Ocean Encounters West

[jdcpa]

Unfortunately, we got knocked out of places to stay and dive when Susnet Waters went under.

I was looking at Kura Hulanda and Ocean Encounters West, but I ran into a concern.

Am I reading Ocean Encounters website correctly that you are required to follow the divemaster on all dives?

We were looking to use them for our small group but that is an absolute deal killer.

I go real, real slow and look for the little things. Yes, I stay with my buddy who does the same thing. No solo for me.

Can anyone comment on if I am correct in my reading is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[TN Traveler]

When we stayed at Kura Hulanda and dove with OEW, we never felt like we had to stay with the DM. We are both photographers and as long as we kept the DM in sight, there was never a problem. The DMs at OEW did not move very fast, so it was never a problems.

Besides, if you stay at Kura Hulanda, you will wind up doing lots of shore diving. The house reef, Alice-in-Wonderland, is great diving - not to mention the convenience of diving on your schedule, not the boats. You can dive it shallow or deep (90ft) - your choice. Take the boat dive to Watamula, once or twice, and maybe one to Redhio - other than that you will find the shore diving great.

 

[Bryan.]

Hello jdcpa,
My name is Bryan Horne and I am the Manager of OEW. Thanks for the questions!

Here at OEW, all of our boat dives have a divemaster or two (depending on the group size) on board in addition to the captain. Does this mean that you must follow the DM's, No... of course not. We do however ask you to provide your plan to the DM and respect the 60 minute dives times. In addition, some of our dives here are also drift dives and in those cases diving in a group is the only option to ensure the safety of all our guests.

If you are looking for shore diving, then we have some awesome sites that we can go over w/ you. One of the best is our own house reef, Alice in Wonderland!! Really awesome dive!! Shore diving might be exactly what you are looking for based on your comments. That would give you a chance to go at your pace and spend as much time in the water as you want. However, like TN said, a must boat dive is definitely Watamula, Rediho, and a new edition, Paradise!!

I hope have have answered your concerns. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me directly! Always happy to help!!

See you soon,
Bryan

 

[jdcpa]

Bryan:

Thanks for your help.

PM and email sent.

 

[bkpix]

We dove with OEW last year and had a great time. Staying with the DM was more of a suggestion then rule as long as it was not a drift dive, just make sure you are in eyesight of them. Some of the DM's we were with last year are apparently not there any more, but I doubt things have changed much.

We stayed at All West Apartments, a much more cost effective option and just minutes from the dive shop. They have a great shore dive right outside the apartments, and OEW has their house reef as well, so shore diving is a good option. We also had a rental truck that came with the apartment and did some other shore dives that were just great.

For boat diving make sure to do Watamula, AWESOME!!

Dive safe! BK

 

[rhone]

My wife and I stayed at Kura Hulanda and used OEW for our honeymoon in Jan '06. Nothing but good things to say. They had a great boat, great crew, and the western part of the island, in my opinion, had the best diving (we took one trip to Willemsted to join a boat there, and didn't like the diving as much).

I just wanted to chime in, though, to offer that the suggestion about shore diving is absolutely correct...The reef is right there, and it is awesome. It really is no exaggeration that you can just suit up and go and you'll see some great things. We did a night dive in Alice, too, and thought that was great.

For diving, I think Kura Hulanda and OEW is the best choice in Curacao. I think most of the best dive sites in curacao are on the west side, if I'm not mistaken.

(as an aside, rent a car, either from airport or from Kura, for a few days. You don't want to miss being able to venture out...The resort and the west part of the island is a little isolated)

 

[rhone]

Bryan, is Tuki still there? He's awesome!

 

[Bryan.]

Are you kidding... Toeki is permanent fixture! Shhhhhhhhhhh... do not tell him but OEW really wouldn't be nearly as entertaining w/o him!!

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

If Bryan poured himself into a gold speedo, it might be very entertaining......
And don't forget Andreas returns on Wednesday. It will be the whole A team by the time jd gets here.

 

[seacharmer]

Hi Sunshine! Hope you and David are doing well. I vote for all of OEW male DMs to wear gold Speedos like my buddy Tuki! I agree that OEW would not be half as much fun without my friend Tuki. We stayed at Kura Hulanda in May this year, and dove with OEW. Really had a wonderful time, but we will have to return as we did not get to meet Andreas, DRAT, he was so very helpful in planning our trip, actually the reason we choose OEW and Kura Hurlanda was Andreas. And anyone going to Westpunt, don't miss out on Sol Food, beautiful view, fantastic food, good prices!