Daydreaming of Curacao

[tkaelin]

I would do 2 at gowest. You are there, your gear and tanks are there, easy entry and exit and one of the nicest shore dives anywhere. You could always hit playa piscado another day.

Also think about hitting blue view on the way back to lagun for a drink and snack/food.

 

[JohnN]

I'm bringing a group of 7 next weekend staying at Bahia Lagun and we'll have 6 dive days. We'll have two trucks and some people may do their own thing at times but I'm sketching out a loose plan. Looking for comments and dive plan suggestions at sites. The idea here is to have the afternoons be close to hotel for those that want to tap out after 2 or 3 dives. And to combine Willemstad area sites with other trips into town. We're staying Saturday night in town near the Queen's Bridge and will have all Saturday for walking around.

Sunday, morning dive or two at Lagun depending on who wants to get up early or sleep in. We get our trucks at 10am so after lunch I'm looking for one or two sites. We may need groceries so maybe Boca Sami and/or Double Reef since they take us right by Centrum. Maybe get tanks at Wederfort.

M-T-W-F can be changed or switched. The only thing fixed is Sunday morning (no vehicles yet) and Thursday boat dive.

Monday. Early start for Kokomo, probably two here, afternoon/night dives on house reef at Lagun. Probably get tanks here. Afternoon/night dives on house reef at Lagun or nearby Jeremi.

Tuesday. Morning dives at Klein and Grote Knip, afternoon/night dives on house reef at Lagun.

Wednesday. Early start to go to Directors Bay and Tugboat. Probably get tanks at Dive Bus so we can leave a change of clothes and valuables with them. Spend the afternoon on Mambo beach. Easy afternoon mid-week since folks might be getting a bit tired.

Thursday, two tank boat trip with Go West to Watamula, followed by a couple of afternoon shore dives at Kalki. Or one at Kalki and one at Piskado.

Friday. Morning dives at Porto Marie, either two here or one at Daibooi, afternoon/night dives on house reef at Lagun.

Dont pass up Cas Abo, skip the outer reef and go right. Enjoy a Williburger (goat) between dives

 

[Redtwo]

Maybe a dive at marie pompun and their car pile when you pick up the tanks. Thats right across dive bus i think. But not if it means you have to skip tugboat or directors bay

 

[ReefHound]

Maybe a dive at marie pompun and their car pile when you pick up the tanks. Thats right across dive bus i think. But not if it means you have to skip tugboat or directors bay

I have that as an option. Get to Dive Bus when they open, go do Directors and Tug, then return to Dive Bus. If it's early enough, grab a tank and walk across the street for dive 3. But most likely, with a group of 7 putzing around we won't get back to Dive Bus til 2pm or so and by then I'm sure some if not all of us will be ready for some cold beer and relaxing. I was thinking we'd hang out on Mambo from 2pm to 6-7pm but maybe we could do Mambo 4pm to 8pm.

If we geared up at Lagun and brought tanks we could be at Directors at 8am and done with Tug by noon but then we would have all our valuables and change of clothes in the car and I've heard that Directors is one place where you're vehicle is very vulnerable. The reason I wanted to use Dive Bus is to leave our stuff there.

With two trucks, we might be able to shuffle between Directors and Tug to drop 5 divers and all gear at Directors, 2 persons take the trucks to Tug, leave the stuff in a truck at Tug, and bring the other truck to Directors. I think Tugboat would be more secure (no guarantees anywhere) but that sounds like a hassle.

I'm starting to see the benefit of having a couple of non-divers on a trip, lol.

 

[Redtwo]

I have that as an option. Get to Dive Bus when they open, go do Directors and Tug, then return to Dive Bus. If it's early enough, grab a tank and walk across the street for dive 3. But most likely, with a group of 7 putzing around we won't get back to Dive Bus til 2pm or so and by then I'm sure some if not all of us will be ready for some cold beer and relaxing. I was thinking we'd hang out on Mambo from 2pm to 6-7pm but maybe we could do Mambo 4pm to 8pm.

If we geared up at Lagun and brought tanks we could be at Directors at 8am and done with Tug by noon but then we would have all our valuables and change of clothes in the car and I've heard that Directors is one place where you're vehicle is very vulnerable. The reason I wanted to use Dive Bus is to leave our stuff there.

With two trucks, we might be able to shuffle between Directors and Tug to drop 5 divers and all gear at Directors, 2 persons take the trucks to Tug, leave the stuff in a truck at Tug, and bring the other truck to Directors. I think Tugboat would be more secure (no guarantees anywhere) but that sounds like a hassle.

I'm starting to see the benefit of having a couple of non-divers on a trip, lol.

Yeah i see the timesqueeze. But if you have two trucks you could also do a (long) drift dive from directors to tugboat. Don't know the exact distance, but its done regularly. Then you have both dive sites in one dive and more time for marue pompun (if you want of course)

 

[dmaziuk]

I would do 2 at gowest. You are there, your gear and tanks are there, easy entry and exit and one of the nicest shore dives anywhere. You could always hit playa piscado another day.

You could go left from GoWest for the pix with Neptune, then come out to the sand and be on the right side of the fishing pier, and see all the turtles and snorkelers. IIRC we swam back in the shallows when we did that and had enough gas to get all the way back to GoWest pier, but didn't see anything exciting. I prefer going right towards Watamula from GoWest, but if you're doing two dives there, you can do both.

 

[ReefHound]

What are the currents like, both at Playa Kalki and Directors Bay?

 

[iointerrupt]

I don't think I've ever run into current at Playa Kalki, although if one did, it would be from right to left (looking at the reef from shore).

Director's Bay shouldn't have any if you go right toward Tug Boat. If you go left you'll hit a mild current coming at you when you make it around the "point". Typically that is near the end of the dive though, and you can turn the dive at that spot instead of bothering to fight onward.

 

[tkaelin]

I have experienced currents at playa kalki. Something to check when you get out on the reef. More often than not there are none and when there are more often running left to right but have experienced them running the other way.

 

[ReefHound]

I have experienced currents at playa kalki. Something to check when you get out on the reef. More often than not there are none and when there are more often running left to right but have experienced them running the other way.

Thanks. We'll just head to the wall and go into the current awhile, turn and ride it back. Main concern is if we try to enter at Directors and exit at Tugboat. Maps show the swim distance at about 1500' but I seldom measure the length of my dive so it's hard to relate that to how long it typically takes there. Need to be sure we can cover the distance but not too quickly. We don't have any major air hogs but everyone's SAC differs. It looks like if we follow the wall it will take us straight into the pier.