Trip Report Curacao-West End-Feb. 14-28, 2023

[dmaziuk]

That surprises me. I didn't make it out to the Westpunt area, but would've expected it to be quite rustic.

It used to be, but then the whole island used to be more rustic on our first visit in April 2014 than on our last one on 2021/2022 Xmas - New Year's. Of course, staying across the street from the iglesia on Xmas is guaranteed to be not quiet, but the rest of the time everyone brings in busloads of tourists to swim/snorkel with turtles at the pier so that playa tends to be crowded. Off the main road it hasn't changed that much, e.g. there wasn't enough parking at GoWest shop, and there still isn't -- but they built a few more properties around the place incl. some right on top of Watamula, so there are more people now.

 

[scubadada]

I haven't been to Curacao since 2010. Sad to hear about the "improvements", but not surprised. Playa Kalki, Alice in Wonderland was nearly the equal of Bari Reef in Bonaire. Unlikely I will return to Curacao with so many other places to visit for the first time.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thnx for an informative report
This will definitely be a no go for us

 

[suediver]

Enjoyed your report.


That surprises me. I didn't make it out to the Westpunt area, but would've expected it to be quite rustic.

Thanks for the heads up. That'd be important info. for Americans doing a shore diving-focused trip.

That information is incorrect. I have lived on the island for over three years. I use my Mastercard everywhere. I never use cash. American Express is not widely accepted. There is a gas station in Barber only 19 km from Go West. It takes credit cards, one of the few gas stations to do that. Also for Americans there is a set exchange rate: 1.75 naf per dollar. It does not fluctuate like other currency

 

[DirtFish]

That information is incorrect. I have lived on the island for over three years. I use my Mastercard everywhere. I never use cash. American Express is not widely accepted. There is a gas station in Barber only 19 km from Go West. It takes credit cards, one of the few gas stations to do that. Also for Americans there is a set exchange rate: 1.75 naf per dollar. It does not fluctuate like other currency

Thank you! I was hoping not to have to bring large sums of money for our upcoming trip the end of March.

 

[suediver]

Enjoyed your report.


That surprises me. I didn't make it out to the Westpunt area, but would've expected it to be quite rustic.

Thanks for the heads up. That'd be important info. for Americans doing a shore diving-focused trip.

Almost every place on the island will accept credit cards. And there is a gas station in Barber only 19 km from Go West. It also accepts credit cards

 

[lexvil]

Sorry that the trip was not great.

When I and my buddies go to Curaçao we rent a VRBO, usually with a pool in the Jan Thiel area. shore diving being our preference as we like to set our own schedule and dive time, the Dive Bus shop has unlimited air packages.

 

[gotdogs?]

I don't remember ever having an issue with using credit cards on the island. Too bad about your lodging. Did you ever submit a review on Tripadvisor?

 

[living4experiences]

I don't remember ever having an issue with using credit cards on the island. Too bad about your lodging. Did you ever submit a review on Tripadvisor?

I have posted my review on TripAdvisor for My Dream Apartments.

 

[Valeriy Vakshul]

For some background, I first visited Curacao via cruise ship a couple of times and loved the dive experience, so I did a 12-day stay at Sunscape in Willemsted and dived with Ocean Encounters (OE) in December 2021. It was recommended to come back and spend time diving on the west end, so I spent two weeks diving with Go West (GW) this trip and got in 24 dives. If you’re a shore diver, this may not be the report for you. I am primarily a boat diver and this report focuses on that experience. If my personal criteria are favorable for a shore dive, then I’ll do that, which I’ll comment later on regarding the three guided shore dives I did do. I was a solo/single diver on this trip. GW is located at Playa Kalki, and there is free parking for GW with a security guard. Get there early to get a parking spot. Check-in for diving is 8:00, and I would get there about 7:45 with no problem finding a spot. Playa Kalki is a beautiful beach, and it does fill up with the Dutch tourists and a lot of shore divers and divers taking classes.

Go West Diving. The dive operation underwent a complete management and staff turnover in November 2022, so they’re still working things out and they are understaffed. Tina and J.R. are the new managers. They are from the U.S. and live on their sailboat in front of the dive shop. Great people and they’re working hard to get the shop back in order. In the two weeks I was there, Tina and J.R. didn’t have a day off. Their relief gal was on vacation, and they were set to get some time off upon her return. There are anywhere from 9 to 12 stray, nuisance cats that the managers feed, and they are not friendly. A couple of people got scratched reaching down to pet them. Approach with caution. Stray cats and dogs are a prevalent problem on the island.

There are no dive masters, just three instructors, that guide the dives: Sue, from the U.S., one of the best dive guides I’ve ever met; Tim, from Belgium, very experienced; and Adam, from the U.K., young and inexperienced. In addition to guiding dives, Tim and Adam teach PADI courses at the picnic tables in front of the shop. J.R. will hop on the boat to be a dive guide when the need arises. Another young guy, Jonathan, works behind the counter renting equipment, loading and unloading tanks on the boat, and a general helper for whatever is needed. The two boat captains are Tookie and Pico (or Tico).

Sue works part time, and she is a wealth of knowledge of all critters and brings her personal Reef Creature books on the boat if someone has a question as to what they saw. She takes the time to let everyone see what she’s found and then writes the fish I.D. on her slate. Tim was on the boat just once, as he was teaching and working behind the rental counter most of the time. Adam needs some improvement. He’s been in the business since 2015, yet, he has no personal equipment; just uses the shop’s rental stuff. He doesn’t use hand signals to point out stuff, just uses his forefinger to point downward. Not helpful. He doesn’t have a shaker or noise maker, a torch, or a slate.

The Diving. I used Nitrox at 29.5% to 30.8%. The first couple of tanks were only 2800 pounds, and when I mentioned it to J.R., they were then consistent at 3000 pounds. The surcharge for Nitrox is $6 per tank. The water temps were 78-79 degrees. The visibility was very good but could have been better at times. Above water, temps were about 81 degrees. There were daily rain showers and some wind, just enough rain to get the ground a bit wet but nothing too bad. Morning dives were calmer than afternoon dives, and the rain usually showed up between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. It's all drift diving here, but it’s a mild drift. If you’ve dived Cozumel or Socorro, this is easy. Sometimes the current changes direction, too, mid dive.

All the dives are drift, and you cannot dive your computer. They say the dives are 60 minutes, and, for the most part, given how big the groups were, you got your 60 minutes, because people would go up with their buddy as needed. This brings up the diver-to-guide ratio, 9 or 10 to 1, way too high for me. I’m always the last one in and last one out with plenty of air to spare. On one day, due to a lot of cancellations, it was just me and another diver on the boat. It was nice to not have a crowded boat but not so nice when she had to go up at 35 minutes, which meant my dive ended too.

Something new to me was a mandatory 1-hour surface interval no matter what your computer tells you. With J.R., Sue, and Tim, we got a 15-minute heads-up to start gearing up. Adam would wait 60 minutes and beyond to tell the divers to gear up, and we wouldn’t get in the water for up to an hour and 20 minutes after the first dive. There’s something to be said for losing your momentum with that long of a surface interval.

On the boat for the surface interval was dushi (sweet) bread and orange slices, and water and lemonade is provided in an orange jug. I never drink out of those and bring my own water. Those jugs are not cleaned and sanitized, as proven one morning when a diver got the first pour from the jug and out comes dirt and twigs.

Dive Sites and Schedule. The sites are sloping walls as well as flat. On the slopes, you could go to 80+ feet, but the guides stuck to about 50 feet, given how many new divers there were and how easy it is to lose track of 9 divers at varying depths. The website and the big board at the shop are inaccurate for the dive site schedule. I’ve attached a picture of the schedule that was provided to me from a notebook in the dive shop. I don’t know why they don’t post it somewhere instead of keeping it in a notebook.

I thought Mushroom Forest and Sponge Forest were okay, but nothing spectacular. These two sites run into each other, and if you’re on a swift drift, you’ll get a sample of both on one dive.

очень хорошая история. большое спасибо за ваше руководство.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Translates to:

Very good story. thanks a lot for your guidance.


@Valeriy Vakshul Please use English in the Forum, thank you.

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