Just back from a great weeks diving off Curacao, thanks for all the advice. Here is a quick rundown of the shore dive sites we dove.
-Alice in Wonderland, easy entry off Go West dock with short swim to reef but lots of steps down from parking lot. Dramatic coral formations similar to Watamula, the otherworldly mushroom mounds are around 60' deep. We saw Turtle, and lots of Lettuce-leaf Nudibranchs in the shallows and a nice school of blue Boga on the wall. We only did one dive here and would have liked to done more.
-All West House Reef aka Playa Piscado and Playa Grande, is the harbor for Westpunt's small fishing fleet. Moderate swim out through moorings to patchy sloping wall which bottoms out at 130'. The Neptune statue in 30' of water with sponges growing out of his head is a hoot, it is located directly off the fisherman's pier. We found Barracuda, Octopus and the largest Spinney Lobster I have ever seen. We did 4 dives here as we were staying at All West, our two night dives were great.
-Kleine Knip, an isolated beach cove with security guard feeding feral cats. The long swim out from beach revealed a Spotted Snake Eel which burrows through the sand like something from the movie Dune. Nice sloping wall with twisted coral formations and good visibillity. A Spotted Trunk fish swam right up to my buddies camera, hilarious. We found a broken up sailboat on the right side of the cove in 15' at the end of the dive, bonus. This was our favorite dive site of the trip largely due to the fact we were the only divers around, a real adventure.
-Playa Lagoon, is a developed beach with a dive shop and restaurant. The entry is through coral rubble and some surge, the water near beach was quite murkey. Long but interesting swim out along side of the cove to a steeply sloping wall. The wall here is covered in giant Stove Pipe Sponges in clusters, the reef here struck me as particularly healthy. This would be a great place for a deep dive but we did encounter light current here. Barracuda and Octopus were in the shallows at the end of the dive.
-Porto Mari, long developed beach with restaurant and a friendly dive shop. We were able to drop our gear at the shop and stow it there during the interval. Beach entry with moderate swim out to the first reef. The double reef is shaped like a doughnut, with a sand patch in the center. The outer reef rises like a hill from the sand and beyond that is a big deep wall. Lots of red Algae on the outside but the inside of the doghnut makes for a fun dive with lots of fish activity. The sand patch slopes up to 15' as you go right leading to coral rubble. In the rubble we found schools of Squid and several Sharp-tailed Eels. We did two dives here.
-Tugboat, long drive from Westpunt through Williamstead to Caracas Bay but worth it. Drive past the old fort to an abandoned dive shop to reach this sweet little wreck. Entry is from steps of diveshop out past pylons to the left, the wreck is off the point. The wreck is in 15-20' and full of Glassy Sweepers and Scorpionfish. Huge ships anchor near entry, pylons and then the wreck make for an interesting swim, just past the wreck is a vertical wall running deep. Red Algae on the wall here as well but a multifaceted dive indeed, one of our favorites.
Overall the coral formations are more interesting up north (west) but the walls run steep and deep down south (East)
Great week of diving, the drive and dive option provides a real sense of freedom and adventure.
