Putting in major plug/recommendation for DiveCharter Curacao and new owners Andy and KK Boyd: Home | Dive Charter Curacao
I dove with Andy and KK over Christmas week and they could not have been nicer or more professional and attentive. Two great examples: First, my kids did a DSD with Andy and his instructor Cello and they loved it. Andy was there the whole time at Tugboat beach and good thing too because my son felt uncomfortable during the skills and decided not to do the dive (I was in the water and totally agreed; after swimming him back to shore, my daughters and I went ahead). My son was very upset about it but Andy was totally cool with him, told him he'd made the right call (which he had), and generally just handled the situation and my son really well. Andy then offered to comp half the dive, which was more than fair given the lengthy onshore instruction and guidance Cello had provided (but given the time and effort involved I went ahead and paid for the full DSD; great pricing too).
Second, having done the (no-longer-worthy-of-the-fame) "famous" Mushroom Forest dive earlier in the week (more below), I then did two dives with Andy and KK on the east side and I HIGHLY recommend that whole experience. Andy told me the east side reef was/is in excellent condition and man was he right. Full of life and color, with pretty good viz (maybe 60 feet) and pretty good stuff to see--lots of trumpets, couple of mantas, French Angels, porcupines, nice turtle, etc. Andy calls it "adventure diving" and he's right: you're in an 8-10 person RIB, with tanks and BCDs in the middle--you go out thru pretty good waves 15-20 mins and then you're there, back roll in, and let the dive begin!
So I do really recommend Andy and KK. On the other hand, I can't recommend the Mushroom Forest dive (which I did with another op and which Andy will only do if really pressed and then only after trailering his boat north). First, if you leave from anywhere near Willemstad or south thereof, it's a solid 1.5 hour boat ride to the site. Second, it's at best an OK dive; I gave it a 2.5 on my 5 pt scale (5 is best) and that's being generous. The coral is unfortunately pretty beat up, the viz was really poor, and there isn't a lot of life; the mushroom coral is cool to see, but not remotely worth a 3 hour roundtrip.
Finally, if you haven't been to Curacao, I also highly recommend it: super friendly people, lots of Dutch and other Europeans (which gives it a cool vibe), good to very good restaurants (Kome was our favorite), and lots of great beaches to explore. Oh, and don't forget to hike Mt. Christoffel, that's a literal and figurative kick in the a#@!
Thanks.
I dove with Andy and KK over Christmas week and they could not have been nicer or more professional and attentive. Two great examples: First, my kids did a DSD with Andy and his instructor Cello and they loved it. Andy was there the whole time at Tugboat beach and good thing too because my son felt uncomfortable during the skills and decided not to do the dive (I was in the water and totally agreed; after swimming him back to shore, my daughters and I went ahead). My son was very upset about it but Andy was totally cool with him, told him he'd made the right call (which he had), and generally just handled the situation and my son really well. Andy then offered to comp half the dive, which was more than fair given the lengthy onshore instruction and guidance Cello had provided (but given the time and effort involved I went ahead and paid for the full DSD; great pricing too).
Second, having done the (no-longer-worthy-of-the-fame) "famous" Mushroom Forest dive earlier in the week (more below), I then did two dives with Andy and KK on the east side and I HIGHLY recommend that whole experience. Andy told me the east side reef was/is in excellent condition and man was he right. Full of life and color, with pretty good viz (maybe 60 feet) and pretty good stuff to see--lots of trumpets, couple of mantas, French Angels, porcupines, nice turtle, etc. Andy calls it "adventure diving" and he's right: you're in an 8-10 person RIB, with tanks and BCDs in the middle--you go out thru pretty good waves 15-20 mins and then you're there, back roll in, and let the dive begin!
So I do really recommend Andy and KK. On the other hand, I can't recommend the Mushroom Forest dive (which I did with another op and which Andy will only do if really pressed and then only after trailering his boat north). First, if you leave from anywhere near Willemstad or south thereof, it's a solid 1.5 hour boat ride to the site. Second, it's at best an OK dive; I gave it a 2.5 on my 5 pt scale (5 is best) and that's being generous. The coral is unfortunately pretty beat up, the viz was really poor, and there isn't a lot of life; the mushroom coral is cool to see, but not remotely worth a 3 hour roundtrip.
Finally, if you haven't been to Curacao, I also highly recommend it: super friendly people, lots of Dutch and other Europeans (which gives it a cool vibe), good to very good restaurants (Kome was our favorite), and lots of great beaches to explore. Oh, and don't forget to hike Mt. Christoffel, that's a literal and figurative kick in the a#@!
Thanks.
