Curacao: What has better diving: Westpunt vs Willemstad sides

[Saturated and satisfied]

Tell me about the Superior Producer please.

Sure, what would you like to know?

 

[tarponchik]

The further away from Willemstad, the better.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Will be 4 divers. Myself - 1 AOW - 2 OW. Is this a good dive for the open water divers? Depth - current - who is a good choice for dive op?

 

[arew+4]

We did 10 days on Curacao begining of 2020, stayed at a VRBO at coral estates in Sint Willibrordus, a little less than halfway to Westpunt from Willemstad. Great location, the whole family dives, free range shore divers no fixed op, rented tanks at most of the dive sites or the shop at CE if there were no services at a site we wanted to dive.
Dove from Westpuntb to Jan Thiel. Did more dives to the west mainly because traffic around town was usually awful around lunch time. All nice dives slightly different character. Next time will probably stay in town and focus on the south/east side.

 

[Altamira]

I had my first opportunity to dive the Superior Producer after being in Curacao for nearly three weeks due to either Celebrity or Norwegian cruise line being in port on most days. I almost missed the dive because I had been shuffling dives around all week between Ocean Encounters and The Dive Bus, and I wound up jumping on the Ocean Encounters trip before I knew they were going to the Superior Producer. I think we had about 15 divers on the trip, with a pretty broad range of certs and experience levels, and were split into three groups with two DMs for each group. It was a very nice dive for everyone, although some of the lesser experienced divers were kept at about 60' +/-. I did not see any significant current the entire month I was there, but was told there was some ripping current for a couple of days the week before our arrival. I am not a great fan of wrecks, but there was a lot of coral encrustation on the Superior Producer which kept me interested for the entire dive.

 

[Saturated and satisfied]

Will be 4 divers. Myself - 1 AOW - 2 OW. Is this a good dive for the open water divers? Depth - current - who is a good choice for dive op?

I only take AOW divers on this dive. I have been caught out once with ripping unpredictable current and temporarily lost a buddy team many years back and I learnt my lesson then.

Depth is a max of 32 metres/106 feet. Perfect for using 32% eanx. Also check out your dive insurances. Some insurance will not cover you if you intentionally go beyond your certification depth limits. Without knowing your OW friends experience I would always recommend taking either a deep course or just do the AOW.

Best dive operator? I think you've been here before. Did you get a good vibe from any of the dive op's you used then? Whoever you choose I would recommend a shore diving operator, the reef is nice to use to ascend and descend and can find some fun stuff on the safety stop. You can also gauge the conditions as you descend on the reef which you can't always do if you 'freefall' onto the wreck from a boat dive.

Let me know if you need any more info. Maybe start a new thread? Either way this wreck is amaaaaaazing. Enjoy, enjoy and a great second dive is Double reef down the road.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

I've been diving here for almost 20 years and still having fun. The best diving is the dive that you are doing at that particular time and the buddies you're doing it with. I've had amazing experiences all over the island. You've got to be in it to win it! I found a white nose pipefish yesterday at Tugboat. Only ever seen a hand full of those over the years. Super amazing find!

Great points and AWESOME FIND!!! I know with some islands you only dive one side. A diver friend of mine suggested the Westpunt side had better diving because it was calmer and better reefs, but lacked amentities. Sounds like it's good diving in both areas.

 

[arew+4]

Deleted, wrong thread

 

[Damselfish]

Great points and AWESOME FIND!!! I know with some islands you only dive one side. A diver friend of mine suggested the Westpunt side had better diving because it was calmer and better reefs, but lacked amentities. Sounds like it's good diving in both areas.

You do only dive one "side" of Curacao. It's much longer than wide, so overall there's pretty much only 2 coasts. Most of the diving takes place along the whole South (southwestern facing) coast. Very little takes place on the North (northeastern facing) coast where is is generally quite rough, like most islands in the region.

Being a relatively long skinny island running diagonally from northwest to southeast, meaning of words like side, end, east, west are a bit fuzzy.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

You do only dive one "side" of Curacao. It's much longer than wide, so overall there's pretty much only 2 coasts. Most of the diving takes place along the whole South (southwestern facing) coast. Very little takes place on the North (northeastern facing) coast where is is generally quite rough, like most islands in the region.

Being a relatively long skinny island running diagonally from northwest to southeast, meaning of words like side, end, east, west are a bit fuzzy.

Good point, but I had a dive buddy of mine suggest that north only should be dove as it's calmer. He also suggested that there were better reefs in the north than the south facing site. Basically, when I suggested a place to stay near the city I was told I was nuts and the diving wouldn't be as good. Also suggested that the boats would be rocking most days and if I wanted "better" diving I should dive the northern westpunt area. I guess I should have used "area" instead of side. . Thanks!