Curacao trip report Nov

[scubabuba1944]

90 Percent of the dive shops I have been diving with go out of their way to be service oriented and help their guests with gear, other wise why use the shop just shore dive. As to set up, not necessary but from the dive shop perspective they should keep a close watch on divers because the newbies can get themselves in trouble. This dive shop just did not care and did their own thing. I have logged over 700 dives and this shop hit rock bottom.

 

[Karel]

Hallo,
Indeed it is TRUNK divers not Truck divers (we can however show you a truck underwater).

Check : Home - Curacao duik magazine (click US flag for English) and check all the diving sites.
You are also very welcome with us at : | Scuba diving at its best!

Kind regards
Karel

 

[curious2dive]

It's a pity you had a bad experience. From the west to the east we hav some beautiful divespots with easy shore entries. In tim of stormy weather the west area can be hit hard (mostly). At the southeast side of the island we are mostly not so hard hitted. Quality, safety and service are our standards. But visibilty and rain in one way does not seem to work together and can be limited in rainy season.
We hope next time we can wipe out your bad experience.

 

[Korsu]

The last three months have been unprecedented in the N.A. (not really the Netherlands Antilles any more) as far as weather is concerned. Sadly lots of people have not seen the island in a good light if they visited during this truly rainy season. Last year for instance there was hardly any rain (or mosquitoes).
(Over in Venezuela Mr Chavez was blaming the US for the drought and lack of hydro electric power. This year the floods are the fault of the US.)
Chauncy, I have several hundred dives from the boats at OEW but I am glad me and my camera, a.k.a. "The Baby" can't be blamed for your swearing off boat dives. I must say I have seen both sides of that discussion.

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Rough seas today in Westpunt, but I got really really lucky when Bryan woke me up after 7AM to tell me they were going to "Seldom". As the name implies, it's a site where the boats do not often go. And it was spectacular. I tend to dive on the slow side so my dive buddy and I were usually well behind the pack with yes, the guy with the camera.
I too have cringed on the inside seeing some photographers but it's not because they have cameras but because they are either not very good divers or not very considerate of the other divers or the reef.
We mainly dive from shore but there are some sites we enjoy that are only accessible from a boat.
We did have 3, almost 4 sunny days in a row......
Meanwhile, while it was not flat in Westpunt, David went to Hundu (or is it Hulu?) today and had a (not as wonderful as mine!) flat water shore dive. With so many dive sites, you most often can find a way into the water.

 

[chauncy19]

Korsu,
I am sure there are plenty of good divers with camera's. think there is just an explosion of people diving with cameras now,some experienced divers, some not so. See the attraction just don't won't to become like so many.
I admit I am spoiled by great shore diving on Curacao and Bonaire. I guess my comment is really just my talking to myself into more shore dives and no boat dives.
My motivation for diving is the peace and tranquility of being underwater,found that in spades shore diving.

 

[Korsu]

Hey you'll get no argument from me. I am always happiest off by myself with the camera sitting for an hour "stalking" some tiny creature.
I am always amazed how divers with cameras think that high speed travel across a reef snapping here and there will yield reasonable images. And that goes for those just wishing to document their trip as well as those photographers who want to improve their images.
One of the things I miss most, now having just moved back to the States, are the two hour solo shore dives in 20ft. of water off Porto Marie, me and my camera. It was heaven.
"Boat manners", with and without cameras is a whole different thread.

 

[chachita]

[/QUOTE] my god, not to rant, but having worked in the industry for over 5 years i think you should be resposible for carrying your 50 lbs of gear and should accept responsibilty for your gear setup.... where has all of the personal responsibility gone with traveling divers.....

It's not just an issue of responsibility. I'm 5'1", weigh 115 lbs and have broken my back twice so I can't carry my equipment. I assemble everything and have my guide or buddy put in the water for me. I always make it clear that I need help when booking a dive trip and it's never been a problem.

As someone who works in the industry you should know that providing this type of equipment help is standard operating procedure.

 

[chachita]

Well, I'm really glad I found you & your fabulous team of expert guides! It was a pleasure diving with you all. I will be in contact when I'm back in Curacao and will heartily recommend you to everyone.

Regards,

Johanna

Hallo,
Indeed it is TRUNK divers not Truck divers (we can however show you a truck underwater).

Check : Home - Curacao duik magazine (click US flag for English) and check all the diving sites.
You are also very welcome with us at : | Scuba diving at its best!

Kind regards
Karel

 

[RJP]

As someone who works in the industry you should know that providing this type of equipment help is standard operating procedure.

When you get more dive/diverse experience you'll come to know that there is no such thing as "standard operating procedure" in this industry. There is certainly "the experience you've had to date" and even if it's fairly commonplace, that doesn't make it "standard" everywhere.

That said, I've dived with Caribbean Sea Sports several times and found them to be quite helpful.