Curacao vs Bonaire

[DiveProKoko]

What about the north side of Curacao, I know it is usually rough but is there good diving there when sea conditions are decent, if ever?

Not a lot of north side diving in Curacao due to the rough conditions and heavy currents you mentioned. There are a handful of sites on the north side (Tunnel of Doom, Playa Kanoa, Boca Tabla), but I've never dove any of them. Conditions have to be right, but I imagine they're good since there's very little diver traffic.

 

[Damselfish]

An absence of shore entries would necessitate more boat diving, and therefore great choices of operators... at least in my mind.

That's an interesting theory.

When we first started going to Curacao it wasn't nearly as popular with US visitors and the diving wasn't as well known. The boat diving was more obvious, the shore diving options were either less developed, or less known to visitors, or probably both.

Curacao has changed over the years. A number of boat diving options have disappeared and I don't think entirely been replaced with new ones. Some old shore diving options disappeared too, but I think there's more replacing them. Cheaper and easier to have a shore diving only op if you can. There have been some new ops that do boats, including some small boatiquey ones like with the RIBs. What's missing now are dedicated dive resort options, on the water with a solid schedule of boat dives every day and and a nice house reef, full of folks who want to talk about fish too. But I don't think the change has as much to do with increasing shore diving, as with resorts going downhill due to lack of investment, getting sold to a company not so interested in the diving aspect, financial stuff, things happening with the real estate.

Kura Hulanda on the East end was not perfect but nice while it lasted. (Though of course Go West is still there and caters to the apartment type accommodations around there and people who drive out there for the good stuff.)

Sunset Waters, once popular with groups from dive shops, is long gone.

The dive ops at Coral Estate (former Habitat - pretty much now a generic resort geared to the Dutch market) have not been reliable as far as having a boat or regularly scheduled daily boat dives since the place got redone and reopened, and apparently has not had a boat running for awhile. Seems more like a general watersports operator that does some diving.

Seems Lions dive is still going strong, and there's Sunscape, sort of.

We prefer boat diving and have always found boat diving options to suit us there. We also prefer convenience, all the better if we can stroll from our room to the boat, or shore dive on site. We like relatively nice resorts but not super into AIs. We haven't been there in awhile, and I'm not sure where we would choose to stay if we did that would get us what we could at the old places. Lions Dive is OK, but the area is so busy now and I'd rather a smaller dive op - there's been times Ocean Encounters seems everywhere. Maybe the Marriott since they reopened and have a dive shop again, if they have a solid boat dive schedule but I'm not sure. Lots of new resorts, but I'm not sure if any really fill the "dive resort" niche.

 

[morecowbells]

100% what @Damselfish said! In 2009, we stayed at the west Kura Hulanda. It was a great option for us. A dive op with tanks and boat next door, lovely grounds and a pool area to hang out in the afternoons made for a perfect day. There were a couple of dining options(nothing to rave about, but convenient) on the grounds. Within a year after our stay, the resort began it's rapid spiral downhill. Now it is simply a sad space. I always hoped that a dive oriented company would purchase the property. There is so much amazing potential. Near the same area is All West Apartments. It is geared towards divers and I have always enjoyed my stays there, although it lacks a pool or resort feel. Books up fast! Neighboring Marazul units have some more creature comforts, but it lacks the benefit of an on ground dive resort . You can get tanks next door, but there is no on-site area to store your gear and change tanks. That being said, the shore dive in front of the units is my favorite.

Bonaire has mastered the art of building dive resorts without creating the environment of a monster cruise ship. Most are small boutique places. For the non diver, Bonaire might be lacking topside activities.

Curacao certainly is more convenient when it comes to flight options. Flights used to to be half the price of getting to Bonaire. That has recently changed. One advantage of Curacao, are there are more flights. If you miss one, you can get to the island the same day on another-not the case with Bonaire.

 

[AdivingBel]

Neighboring Marazul units have some more creature comforts, but it lacks the benefit of an on ground dive resort . You can get tanks next door, but there is no on-site area to store your gear and change tanks. That being said, the shore dive in front of the units is my favorite.

Elles at Sublime Diving next door can set you up with 24/7 access to his tank/gear room. I use his rinse tanks and storage as well as the Marazul rinse tank and condo storage depending on my plans for the next day. The condo I rent has the 1st floor bathroom expansion that includes a big open shower, floor drains, and wall racks to hang gear just inside the back door. I'll usually schedule one boat dive with GoWest for Watamula. If I can get them to do two drops there, I consider it a win. The house reef with two entries is a big draw for me and there are plenty of both improved and unimproved dive sites nearby to keep me happy. Same with restaurants... I cook/grill at the condo most of the time, but there are enough eateries nearby to suffice. These days, Curacao is my go to spot for "relaxed, kinda like I live there" diving. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[sgandza]

Wow, I didn't know that. Never been there, I'll make sure I visit it next time. Since it is at the far end of the island, not many boats go there.

We did dive it the last time we were there - absolutely beautiful. I know gowest goes there, but not sure who else. Currents can be crazy at times apparently.

 

[iointerrupt]

Pretty sure the new Sandals resort has a dive boat. As well Goby at the Marriott has a boat now. Those are newer "all-in-one" options.

But I agree neither are going to be like what Bonaire offers. I swear if the entire island has more than 2 nitrox compressors on it I'd be shocked.

None of the dive shops really cater to the type of divers that go to Bonarie. They have a never ending stream of cruise ship vacation divers, who dive a day or two and then are gone and new people are in their place. Too much money to be made doing DSD and OW classes, to worry about anything else, I guess.

As for Watamula: GoWest, Dive Charter Curacao, and perhaps one other boat go there. The currents there really aren't bad, a gentle drift most of the time. That said, it got hit real hard by the bleaching this summer, will have to see if it recovers as the water temperatures cool off.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Pretty sure the new Sandals resort has a dive boat. As well Goby at the Marriott has a boat now. Those are newer "all-in-one" options.
None of the dive shops really cater to the type of divers that go to Bonarie. They have a never ending stream of cruise ship vacation divers, who dive a day or two and then are gone and new people are in their place. Too much money to be made doing DSD and OW classes, to worry about anything else, I guess.

I dove with Goby Divers in October and there were ever only 6 experienced divers on the boat, no cruise ship divers. If fact 3 of us were Scubaboard members. They are a professional well run company. I can't imagine Sandals allowing cruise ship passengers in the resort to dive when they can't accommodate all the divers that stay at the resort. I went to Bonaire 17 years ago and have no desire to go back.

 

[iointerrupt]

Oh I certainly recommend Goby, real professionals over there. I keep meaning to take a trip on their boat, but yet to get around to it.

 

[SayNo2Snow]

I've been to Bonaire 4x and Curacao 6x last dive on BON Nov 2021, last dive on CUR Mar 2023.

We return to Curacao more than Bonaire for a couple of reasons, though the first one is moot now.
1) Traveling from Canada to Bonaire from 2018 - 2022 required you hop over from Aruba or Curacao bcz Westjet, Air Canada and Sunwing removed BON from their direct schedule from Toronto. So it became a bit of a hassle. Now both national carriers have it back. However I can see it being removed if the numbers don't support maintaining that route, which would make me sad.
2) and most importantly for me, the shore entries on Curacao are much easier than on Bonaire. I have no ACL in my left knee and some of the iron shore step downs in Bonaire had me uncomfortable about possibly injuring myself. That said there are plenty of options, I just had to pick and choose and sometimes drive to another spot. On Curacao many are sandy entry points so I have never had to pass on a spot.

One benefit to Bonaire is a trip over to Klein Bonaire to do some dives is much closer, often smoother and quicker than the trip over to Klein Curacao.
On Curacao several of the beaches all along the island have lovely sun beds/beach chairs, beach palapa restaurant/bars for your non-diving buddies to enjoy while you are blowing bubbles and for you to enjoy after diving. Also many of these spots have a small parking fee and there is security walking around so the potential for someone rifling through your ride while you are underwater is significantly reduced. (though we've not had a problem on either island)

I like both islands and will return to both islands
Happy Bubbles!

 

[Nitrogenius]

We are in a "special" world of our own. What I don't understand is that blocking IP's from certain countries is of no value since people can use a VPN to bypass the block very easily. Also, "bad" people on the internet mask their own IP's when they are trying to commit any crimes online.

Jupp.. it is BS.. and mostly it is any country outside US or maybe North America.. Makes it unconvenient for normal folks browsing the web and adds zero protection from the bad guys as those know to easily navigate is. Really don't know what that BS is about..
I switch back and form between US and Europe a lot and get annoyed on a regular basis..
I think some websites just don't want to deal with EU legal compliance so they just block their webpage access..