Curacao: What has better diving: Westpunt vs Willemstad sides

[drrich2]

Thanks. I think Andreas later left. Here’s a 2018 thread indicating the solo situation with Go West had changed, but best to check current status when it’s an issue.

Bonaire again? Looking for recommendations for new dive destination.

 

[tarponchik]

Thanks. I think Andreas later left. Here’s a 2018 thread indicating the solo situation with Go West had changed, but best to check current status when it’s an issue.

Bonaire again? Looking for recommendations for new dive destination.

I think Andreas is/was one of the co-owners so if he left he sold his shares.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

I have stayed at both All West and Marazul units on the west end. I have not stayed on any other part of the island. Westpunt is not everybody's cup of tea. No shopping or night life. There are some good restaurants, but not many. After diving, I am content hanging out by the pool or on the patio with a good book, having a drink while watching the sunset then out to dinner, back to my book. During midweek, we head to one of the larger supermarkets in the afternoon to stock up on the essentials. The 20's and 30's version of myself would be screaming at the current state of my travel priorities

On one visit we stayed at the Kura Hulanda Lodge. It was nice, but really started tumbling downhill shortly thereafter. One poster on this board returned to the hotel only to be informed that they had to pack their bags as everyone was getting evicted. They opened up since then, but I am too OCD to re-book at that property. The Coral Estates look nice. I considered booking there this Feb, but quite honestly, the diving in front of the Marazul and All West are my favorites.

Does Marazul have a house reef? Looked at that last night. Looks like it may offer a little more relaxation area than All West.

 

[morecowbells]

The house reef is one of my absolute favorites. The coral is healthy and vibrant, it is not as exploited as other sites. Since it is along a cliff, the swim out is very short. There are two sets of stairs down the cliff side. I am short and the steep steps can be a workout. There are outdoor showers near the steps for afterwards. In the past, I have rented tanks from Go West. Recently a new dive shop called 'Sublime Diving' has opened at the Rancho Sabrino, which is behind Marazul. I will give them a try in Feb.

The pluses with Marazul are most units have 2 bathrooms and a wash machine. The pool area is clean and relaxing. The downside is the walls are thin. We have been fortunate to have fairly quiet neighbors. Some units only have hot water in one faucet. The units at All West are very basic, but are closer to the cliff, and offer stellar ocean views. There are numerous steps to the ocean, but manageable. The tank room is a definite bonus. There is no pool and I am not sure if they offer use of laundry facilities. To give you an idea of the steps and access to the ocean, these videos can give you an idea of what to expect.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

The house reef is one of my absolute favorites. The coral is healthy and vibrant, it is not as exploited as other sites. Since it is along a cliff, the swim out is very short. There are two sets of stairs down the cliff side. I am short and the steep steps can be a workout. There are outdoor showers near the steps for afterwards. In the past, I have rented tanks from Go West. Recently a new dive shop called 'Sublime Diving' has opened at the Rancho Sabrino, which is behind Marazul. I will give them a try in Feb.

The pluses with Marazul are most units have 2 bathrooms and a wash machine. The pool area is clean and relaxing. The downside is the walls are thin. We have been fortunate to have fairly quiet neighbors. Some units only have hot water in one faucet. The units at All West are very basic, but are closer to the cliff, and offer stellar ocean views. There are numerous steps to the ocean, but manageable. The tank room is a definite bonus. There is no pool and I am not sure if they offer use of laundry facilities. To give you an idea of the steps and access to the ocean, these videos can give you an idea of what to expect.

This is great info! THANKS!!

 

[drrich2]

There are two sets of stairs down the cliff side. I am short and the steep steps can be a workout.

Thanks for the video links; helpful to see things sometimes. From the All West video, looks like it's a pretty substantial swim out to get to the reef drop-off.

Which raises the issue at the Marazul house reef. Yes, those stairs look like a hassle to me, but how long is the swim out once you get to the water?

For frame of reference, when shore diving Bonaire, I found the southern sites are easy to park near the water, but have longer swim outs. The northern sites take more doing to reach the water (e.g.: Karpata), but once there, some have short swim outs (Oil Slick Leap comes to mind).

Just wondering how the total work of getting from 'geared up' to 'reef' compares.

 

[Altamira]

From my somewhat limited experience during our 30 day stay in Curacao, when diving and snorkeling, I found the northern dive sites, to be primarily geared for shore dives while the southern sites better for boat dives. Many of the northern sites started in more sheltered areas such as Playas Lagun, Cas Abao, Gros Knip, Klein Knip, Kokomo, Puerto Mari, and in front of the Go West Dive Shop, so we were not getting knocked around by wind and waves, but they required a more lengthy swim out than the southern dive sites. That is not to say that there was nothing to see on the swim outs, so all was good. The southern reefs were closer to shore, but because of the more developed nature of that part of the island, access to the water was not as easy as in the north, and boat diving was more common. Personally, I preferred the southern dive sites such as Double Reef, Pierbaai, Car Pile, Cornelius Bay, Saba, Shipwreck Point, Jan Thiel, and Directors Bay, perhaps because it was very nice being dropped on the reef.

 

[morecowbells]

Thanks for the video links; helpful to see things sometimes. From the All West video, looks like it's a pretty substantial swim out to get to the reef drop-off.

Which raises the issue at the Marazul house reef. Yes, those stairs look like a hassle to me, but how long is the swim out once you get to the water?

For frame of reference, when shore diving Bonaire, I found the southern sites are easy to park near the water, but have longer swim outs. The northern sites take more doing to reach the water (e.g.: Karpata), but once there, some have short swim outs (Oil Slick Leap comes to mind).

Just wondering how the total work of getting from 'geared up' to 'reef' compares.

Good question. My subjective experience recalls the swim out from the Marazul steps/ledge to be very short. Even shorter than the sites in Bonaire. Playa Kalki( in front of Go West) and Playa Grandi (close to All West) are fairly short swim outs to the reef. The sites at San Juan are also short in distance from the shore(although, the roads to these sites are a PITA, and my last diving excursion there didn't stand out above other more convenient sites). Lagun and Cas Abou are somewhat further out. Porto Marie is a more substantial distance. The upside to the last three are beautiful beaches to spend surface interval.

My issues with the stairs at Marazul, are the inconsistent vertical height of each step. Some present a >90 degree angle for my knee, which isn't a big deal, but with dive gear I require a rest, sitting on a step periodically to regroup. I try to pace myself conservatively since I get paranoid about over exerting myself immediately after a dive. Being only 5'3" the steps are a bigger challenge than to my husband. The big pay off is not having to navigate between rocks and sea urchins entering and exiting. The ladder is a huge plus.

Neither of these resorts offers luxury or compares to the class of resorts which you will find in Mexico. They are typically basic and serve the DIY traveler, which suits us for a dive vacation. I am planning on visiting Curacao in Feb. (still not feeling 100% committed due to the Covid testing rules). I will try to take some video of the steps and what to expect.

 

[Red_Rock_Diver]

February 2022 will be our 6th stay at Marazul. We have stayed approximately 16 weeks at Marazul during the 5 previous visits starting in 2017, excluding 2020 (COVID). We dive the house reef at least once a day. The resort sits about 40 feet above the water on a limestone bluff. The south stairs offer a more gradual descent than the north stairs. My wife says there are 72 steps from the top to the water line including the set of metal stairs that enter the water. Depending on the tide, there are usually 3 - 4 stairs that extend below the water line. Exits are easier from the south stairs, although the surge, at times, can make for a challenging exit, especially after fin removal.

The the north entrance has less steps and as a result is much steeper. The exit on the north stairs is vertical. Picture a dive boat ladder exit. Most divers use a giant stride entry here from a concrete ledge 8 to 10 feet.

Water depth at the base of each set of stairs is around 25 feet. From the base of the stairs to the reef is a mostly sandy bottom with scattered rocks and coral heads. Always worth exploring at the end of the dive as well as the areas at the base of the limestone cliffs. We have seen octopus, eagle rays, turtles, squid, Moray and other eels plus the usual suspects in these areas. The swim out to the east edge of the reef at Marazul is generally 5 minutes or less depending on a divers fitness or other factors. The eastern edge of the reef is in about 30 feet of water. The reef is more like a plateau that gradually slopes to the drop off at around 55 - 60 feet depending where you are at on the reef. The bottom of the dropoff in most areas is 100 feet plus. The reef has lots of structure and an over abundance of fish. It is easy to get the swimming in a tropical aquarium feeling. If there is boat traffic or large wave action, we drop down off the stairs and swim out to the reef. Go West does a boat dive called Kortape, which is a tad south of the Marazul south stairs. There is a mooring at that location. It is about a 10 to 12 minute surface swim.

As for gearing up time at Marazul, it depends on which unit you are in. If you are in the middle units, it might take a 2 - 3 minute walk with your gear on the reach either set of stairs The north stairs from the northernmost units is maybe a 30 second walk to the top of the stairs.

If you have seen my other posts in the forum, you know that we are big fans of the west end and Marazul. When we first decided to go to Curacao in 2017 after 5 trips to Bonaire (4 at the Sand Dollar), we were still looking for a location with a slower paced, Bonaire type of vibe. We cook most of our own meals, eat out once a week in Westpunt (Sol Food is the best. Thank you Sunshine!) and seem to be in Willemstad once a week. Note the gas station in Barber takes U.S. credit cards. I will echo what others have posted about the differences in diving the southern part of the island vs the northern part. We generally dive north of Blue Bay. Our boat dives have been limited to Watamula and Mushroom Forest. Hopefully, the COVID rules don't change again by February.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

February 2022 will be our 6th stay at Marazul. We have stayed approximately 16 weeks at Marazul during the 5 previous visits starting in 2017, excluding 2020 (COVID). We dive the house reef at least once a day. The resort sits about 40 feet above the water on a limestone bluff. The south stairs offer a more gradual descent than the north stairs. My wife says there are 72 steps from the top to the water line including the set of metal stairs that enter the water. Depending on the tide, there are usually 3 - 4 stairs that extend below the water line. Exits are easier from the south stairs, although the surge, at times, can make for a challenging exit, especially after fin removal.

The the north entrance has less steps and as a result is much steeper. The exit on the north stairs is vertical. Picture a dive boat ladder exit. Most divers use a giant stride entry here from a concrete ledge 8 to 10 feet.

Water depth at the base of each set of stairs is around 25 feet. From the base of the stairs to the reef is a mostly sandy bottom with scattered rocks and coral heads. Always worth exploring at the end of the dive as well as the areas at the base of the limestone cliffs. We have seen octopus, eagle rays, turtles, squid, Moray and other eels plus the usual suspects in these areas. The swim out to the east edge of the reef at Marazul is generally 5 minutes or less depending on a divers fitness or other factors. The eastern edge of the reef is in about 30 feet of water. The reef is more like a plateau that gradually slopes to the drop off at around 55 - 60 feet depending where you are at on the reef. The bottom of the dropoff in most areas is 100 feet plus. The reef has lots of structure and an over abundance of fish. It is easy to get the swimming in a tropical aquarium feeling. If there is boat traffic or large wave action, we drop down off the stairs and swim out to the reef. Go West does a boat dive called Kortape, which is a tad south of the Marazul south stairs. There is a mooring at that location. It is about a 10 to 12 minute surface swim.

As for gearing up time at Marazul, it depends on which unit you are in. If you are in the middle units, it might take a 2 - 3 minute walk with your gear on the reach either set of stairs The north stairs from the northernmost units is maybe a 30 second walk to the top of the stairs.

If you have seen my other posts in the forum, you know that we are big fans of the west end and Marazul. When we first decided to go to Curacao in 2017 after 5 trips to Bonaire (4 at the Sand Dollar), we were still looking for a location with a slower paced, Bonaire type of vibe. We cook most of our own meals, eat out once a week in Westpunt (Sol Food is the best. Thank you Sunshine!) and seem to be in Willemstad once a week. Note the gas station in Barber takes U.S. credit cards. I will echo what others have posted about the differences in diving the southern part of the island vs the northern part. We generally dive north of Blue Bay. Our boat dives have been limited to Watamula and Mushroom Forest. Hopefully, the COVID rules don't change again by February.

This is fantastic information. We’ll be at Marazul mid January, both ends (units 1 and 10). Great info for the snorkelers in our group, as well.

Erik