the area of Bonaire around Karpata, Oil Slick and Thousand Steps, but without the easy access. The main road is a mile or two inland, so you have to take secondary roads down to the water, and they mostly only go to the bays. The swim outs from the bays to the deep water looked to be typically 1/4th mile or more. Once there, there is no way out in most places because the cliffs drop straight into the water. We also found that some of the bays, particularly the ones down the coast near Willemstad, were locked up by commercial operations. You had to pay $2 to $4 pp to park and dive there. So we made all our dives from the boat. We covered an area probably 15 miles up and down the coast around Westpunt. For the most part, we were in areas that could not be reached from shore without a huge effort.
The walls slope like Bonaire, and they are covered with layered coral and sponges. Most of it is in pretty good shape, although storms have beaten up the real shallow stuff. The site that Curacao is known for--the Mushroom Forest--looks more like a mushroom pizza since the hurricane of the late 1990s. Except for one dive, the vis was Cozumel clear. I don't think you could get to Mushroom Forest or the nearby spots from the shore. We went there probably 3 times, but our favorite site was around the western tip of the island--a spot called Watamulla. We found that the resorts down the coast near Willemstad typically charge $25 or more as a surcharge to dive Mushroom Forest and they do not get up to Westpunt. Mushroom Forest is a two hour boat ride from Willemstad.
Although we traveled around that area to the various bays, we only got to the main city of Willemstad on our last (non-diving) day. The Lodge in Westpunt is a spin off of the Kura Hulanda Hotel in Willemstad's Otrabanda. Both are beautiful places. The owners of the site in Otrabanda restored the old buildings in a very historically responsible manner and incorporated an extensive museum. When we drove down from Westpunt, we stopped by the Hotel, and they let us park. Later, they gave us a complementary room to clean up for dinner after a day of walking around in Willemstad. You don't get that kind of attitude in many places.
The promotional program put together by the Curacao Board of Tourism made this trip a comparatively good deal financially. Our trip included breaks on room prices, a $400 food and beverage credit at the Lodge, another credit toward airfare, and the 6 days for the price of 5 diving discount. This brought a lot of people in. Due to the expense, I probably would not go back unless this deal is in place. Our little room alone would have cost more than $200 per night without it. All meals and rooms come with a "service fee" and tax that amounts to about 20%. We found that we were spending (for two) in the range of $25 for breakfast, $40-$50 for lunch and $75-$90 for dinner.
That said, if you go to Curacao, I think that it is still best to stay in Westpunt for the diving. There are a couple of places that might be $400-$600 cheaper per trip in the neighborhood (the All West motel, for example). From there, the next choice is 20 miles east around Willemstad in the big resorts. People we talked to said the diving sucks down there--the vis is not good and the boats don't venture very far from the dock. East of Willemstad there is some good diving, but not as good as where we were. Lionsdive is the best known divers' hotel down there, but you can find a lot of lower cost places. The Superior, a huge ship sunk for diving, is a big draw. On the good side, these places in the east are nearer a large number of restaurants that are cheaper than where we were.
Despite some of the negative reports in Trip Advisor, we had good experiences with eating in Westpunt. Sol is the best, but they are only open Friday-Sunday. Jancines (sp?) was good--$$$, but in line with the other places in Westpunt. We ate a lot at the Kura Hulanda Lodge because of the $400 credit; it is one of the only 5 or 6 places to eat in Westpunt. It was o.k. One strategy is to rent a vehicle and tour the bays (e.g., Portomarie) east of Westpunt in the afternoon. Several have snack bars or regular open air restaurants that are about half the cost of Westpunt, and good food. They are really beautiful places also to watch the sunset.
Bob Speir
Falls Chruch, VA
The diving was beautiful in and around Westpunt--the reason we stayed up there. For the most part, I think that is where serious tourist divers familiar with Curacao go. Ten years ago when I was there on an archaeology project, some of the local divers told me that, so that is why we went. About half the people on our dive boat had been there one or more times before.
Not many larger fish and animals. I think the area is spearfished because the larger fish are very skittish, despite the restrictions against it. Very few lobsters, and I realized late in the trip that we had not seen a single barracuda. They were on the menu in at least one restaurant where we stopped--a bad sign. We saw a few eagle rays at a distance, maybe only 4 or 5 turtles, and a lot of small critters like sea horses and lettuce slugs, plus many schools of various fishies. There are many, many lion fish here also. Got a lot of pictures of them, most out of focus. They need to start shooting these things and serving them in the restaurants. Plenty of big ones available.
We dove with Ocean Encounters West (..:: Ocean Encounters West Curacao ::..), which has a shop next to the Kura Hulanda Lodge. Really good group. Same guides--Dirk, Steven and Paol every day, and they actually found stuff for us. Some gear repair is also available there.
We rented our vehicle from one of their subsidiaries at the hotel. Cheaper than renting at the airport, and more convenient. However, the only shore dive we did was the night we arrived, and it was on the house reef. We bought a package of 6 2-tank boat dives for the price of 5. It was actually about as expensive as 3 a la carte boat trips, so I thought we would maybe drop a couple of boat trips and take a shore dive or two. We found that Curacao is not as compatible with shore diving as Bonaire. The western end of the island is a lot like the area of Bonaire around Karpata, Oil Slick and Thousand Steps, but without the easy access. The main road is a mile or two inland, so you have to take secondary roads down to the water, and they mostly only go to the bays. The swim outs from the bays to the deep water looked to be typically 1/4th mile or more. Once there, there is no way out in most places because the cliffs drop straight into the water. We also found that some of the bays, particularly the ones down the coast near Willemstad, were locked up by commercial operations. You had to pay $2 to $4 pp to park and dive there. So we made all our dives from the boat. We covered an area probably 15 miles up and down the coast around Westpunt. For the most part, we were in areas that could not be reached from shore without a huge effort.
The walls slope like Bonaire, and they are covered with layered coral and sponges. Most of it is in pretty good shape, although storms have beaten up the real shallow stuff. The site that Curacao is known for--the Mushroom Forest--looks more like a mushroom pizza since the hurricane of the late 1990s. Except for one dive, the vis was Cozumel clear. I don't think you could get to Mushroom Forest or the nearby spots from the shore. We went there probably 3 times, but our favorite site was around the western tip of the island--a spot called Watamulla. We found that the resorts down the coast near Willemstad typically charge $25 or more as a surcharge to dive Mushroom Forest and they do not get up to Westpunt. Mushroom Forest is a two hour boat ride from Willemstad.
Although we traveled around that area to the various bays, we only got to the main city of Willemstad on our last (non-diving) day. The Lodge in Westpunt is a spin off of the Kura Hulanda Hotel in Willemstad's Otrabanda. Both are beautiful places. The owners of the site in Otrabanda restored the old buildings in a very historically responsible manner and incorporated an extensive museum. When we drove down from Westpunt, we stopped by the Hotel, and they let us park. Later, they gave us a complementary room to clean up for dinner after a day of walking around in Willemstad. You don't get that kind of attitude in many places.
The promotional program put together by the Curacao Board of Tourism made this trip a comparatively good deal financially. Our trip included breaks on room prices, a $400 food and beverage credit at the Lodge, another credit toward airfare, and the 6 days for the price of 5 diving discount. This brought a lot of people in. Due to the expense, I probably would not go back unless this deal is in place. Our little room alone would have cost more than $200 per night without it. All meals and rooms come with a "service fee" and tax that amounts to about 20%. We found that we were spending (for two) in the range of $25 for breakfast, $40-$50 for lunch and $75-$90 for dinner.
That said, if you go to Curacao, I think that it is still best to stay in Westpunt for the diving. There are a couple of places that might be $400-$600 cheaper per trip in the neighborhood (the All West motel, for example). From there, the next choice is 20 miles east around Willemstad in the big resorts. People we talked to said the diving sucks down there--the vis is not good and the boats don't venture very far from the dock. East of Willemstad there is some good diving, but not as good as where we were. Lionsdive is the best known divers' hotel down there, but you can find a lot of lower cost places. The Superior, a huge ship sunk for diving, is a big draw. On the good side, these places in the east are nearer a large number of restaurants that are cheaper than where we were.
Despite some of the negative reports in Trip Advisor, we had good experiences with eating in Westpunt. Sol is the best, but they are only open Friday-Sunday. Jancines (sp?) was good--$$$, but in line with the other places in Westpunt. We ate a lot at the Kura Hulanda Lodge because of the $400 credit; it is one of the only 5 or 6 places to eat in Westpunt. It was o.k. One strategy is to rent a vehicle and tour the bays (e.g., Portomarie) east of Westpunt in the afternoon. Several have snack bars or regular open air restaurants that are about half the cost of Westpunt, and good food. They are really beautiful places also to watch the sunset.
Bob Speir
Falls Chruch, VA
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