Cynjohnson
Guest
I leave Saturday the 18th for Curacao, has anyone dove with Ocean Encounters? Or, who do you recommend to dive with while on the island?
Ocean Encounters Curacao
- Thread starter Cynjohnson
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You may want to post your question in the regional forum for Curacao rather than have it get lost in the Intro & Greeting forum. See link below.
Lesser Antilles - ScubaBoard
I dove with Ocean Encounters when I was in Curacao in 2007, it was my first post OW dive vacation. Ocean Encounters has several locations throughout the island. They run a good operation and were very safety conscious. I'd recommend them as an op.
I also went around the same time you're going so expect 100 ft vis with bathtub like warm water, so warm that I did not use an exposure suit and just dove in my swimsuit. Not advocating you dive without an exposure suit just stating that for that trip I did not use an exposure suit.
Ask them to take you to the "Blue Room" during SI, it's a cavern you can snorkel or swim in during SI.
Have a great time and safe dives.
Lesser Antilles - ScubaBoard
I dove with Ocean Encounters when I was in Curacao in 2007, it was my first post OW dive vacation. Ocean Encounters has several locations throughout the island. They run a good operation and were very safety conscious. I'd recommend them as an op.
I also went around the same time you're going so expect 100 ft vis with bathtub like warm water, so warm that I did not use an exposure suit and just dove in my swimsuit. Not advocating you dive without an exposure suit just stating that for that trip I did not use an exposure suit.
Ask them to take you to the "Blue Room" during SI, it's a cavern you can snorkel or swim in during SI.
Have a great time and safe dives.
DeputyDan
Contributor
They have a very good reputation.
You will have a good time!
You will have a good time!
We'll be there shortly after you. We're diving with The Dive Bus. If you're not already commited, I'd say drop email to several dive ops and see how they "feel" to you. OE is a much larger op, which is a negative, to our way of thinking.
I didn't like OE and neither did any of the divers I spoke to down there. Shortly after I returned, my dive shop led a trip down there and everyone was dissapointed. When I go back I'll likely use the Dive Bus.
I've dove with OE on a couple of their special trips, Mushroom Forest and East Point and enjoyed both, but did most of my diving with the Dive Bus, Mark and Suzy run an excellent operation.
So my expereince with OE is limited. The dives we did do were on fairly big, stable boats with 20+ divers and crew, 2 DM's and Captain. From what I seen of the regular outings, there seemed to be fewer divers aboard.
I guess it would also depend on what kind of diving you like. Do you prefer boat diving or is shore diving more to your liking or are you like me and just want to dive, dive, dive.
We stayed at Breezes and OE has a shop on site, very convenient. 2 tank morning dives the boat was back by lunch time, or at least that's what I was told. With the Dive Bus they supply lunch so we would get back around 1:00-2:00pm.
I personally prefer the Dive Bus and their layed back attitude. But as I metioned I've had limited exposure to Ocean Encounters.
Hope this helps.
So my expereince with OE is limited. The dives we did do were on fairly big, stable boats with 20+ divers and crew, 2 DM's and Captain. From what I seen of the regular outings, there seemed to be fewer divers aboard.
I guess it would also depend on what kind of diving you like. Do you prefer boat diving or is shore diving more to your liking or are you like me and just want to dive, dive, dive.
We stayed at Breezes and OE has a shop on site, very convenient. 2 tank morning dives the boat was back by lunch time, or at least that's what I was told. With the Dive Bus they supply lunch so we would get back around 1:00-2:00pm.
I personally prefer the Dive Bus and their layed back attitude. But as I metioned I've had limited exposure to Ocean Encounters.
Hope this helps.
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