Trip Report Curaçao with Scubaçao July 4th 2022

[Rearviewmirror]

I wanted to post a quick trip report from my recent two day trip to Curaçao as there don't seem too be many recent trip reports.

Diving
I dove both days with Scubacao who specialize in shore diving, but partner with a local boat for 6-pack boat diving as well. The shop was extremely professional, clearly care about conservation, and had pretty new gear for rental. My wife took a discover scuba class and second dive and I booked a three tank dive solo the next day. All the dives were private guided w/ Nitrox, with Mats who was a very good instructor, patient, and also a great guide and diver. Average price for me for a private dive w/ Nitrox was $70 (not including tip).

We dove the following sites:

• Marie Pampoen - nice gentle reef dive with a lot of bait fish - lots of life and saw a seahorse
• Tugboat - excellent shallow reef at around 15ft - saw a frogfish under the pylons, and diving under the pier is also an amazing end to the dive (bring a light)
• Superior Producer wreck - largest wreck in the ABC islands, at 100fsw - you can only dive when no liners are docked but entry is directly above the wreck off the megapier (super easy compared to the 450m surface swims I had read about online that are out of date)
• Double Reef - beautiful two tier reef at 60ft and 30ft - super healthy and lots of fish (and a turtle)
• Atlantis - really beautiful and peaceful wall dive down to about 60ft (possibly my favorite dive of the trip)

The diving in general was really good - visibility was a bit mixed down to around 30ft (a result of the recent tropical storm Bonnie passing through) but then really cleared up. Everything just seemed in very good shape overall - saw lots of small plankton, sponges spawning, lots of smaller fish, juvenile drumfish, a seahorse, small schools of squid, and a frogfish. The corals and soft corals were also really impressive. Tons of brain coral, anemones, and then lots of coral restoration going on. Apparently there are over 80 dive sites, so I feel like I barely scratched the surface and could also augment with some boat diving next time as well.

Lodging & Food
We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb in the Jan Thiel area. It's about a 20-30min drive from downtown Willemstad but surrounded by solid restaurants and beaches. Overall we were blown away by the food in almost every single place we went to.

Particular favorites were:

• The Pier (great seafood dinner and lunch options sitting over the water)
• Ceviche 91 (delicious ceviche looking out into the harbor)
• Visserij (amazing fish lunch spot w/ locally caught tuna and shrimp)
• Restaurant & Cafe Gouverneur (beautiful outdoor balcony or patio seating)
• Baoase Resort (upscale dining/tasting menu with beautiful outdoor seating)

Overall I'd highly recommend Curaçao for diving. It's definitely more about the health of the ecosystem than seeing pelagics (although a couple of other trips while I was there saw sharks and rays - which is a rarity and maybe more likely by boat). The scene was very chill, food was great, and the island vibe was very relaxing


Photos

 

[drrich2]

Love the shot of the sea turtle napping in a sponge. Congratulations on the frogfish.

Just 2 days? With the cost of travel (e.g.: airfare), sorry you didn't have a longer stay.

Richard.

 

[Rearviewmirror]

Love the shot of the sea turtle napping in a sponge. Congratulations on the frogfish.

Just 2 days? With the cost of travel (e.g.: airfare), sorry you didn't have a longer stay.

Richard.

We stayed for longer, just only got to dive for two days

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Thanks for the great trip report. Why are you thumbing your dive?

 

[Rearviewmirror]

Hahaha my pinky is out

 

[Jaan]

I wanted to post a quick trip report from my recent two day trip to Curaçao as there don't seem too be many recent trip reports.

Just 2 days? With the cost of travel (e.g.: airfare), sorry you didn't have a longer stay

Great report
We’re just finishing up our trip in Curacao and concur. I will add some notes in coming days too.

 

[RumJunkie]

Nice write up and pics!
Curious, did you use offline maps on phone for driving around? If yes, what app on phone? Or, was that even needed when driving around? I plan on driving around every day on upcoming trip.

 

[Jaan]

Nice write up and pics!
Curious, did you use offline maps on phone for driving around? If yes, what app on phone? Or, was that even needed when driving around? I plan on driving around every day on upcoming trip.

Hey @RunJunkie, Nathalie loaded up her maps on Google Maps and good thing she did. We had dismal coverage. Her maps worked like a charm.

She wrote it up as a tip on her blog a while back, should still be up to date .. but feel free to comment/ask her for tips there too if need be.

Preloading Maps to Use Google Maps Offline

How to use Google Maps without an internet connection. Steps to follow to be able to use Google Maps offline. Getting directions without a connection.

freedomtourtravel.com

BTW there was no real coastal road around the island, I found you had to drive off into the various coves and bays. Not as easy to navigate as some of the other islands where you basically can follow the coast clockwise or counterclockwise and not get lost

 

[Rearviewmirror]

Nice write up and pics!
Curious, did you use offline maps on phone for driving around? If yes, what app on phone? Or, was that even needed when driving around? I plan on driving around every day on upcoming trip.

Thanks RumJunkie - glad you enjoyed the write up and my pictures.

I had saved offline maps but on T-mobile I actually got pretty solid 3G coverage (although it did switch local providers quite a lot so maybe depends who your cell provider is). Most things were 30-45mins away on the island. Although I will say the roads were in B- condition and the other drivers were… uh… not great.

 

[RumJunkie]

Great tips, appreciate that. Google maps now loaded up with offline Curacao.