Curacao trip report

[alashas]

Thanks, Quaff King,

We were in Curacao the first 2 wks in April and we 2nd all of the good things you've mentioned. We did our boat dives with http://www.oceanencounterswest.com/ and had a very positive experience with them. And can't say enough good things about the 3 bedroom 2nd floor apartment at http://www.curacaosunshine.com/ where we stayed. Glad to hear you were fortunate enough to eat at their "Sol Food" restaurant. I ate 6 dinners there, but, hey, who's counting?!

We had to opportunity to dive the Sunset House reef, and enjoyed that. Visibility was a bit low that day, but saw a seahorse in about 15' of water

You mention "staying in a villa above Sunset Waters." Was it one of these, or further up? And, who manages those units?

Thanks again, alashas http://honeymoon2.smugmug.com/

 

[petemoss]

I'll be there November 1 through 8

Pete

 

[irie1029]

Pete - Darn I will miss ya I will be there 8th thru 21st.

 

[FlamingoKentucky]

If you are diving at the Habitat Dive Resort in Curacao or nearby in Porta Marie, consider staying in Flamingo Villa in Coral Estate. It's on the cliff right above Habitat. Flamingo Villa sleeps 10- 12 people comfortably.

 

[JDenning]

Thanks all for the reports. My wife and I will be there from August 15th thru 23rd. Really looking forward to it.

Sad to say I've seen photographers do that about everywhere I've been.

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

We were just there in June and most likely heading back around Thanksgiving also!!!! Just didn't get enough!

 

[GAdivers]

Can anyone recommend OE vs OEW? Dive Bus? I am going on AOS last week in August but told OEW sent my email to OE since they were closer to port. Also looking for some ops in Aruba. Thx!!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Depending on where you'd like to dive....
Ocean Encounters is a 15 minute taxi ride from the cruise ship. There are other near enough operators as well. The Dive Bus is unique as they will pick you up and drive you to the west end and some of the sites (that I really like) that the east end boats do not go to. OEW is in Westpunt, about a 40 minute drive, 30 if you are local, from the cruise ships. I do not believe they offer a shuttle. Maybe Andreas will post. I do believe they have a one tank dive to Watamula (one of our favorites) on Wednesday afternoon, a traditional cruise ship day. But it might be cutting it close to get back to the ship before 4PM. You would have plenty of time to dive 2 tanks with the Dive Bus. Depending if you feel the need to shop, OE and
Seascape Divers are pretty close to the boat if you are planning other activities. In any event, I'm sure you'll enjoy your dives.

 

[AbbieM]

:mooner:

Ocean Encounters. They are wonderful! Definitely do their house dive - the Alice in Wonderland. Amazing!

They take good care of you if you're a newbie too.

 

[Tuesday]

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.

hi
thanks for the update
did you happen to see the habitat curacao? was it a nice place and a good location?
i may go there but not sure about those accommodations.
thanks,
tuesday