Dive 'n Curacao, any input?

[morecowbells]

We are booked for a vacation in Feb, staying at Marazul. In the past I have used Go West diving which I will still use for their shore dive site and a boat dive to Watamula. For other dive sites, we plan on renting some tanks. I noticed that neighboring Rancho Sobrino has a dive operation called Dive n' Curacao. I have not heard of this operation before. Does anybody have any information on this place? Their website is in German, so I cannot get much helpful material there. Getting tanks trough Go West is fine, but not a fan of schlepping tanks up and down their stairs. Thanks in advance for any intel

 

[ontdiver]

The reviews of Dive n' Curacao on TripAdvisor seem positive....

 

[tkaelin]

Did you try looking up the website and using the google translator? I understand the stair thing at Gowest's main shop.

On our upcoming trip in Jan we are using the tanks on site at lagun blou and will book a 6 day unlimited air and nitrox package with them but we will still rent tanks on site at Cas Abou/B diving and Playa Kalki/Go west because A. the packages are so affordable, B. we like the two on site shops, and C. for the small add'l price we don't have to slep tanks, get up to date local condition critter reports, folks to watch over our stuff, rinse tanks, drying racks etc. We figured that between the unlimited packages and paying for tanks at other sites and a boat dive to watamula we should be under $500 for diving costs for the week.

 

[AdivingBel]

We used Dive'n on our last stay at Marazul. They are really setup to support divers staying at Rancho El Sobrino with unlimited tank packages as opposed to renting by the tank. We explained to them we were staying at Marazul for a couple of weeks and were planning lots of diving locally, but would also be diving around the island so we wouldn't need tanks every day. They agreed to an unlimited tank package only counting the days we rented from them. They included weights which we kept for our entire stay and included the combination to their tank/gear room so we had 24 hr. access. Based on what we worked out with them, we planned our diving to maximize our tank use on "local days" on the house reef and unimproved sites, then planned day trips for more distant diving at improved sites with dive shops or boat diving at GoWest. Given the proximity to Marazul we used both their secure gear room and keeping gear at the condo depending on which was more convenient based on our plan for the day.

I felt like we were taking them a bit out of their "shoebox" in that it was pretty much a handshake agreement as to which days we took tanks given we had 24 hr. access (we would pick up tanks for night dives and preload the car for days we wanted early starts), but they were very nice and we were careful to be consistent with how we counted days so as not to take advantage. We had no issues settling up with them at the end of our trip. Again, I'm not sure how standard this was for them but they were very nice and easy to work with. YMMV. Have fun...I luv the house reef at Marazul.

 

[morecowbells]

@ontdiver, I did look at the Tripadvisor reviews, overall they do seem positive. @tkaelin, I am with you 100 % about using onside dive ops. Go West and B Diving are wonderful to deal with. An added benefit is having a place to eat lunch during surface interval. @AdivingBel , thanks for the first hand information. We usually do two dives a day. More than that and I end up getting too cold( even with 5 mm wetsuit). Perhaps renting by the tank may be a better option. I could not agree with you more about the Marazul house dive. Short swim out, prime visibility and pristine reef. After this latest snow, vacation will not come soon enough!

 

[tkaelin]

Are you air or nitrox. If just two tanks a day I wonder if Gowest would let you pick up air tanks at Allwest. It would be much easier pick up from Marazul.

 

[AdivingBel]

Does GoWest still have a tank room upstairs next to the parking lot. It's been a couple of years since I've done a tank pkg with them, but they kept air tanks in that room.

@morecowbells, you might explain what you want and ask at Dive'n if they will rent by the tank. I was just looking for a package. They were very nice and it is handy.

 

[tkaelin]

An English page of prices is in the Dive n curacao website found by digging down to the price list page.

Dive'n Curacao Preisliste

 

[morecowbells]

@AdivingBel , I heard the kiosk by Go West can be hit or miss(My info may be dated), sometimes they had tanks, other times you had to go to the dive shop. Excellent sleuth work @tkaelin ! For the life of me, I could not find a page in English.

 

[Johncn]

If this is covered elsewhere, sorry for the repeat. I've scanned threads and done some searches, but just getting started on research for an upcoming trip. Found Rich's mega-thread, of course.

We are staying at a Marazul apartment in July and early August. Does Dive'n Curacao next door have rental by the tank? I don't see that on the excellent link @tkaelin posted....just the unlimited air by days. I found the same basic info in a different format using Google Translate, but "by the tank" is not there under prices that I see. I have read they are mostly serving their own guests, but seems like they have a flexible streak.

GoWest shows $10 per tank on their shore diving rate list:

Shore Diving Packages - Go West Diving

We are in our 50s, and more "sporadic" divers than trying to get as many dives in as possible on a trip. We may dive three times today, once tomorrow, just snorkel and skip a day, two dives the next..rinse and repeat. We there for about 5 weeks, and would like to try dives with all the Westpunt area operators, including some of the famous boat dives, but also do our own "drive 'n dive days" as we did in Bonaire, so trying to figure out the best sources / choices for an "ala carte" menu. ;-)

Thanks in advance for any insights.

Johncn