Curacao trip report

[Quaff King]

Just got back from a week in Curacao. We rented a villa above Sunset Waters. It was a wonderful trip and I really enjoyed the entire Island.
I did some shore diving at Porto Playa Maria and was fortuante enough to see a pair of spotted eagle rays on one of my dives. This is one beautiful beach and about as easy as shore diving can get. The beach has showers, rest rooms, a nice bar and restaurant and a great little dive shop. I went back there three times I liked it so much. I also dove the Sunset Waters house reef which was also nice.
I spent three days diving with Sunset Divers. They run a nice operation and Lynn,Dave and Clark keep it fun and interesting. There was a large group on the boat which made for tight conditions and extremely slow entrys so I'm glad I mixed in some shore diving.
We visited Sunshine for Dinner on two nights and you don't want to miss her cooking. Sunshine may be the most energetic person I've ever met, and a sweetheart to boot.
Do yourself a favor and get the best meal on the island at Sol Food in Westpundt.
I also met Andreas at Sol Food and Sunshines Husband David. All very nice people.
Curacao has a lot to offer and I'm glad I didn't get tied down to one resort.
As far as the diving the typical profile was less than 70'. The coral was in excellent shape and I almost spit out my regulator when I observed one photographer grab a piece of Coral to steady his camera hand. Don't people get it?
I was diving a 3mm suit with a beanie and still got a bit chilled on the second dive.
A chicken vest under the 3mm might be way to go.
As far as marine life I saw one frog fish a couple seahorses and lots of small stuff.
This is not the island for big stuff but the coral makes up for it. The colors on the coral were superb.
We happened to hit on Queens Day a three day festival so a lot of things were closed for the Holiday. No worries from my perspective as I got to miss the shopping thing.
Curaco put relax back in relaxing. It was a great place to chill and dive.

 

[irie1029]

be there 2 weeks in November... Sol Food for sure. Thanks.

 

[petemoss]

I'm going in November also. My first time there

 

[dogenia]

Anybody need help, I volunteer.

 

[irie1029]

I will take you up on that dog. BTW - You live on Curacao... youll have 1,000 dives by Nov...

What weeks pete?

 

[CLEAR BLUE]

Thanks for the trip report. Look foward to going there someday. When we were in Bonaire we saw a photagrapher lay down on the coral to get a picture. What an idiot! No, some people just don't get it!

 

[Mouth Breather old]

What was the water temperature? I go this Friday...If it's 78 or above I wear T-shirt and shorts when diving.

 

[dogenia]

I admire your bravery but I live and dive in Curacao and with water temps at 78F currently, I wear a full 3mm suit. Havent worn my shortie for a while now. Call me wimpy but when I do wear the shortie, I wear a rashguard underneath.

On boat dives I've seen American tourists put on fulll suits plus hoods and still be cold (shaking/blue lips etc etc).

Don

 

[sgj99]

the hubby and i are going to sunset waters in november also, the week of thanksgiving. we're really looking forward to it. dove bonaire a couple of years ago and liked it as well. will be interesting on comparing the two islands. when we go we tend to stay at the resort and just dive, dive, dive and not ever leave the compound unless we're on a dive boat. that's one of the reasons i chose sunset waters, because it's not too close to town.

 

[bfisher]

the hubby and i are going to sunset waters in november also, the week of thanksgiving. we're really looking forward to it. dove bonaire a couple of years ago and liked it as well. will be interesting on comparing the two islands. when we go we tend to stay at the resort and just dive, dive, dive and not ever leave the compound unless we're on a dive boat. that's one of the reasons i chose sunset waters, because it's not too close to town.

I'm the same way. I'm not a tourist and donm't pretend to be. I go to places to dive, dive, dive, and then relax. Now, the subject of Sunset Waters and Sunset Divers: You won't be disappointed. I was there in January, my first trip to Curacao. The resort is OK by resort standards. Not too strung out and not huge.
Rooms are room to me. Give me a good bed and shower, a little storage room and I'm happy. I would have liked to have had one with a veranda, but was too far out of the loop in our group.

Food was good. Service was lacking. Twice I ordered fries with a sandwich at lunch. Neither time did I get my fries. Not to complain, I was already filled up anyway. Service is also the on island time (everywhere I go). Here again, I'm not there to become a coniseur of gourmet eating. I eat to stay alive and stoke the furnace for the next dive.

Evenings at the bar or beach bar were OK. I'm not a night-life person. Being 60 I've been there and done that. I can enjoy watching others have a good time, but there are limits.

Let's go down the hill. Yes, there is a hill you must go up or down on the way to the beach or dive shop. Not that bad though. If I can do it then anybody can. The beach is adequate. Quite nice really, but not like the Bahamas. Stay to the south side for water entries (diving too) as the north halp is pretty stony.

Sunset Divers? What a crew. Happy, friendly, talkative, fun, and hell bent on safety---all in one package. I can't say I've seen better service from a dive shop. We had the big boat as there were 20 of us, but one thing I liked about this one is that the complete deck floor was flat. Made a nice safe shuffle for those that shuffle with their fins on. Me? I put mine on at the stern. Worry not about the dive op.

The diving? I can't remember all the reefs we did without getting into my log book, but having been to Bonaire a half dozen times in 4 years, looking for a comparison, I'd have to say that the reefs we did on Curacao were somewhat better than Bonaire. Seem like there was more soft corals. Sunset Waters' house reef turned out to be very interesting also. A seahorse and frogfish right outside the lagoon--every day. About as good a house reef as I've dove anywhere. Got some great video.

Only thing I would advise is that if possible try to get a room in the 200 building. I was out in 500 land with no balcony. Gotta have a balcony to enjoy the sunsets. Keep the camera handy. Relax and enjoy.