Limestone Holiday resort in Curacao?

[stiwi]

So did anyone stay at Limestone? I am considering staying there since they are getting quite good reviews and have pretty attractive deals which include the car rental.

My only concern is about how far driving it is from the West dive spots. From what I read here, West part has the best diving, so I am not sure if it makes sense to cross half island by car to do 2-3 dives daily. On the other hand, I assume that Limestone is much closer to the downtown than getting to it from the West.

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

Depending on traffic, Limestone is not that much closed to town, maybe 10 or 15 minutes. But it is a bear to drive to the west end almost everyday. I'll beat Andreas to the post and recommend All West Apartments where you will not only get a vehicle but shore diving in your package. You'll have access to air 24/7 and just a staircase down to the Westpunt Bay. We have an apartment but not the add ons.
Seriously if you are planning 3 dives a day, consider staying out West. I'm not sure if I have seen postings about Habitat or Sunset Waters including a car or truck in their packages. Yes, the drive back to town will be 40 minutes but chances are if you are a diver it will be less often than if you drove to dive out west every day.
Limestone is not featured on this map but you can see how far Jan Sofat is from town and the west end dive sites. Curamap, Online Roadmap for Curacao I've again met a few who have stayed at the Scuba Lodge right downtown and have liked it. I still haven't gone by to say hello. It would be within walking distance to town. I don't know if they have rental vehicles included in their packages.

 

[song]

thanks everyone for all the info. It's hard to pick out a place when you're only vaguely familiar with the island. Plans have changed to a Bonaire trip with friends this year but will definitely be making back to Curacao in the not too distant future. May have to consider splitting time between Scuba Lodge and All West.

 

[stiwi]

Depending on traffic, Limestone is not that much closed to town, maybe 10 or 15 minutes. But it is a bear to drive to the west end almost everyday. I'll beat Andreas to the post and recommend All West Apartments where you will not only get a vehicle but shore diving in your package. You'll have access to air 24/7 and just a staircase down to the Westpunt Bay. We have an apartment but not the add ons.

The only thing I am afraid of staying at the West side is that apart from diving, there won't be much to do. I suppose also that after 2-3 daily dives I won't be really keen on going to the town, considering the fact it is 40 mins each way. So I think it is still better to stay close to the center, sacrifice your time in the morning to reach the dive sites, going back to the downtown where as I assume you are spoilt by choices of restaurants and bars.

Beside, All West Apartments look as a self-catering holidays to me, they don't even have any restaurant on side as I checked their website.

Have you had a chance to see Iguana Inn? They seem to be also quite centrally located (few mins by car to downtown). But I think my bet will be Scuba Lodge despite there aren't much informations available.

The other thing I am wondering about diving in Curacao (since it will be my first there) is if shall I rent a pickup to cross the island with the tanks on it or I should rather rent the tanks on site? I read that in Curacao almost each dive spot has its on site facilities.

 

[Crowley]

Scuba Lodge is in a very convenient place. Punda town is a short walk (lots of touristy shops though) and you can saunter across the floating bridge to Otrobanda which is also lovely. Plenty of great places to eat in both. You're a $1 bus ride from the Dive Bus Hut so there is no excuse for not dropping by sometime (for beer o'clock of course)!

I've never been inside the Lodge so can't tell you about that, but it looks good from the outside.

About the tank thing- yes lots of the dive sites have on site facilities, but some of the best ones don't, so lots of independent divers rent transport and tanks and well.

Cheers

C

 

[TheDiveBus]

Hi folks,

Here's my input for what it's worth:

- All West apartments on the West point of Curacao has good reviews and there is certainly great diving around that area. Whilst there are a LOT less ameneties in the Westpunt area than further East, plenty of divers enjoy their 'quiet' stay in that area - just ask Curacao Sunshine

- Limestone is, geographically speaking only, the opposite of All West. Again, lots of great reviews about the place and it is less 'remote' from the wider range of facilities than All West, including restaurants, shops, downtown Willemstad. It's about 10 minutes drive to The Dive Bus, even in rush hour (there are short cuts ).

- Habitat is smack in the middle of the island with easy access to west and east dive sites. It's about 30 minutes drive to The Dive Bus from there.

- Scuba Lodge is a newly opened dive resort, in the outskirts of downtown Willemstad, run by good people. It's a 5 minute drive at most from there to The Dive Bus.

- You will surely have a great time / experience wherever you stay in Curacao, but it does depend on what you are looking for. If you'd like more information on the various locations, check out this page: The Dive Bus - Which part of Curacao to stay in


- Many Limestone and Scuba Lodge guests dive with The Dive Bus simply because we are close by (10 minutes and 5 minutes drive respectively) and because we can arrange a 'meet us on site' dive for self-driving divers. However we do tend to dive East side (Limestone et al) more frequently than Westpunt (All West et al) so you this would need to be booked in advance.

- Iguana Inn is more centrally located than Limestone - less than 10 mins drive from Willemstad, The Dive Bus and right by the grocery store - and are absolutely gorgeous apartments. Divers booking dive packages with The Dive Bus get discounts at Iguana - as well as Parrot Hill and Seaside Apartments. Go here for more info: The Dive Bus - Dive Bus Accommodations

- tanks: a lot of dive sites do indeed have dive shops on site where you can rent tanks but (as Crowley mentioned) not all. You'll probably get a better deal if you rent from a single dive shop for the time you're here - certainly at The Dive Bus anyway.

- there is a lot of debate about west vs east dive sites in Curacao but quite honestly, they are all lovely, just in different ways. Talk to whichever dive shop you choose to dive with or get your tanks from, and they should be happy to point you in the right direction. If not, then swing by The Dive Bus and we'll be MORE than happy to help you get the most out of your vacation

- Everyone is welcome at The Dive Bus, whether it's to dive with us, rent tanks / equipment with us, or just to swing by for information on getting the most of our your diving vacation in Curacao.

- to summarise, if you want easy access to all dive sites, east and west, and a choice of things to do / see in the evenings / dry days or whatever, stay closer to Willemstad (east side). If you're looking to get away from it all, go to the Westpunt. Either way you'll have a wonderful dive vacation and get to see some fabulous dive sites. But top tip: do take the advice of whichever dive shop you choose to ensure you see the very best of the dive sites, not just the easy to reach ones, and the very best of Curacao. There's plenty to enjoy )


If you have any questions, please don't HESITATE to PM me. We simply want you to have the best time you possibly can here - then tell all your friends about it and come back again

All best,
Suzy

http:The Dive Bus - HOME

 

[song]

Suzy-

Thanks for a GREAT summary. I look forward to my next trip to Curacao...whenever that might be. So many dive sites in this world, only one short life!

Stacy

 

[Diver OnLu]

Hi Song,

If you need more information about diving the west end of Curacao you can always pm or email me (andreas@allwestcuracao.com).

Working for All West Apartments I have done more than 500 dives in our area, so while the Dive Bus are well-known on this board to be very friendly and fun people who can for sure tell you everything about the more eastern dives I am not so familiar with, I am at home in the west, same as Sunshine from Sol Food.

Wherever you go, be assured that diving around Curacao is extremely relaxed as well as beautiful!

Kind regards from the Caribbean
Andreas