Curacao Trip Report (long & possibly boring)

[Kat]

Sat. Aug. 14th
Flew out of Chicago-Midway on ATA, to Aruba. Only problem was waiting 30 minutes on the plane for a couple who had checked in, but was in no hurry to actually get on the aircraft. They finally strolled on the plane & were off to Aruba. I had booked a connecting flight, from Aruba to Curacao, at 7:00P on Dutch Caribbean Airlines. Around 6:00P I am worried as no one is at DCA ticket counter. I find their office & I am advised the flight has been changed to an 11:30P departure. (still on the monitor as a 7PM flt.) And even though I paid & my credit card was charged & I am holding e-tickets, I don't have a reservation. After arguing about this for a few minutes I decide to buy tickets w/ another carrier, Bonaire Excel. Another catch - their computers are down & I'll have to pay cash. Finally, we get to Curacao. Get our rental car & drive out to Habitat. Check in is quick & friendly. And our room is nice.

Sunday August 15th
Quick breakfast & then over to the dive shop. We sign up f/ 2 days unlimited diving. Get our tanks & off we go. We head west up the coast to dive site #1 on the map, Alice in Wonderland. But we stop to see the locals cliff diving & then somehow miss the rock w/ the dive flag and end up at Boca Tabla. So, we checked out the cave, natural bridge & the pistol. Then had lunch there-cooked in old cast iron tire rims. The food was excellent. Now, back tracking, we find where we want to dive. This was the best dive of the trip. 50 minutes & still ended w/ 1000 PSI We head back to the hotel & hit the pool. Then had dinner. About 9:30 we decide to do a night dive off the pier. There is a guide line f/ easy navigation. During the dive I'm having troubles w/ my fin. The strap is gone. End the dive after 35 min. We were going to sign up f/ the 2 tank boat dive to the Mushroom Forest, but we would have been diver 15 & 16 on the boat. We took a pass, way to many people for my liking.

Monday Aug. 16th
After breakfast, we grab some tanks & head for Sunset Waters to shore dive. Seas are choppy. We go off their beach, through their breakwall. Got to see what is left of the plane wreck. After diving for about 30 min. the vis is getting very bad. The closer to shore, the worse the vis. It gets to the point where vis is down to about 3 feet. Near the breakwall we are slammed into some large rocks. By the time we are into the cove, we are pretty banged up. The ocean is really rough. We decide to call it a day, as far as diving goes. Back to the pool & $1 rum punch drinks. No night diving for us.

Tuesday Aug. 17th
Check out of Habitat & drive to Breezes. Check in is smooth. We need to return the rental car to the airport & want to see the Hato Caves. Unfortunatly, the next cave tour is too long a wait. Get a lift back at Breezes. We visit the dive shop, then hit the trapeeze, rock climbing & the swim-up bar. Ate & drank like pigs. After dinner we go to the casino & both have pretty good luck. Due to excessive partying - no diving.

Wed. Aug. 18th
Walked down to the Seaquarium. Enjoyed it very much. Had considered diving there, with the dolphins. After seeing where they dive, I'm glad I saved my money. ( small inclosure/tank) Did take advantage of the free shore diving & got in a couple more dives. Not a big deal, didn't see anything too exciting.

Thurs. Aug. 19th
We booked a tour to Hato Caves & the Ostrich Farm. Enjoyed both, although I got bit by one of the ostriches. He leaned over the fence & bit my elbow, while I was still on the truck. Back at the hotel, we ate dinner at the Japanese Restaurant & thought the food was pretty good. Hit the casino again. Were down to diving every other day.

Fri. Aug. 20th
Up early to catch an 8AM flight back to Aruba. We luck out & catch a free ride at the airport to our hotel, La Cabana. Had considered diving w/ Native Diver in Aruba. We were flying out the next day, and our dive window was small. So we just hung around the hotel & surprise...the swim up bar. They had a water slide that we spent a ton of time on. And another pool had a waterfall. Had a real nice dinner at La Cabanas, Tapas Restaurant.

Sat. Aug. 21st
Flying home today. Our shoes had to be sanitized by USDA, because of our visit to the ostrich farm. No big deal. Although everyone was looking at us, because we we pulled off to the side & detained. Flight sat on the runway for over an hour because of a radar problem. But finally we were on our way home. I was shocked in the Aruba airport, as the vending machine was selling cans of Coke for $2.00 each. And the video games were $1 per play.


I didn't dive anywhere near the amount that I had planned on. But the diving was not as great as I had hoped. No regrets, we had a really great time.

Sorry this was so long. I have not mastered the short trip report, like Jepuskar.

Kat

 

[gdenny]

Hi Kat,

You're right. We must have missed each other. We were boat diving. Glad to hear you had a good time. My wife and I think it was kind of a funky place (Curacao). We had a great time... but would you go back? I might with a group if we rented a house or something. We still have many places to go for the first time before returning anywhere I guess. Next time I'll post to see who's gonna be there before I go!

Regards,
G

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

On a scale of one to ten how would rate the diving? Lets call Cozumel an 8.50 and Jamaica a 2.0. Bahamas are a 5.0.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

On a scale of one to ten how would rate the diving? Lets call Cozumel an 8.50 and Jamaica a 2.0. Bahamas are a 5.0.

I have been to Bonaire many times and Curacao once. I wasn't impressed with the diving that much and probably would not return. I would rate it 4.5. For the money I would return to Bonaire one of my favorite places.

 

[pigletfish]

We've been to Bonaire once and Curacao once (also Cozumel once). The diving on Curacao was not as good, but it is pretty and there are a good number of fish, turtles, and seahorses, a nice wreck, etc. Enjoyable diving, plus better beaches -- and also casinos and duty-free shopping. Curacao is a bit more "cosmopolitan" and has lots of non-diving European tourists. Depends on what kind of mix you like - but if you just want diving Curacao is probably not a top destination.

 

[Damselfish]

I've been to Bonaire 3 and Curacao 5 times all for "just diving" vacations. I think the diving is very similar. A difference in the diving is that in Bonaire you can fall in the water almost anywhere or with any operator and have a good dive. In Curacao you have to be a little more selective where you dive or go with a good operator that takes you to the right areas, otherwise I can see how one could come away with a less favorable impression of the diving. One thing I see as an advantage to Curacao diving is that there is a little more variety in the terrain UW, while Bonaire looks more the same in most areas. Shore diving is generally more accessible on Bonaire, not as many easy to get to public sites on Curacao. If staying at Habitat on Curacao one should definitely not miss shore diving right there.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

We spent 1 week each in Bonaire & Curacao in May 2004. I didn't have the same experience most folks posting here seem to have had. The U/W topography and sea life in the southern end of Bonaire was dramatically different from the more northern sites we visted. The only boat dives we did on Bonaire were two tanks at Klein Bonaire, one tank at Rappel, and one tank at Bloodlet. The more northern sites had better stony corals and the really big parrotfish (rainbow & midnight). The more southerly sites had better soft corals and more little critters.

Curacao had some similarities to Bonaire, yet was different enough. We aren't big nightlife folks so we stayed in the Jan Thiel beach area and were some of the ony Americans staying and diving in that area. We purchased a combined lodging and dive package before we took the trip, and the package was for boat diving with Scuba Do. We arrive to find Scuba Do has no boat, but they put us on the boats operated at Breezes / Seaquarium (Ocean Encounters). This is OK and we get to dive sites like Superior Producer and saba this way. Later they tell us we can swap boat dives for guided shore dives through Scuba Do - and this was great! I'd rank Director's Bay against any wall dive on Bonaire, and the diving off Porto Marie and Jan Thiel beaches was superb - the huge mantis shrimp at "nude beach" site just west of Jan Thiel was great to see & photograph. The forests of yellow pencil coral at Klein Curacao was unlike any other site we dove on Bonaire or Curacao.

I would return to either island easily, but next time would stay more on the western side of Curacao and hit the Westpunt beaches like Playa Jeremi etc. and see the Mushroom Forest by boat.

Anyone who hasn't done a variety of shore diving sites in Curacao has missed a large part of what that island has to offer in my opinion.

 

[Kat]

gdenny, it would have been nice to meet you. We probably ate dinner right next to each other & didn't know it. I was not on Scubaboard too much before I left, so I might not have seen a post about 'anyone going to Curacao on...' even if you'd posted it. There is a long list of places I haven't seen yet. Seems my finances are holding up my travel plans. So, I go back to the places I can afford.

I would go back to Curacao. I do wish there was a direct flight, from Chicago.

I was sorry that I didn't get more diving in. I had planned on diving 2 to 3 x's a day, while at Habitat & 2 x's a day at Breezes. It did not work out that way. As happens so often for us, the nightlife got the better of us & makes diving the next day a stupid idea.
And, we lost 2 whole days, due to traveling. We could have dived in Aruba, but after getting up early, packing, checking out, flying, getting to hotel, checking in, having something to eat...well, I just didn't feel like it. Along with the fact that we were flying out the next day. So that was a 3rd day of possible diving, gone.

As for rating Curacao on Tims scale...Coz 8.5, Bahamas 5, Jamaica 2

I'd give it a 6.5 it was much better than the Bahamas. Plus, I didn't see some of the better dive sites, like the Mushroom Forest.

 

[gdenny]

Unfortunately, I cannot take part in rating Curacao on Tim's scale. It seems that his three points of reference are places I have not been. I guess my scale would look something like this...

Belize - 10.0
Curacao - 9.0
Monterey, CA - 8.0
The pool at my mom's house - 7.0
This scale subject to change pending future dive trips

Seriously though, I don't want to mislead anyone researching destinations. I had a great time underwater in Curacao. Easy Divers at Habitat was a fine operation. My wife and I had tried to find something a little more Cosmopolitan, and when we realized we had found it... we knew we really just wanted to dive. Knowing what we know now, we would choose Bonaire over Curacao. But those damn pictures Part of our reasoning for choosing the ABC's was to stay out of the Hurricane Belt in the month of August. If I did go back to Curacao it would only be for the diving.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Belize - 10.0
Curacao - 9.0
Monterey, CA - 8.0
The pool at my mom's house - 7.0
This scale subject to change pending future dive trips

You forgot:

My bathtub - 6.0
The mud puddle out front - 5.0
The commode - 4.0

Thanks for the laugh!