Family Trip to Curacao in October

[snoballz]

I'm going to take my newly minted Rescue card and my family (non-diving wife and will be 5 month old baby) to Curacao in October.

We will be staying at the Marriott. Does anyone know if there is a dive operator based in the Marriott? If not, I'd appreciate recommendations and recommendation of where to dive. This is a 6 night vacation (Sunday to Sunday or Friday to Friday) so I'd like to dive 5 days.

We chose Curacao since the rest of the Caribbean will be awash in the rainy season. Also, since my wife is not a diver and we will have our baby in tow, i seems to be an ideal place and offers non-diving things to do.

With that said, I'll have to manage my dives so that I cn spend some time during the day with them and give my wife a reprieve from the baby. So I'm thinking a day in the AM and then a dive later in the PM or night dive.

I welcome your suggestions and recommendations.

TIA!
-luke
:cool2:

 

[Bryan.]

Hey Snoballz!!
Great nickname by the way... I certainly do not miss the snow at all!!

Anyways, there is a dive op at the Marriott (Caribbean Sea Sport) and there is also another dive op (Ocean Encounters) based next door at the Hilton.

As you can tell by my avatar... I am a little biased towards Ocean Encounters! My suggestion is to explore a little... try a few out because your experience and the dives will be a little different with each operator.

Also, if you are so inclined, rent a car and head west to Playa Kalki!! The experience you will have at the west will be totally different then the east. Not only that, your family can come along to hang out at some beautiful beaches while you are out having some amazing dives at places like Watamula, Alice in Wonderland or even Mushroom Forest!!

If you have any questions regarding the island, please do not hesitate to ask. I am always happy help!

Best regards and safe diving!
Bryan

 

[snoballz]

Bryan, thanks for the quick reply!

Given my unfamiliarity with the island, am I able to walk over from the Marriott to the Hilton from the beach so I can explore with Ocean Explorers? Also, will I be able to sign-up at the Hilton location for an excursion to the west to dive Watamula, Alice in Wonderland and Mushroom Forest or do I have drive out to Ocean Explorers West?

Thanks again.
Luke

 

[ScubaSam]

I was in Curacao in October 2007 and it was my first post-OW dive vacation. I went with some non-diving friends who booked the trip and I tagged along on cause I heard the diving there is amazing.

Now bear in mind, I just got OW, had no dive buddy cause family and friends are not divers and I did not know about ScubaBoard I had insta-buddies the whole time I was in Curacao. We stayed at Breezes and dove with Ocean Encounters the entire week I was there. Would recommend them as an operator and would dive with them again when I go back.

I did not do any wreck dives cause I was a newbie. Viz was 100 ft, water temp was in the mid-80's so I only wore a swimsuit, no exposure suit. As a newbie back then I remember the names of sites but do remember diving Mushroom Forest and Jan Thiel Bay. You will LOVE the diving in Curacao!!!

Btw, if you go with Ocean Encounters, see if they'll take you to the Blue Room....shhh, it's a cool cavern we snorkeled during SI....oops I have I said too much. :shocked2:

 

[RJP]

I welcome your suggestions and recommendations.

As my wife points out "diving comes right before divorce in the Yellow Pages for a reason."

Went to the Curacao Marriott with my non-diving wife and non-diving kids last year. A good point for the Marriott and their dive Op Caribbean Sea Sports (or any place with a shop on site and a decent house reef) is that you can get a dive in and only be "gone" for the amount of time you're in the water.

We sat at the beach right by the dive shop (Carribean Sea Sports) which happened to be the nicest/quietest beach at the Marriott and has the wonderful "Board Room" beach bar too. So I was able to hang out and "be with the family" right up until the moment I put my gear on and walked into the water. ("Hey honey, I'm going for a dive. Want me to grab you a Pina Colada on the way back?") At the end of the dive my wife and kids were under an umbrella right there when I exited the water. So I was only "gone" for 45min. If I had gone to another dive site or did a boat dive it would have been 3-4hrs away from the family, probably missing one if not two meals.

Night dive was same sort of thing. We'd all walk to the water, and as I submerged my wife and kids sat down at the beach bar for a drink and played "spot daddy's dive light" for a bit while I enjoyed my dive. I surfaced 40min or so later, tossed my gear in the rinse tank and we all walked over to Hooks Hut for dinner.

When I did Mushroom Forest and another great dive up that way ("Scary Stairs"?) we went from Caribbean Sea Sports location on Cas Abou beach. Beautiful beach with a bar/restaurant, bathroom/shower facilities, lounge chairs, umbrellas, etc. Drove up to Cas Abou after a great breakfast together at the Marriott. Played with the family on the beach for a while, then jumped in the Zodiac and zipped off to the Mushroom Forest for a dive. Returned to the beach for surface interval, during which I swam with the kids and got some snacks. Then jumped back in the Zodiac for the second dive, returning about an hour later to have lunch with the family and spend the rest of the day on the beach. In my wife's mind we had a great day with the whole family on a beautiful beach, even though I did get in two fantastic dives. Had I done the exact same two dives as a typical "two tank morning boat trip" I would have left the hotel before breakfast and not gotten back until after lunch, thereby selfishly abandoning my wife for most of the day to watch the two kids all by herself.

Was able to do a total of 6 dives during our week there in this sort of "stealth" fashion and my wife hardly even noticed. First time in a long time where she didn't feel that diving monopolized the vacation.

In fact, we're going back to Curacao and the Marriott in a few weeks. Wife's idea since everyone liked the trip and (her words) "you can do some diving too." Figure that if she's SUGGESTING that I go diving it must be OK!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

RJ
There are a few places where the family can enjoy the beach while you get in a dive. I'd suggest;
An afternoon boat dive w OEW at Playa Kalki at Westpunt - lunch and a beach. Shore dive there at Alice In Wonderland as well.
Porto Marie, lunch and a beach
Lagun, lunch, a beach and great snorkeling
The Dive Bus Hut, lunch and a beach
Director's Bay/tugboat, lunch and snorkeling.
You can drive the family and meet up with the Dive Bus at a few of these locations if you need a buddy/DM or get a guided shore dive from a DM at any of those sites.
I'm sure others will chip in with a few other suggestions.
Glad to hear you are coming back
Sunshine
www.curacaosunshine.com

 

[snoballz]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Seems like there are really nice dives to be had as well as beaches on the other side of where the Marriott is located.

Does one suggest renting a car or could the diver operator (e.g. Caribbean Sea Sport and Ocean Encounters) arrange transport and the itinerary for the day.

RJP... looking forward to your trip report. Have fun!!!

-luke
:cool2:

 

[DeputyDan]

The Marriott will be a good choice.
You can walk between the Marriott and the Hilton (wear shoes)
Both have dive operations.
Price of food (at the Marriott and the Hilton) will be more that you expect.
I have stayed at the Hilton and have had dinner at the Marriott.
Rental car Company - we used was National Rent a car.
If you choose to only rent a car for a day or so - there is a rental car facility at the Hilton - don't know about the Marriott.
The beach at the Marriott is top notch.

 

[RJP]

Marriott does have a rental car desk for National. Book ahead of time; as with any rental car location, you are constrained by their inventory. Last visit there I saw people being turned away who expected to simply walk up and get a car with nary a moment's notice.

 

[Gtoph]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Seems like there are really nice dives to be had as well as beaches on the other side of where the Marriott is located.

Does one suggest renting a car or could the diver operator (e.g. Caribbean Sea Sport and Ocean Encounters) arrange transport and the itinerary for the day.

RJP... looking forward to your trip report. Have fun!!!

-luke
:cool2:

Absolutely rent a car. At the very least, you'll want to head to the west end at least once and checkout the couple of dive sites down by Ocean Encounters West. There's a nice beach there as well, so the wife and kids can hang out there while you do your dive. Plus David can cook a mean pizza for lunch over at Sunshines place which is right up the road from OEW.

There's stuff all over the island to see; like the ostrich farm, flamingo park, and the city itself. Don't know if you notice or not either, but they're running a island wide deal now as well... www.curacao.com/now

On another note, anyone down there know how long they've extended the booking window for the 'now' deal?