Trip Report Our Free Trip Back to Curacao!

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markmud

Self Reliant Diver--On All Dives.
Messages
1,514
Reaction score
1,860
Location
South Lebanon, Ohio
# of dives
200 - 499
Hello All,

My wife Cathy and I attended the Curacao Surge this last January. At our closing ceremony, @cardzard and @ROXANNE gave away a trip to Oasis Coral Estates and scuba diving with Coral Divers. We also got free breakfasts at Bread & More or Karakter. Also, we received a couples massage at Coral Estates' beautiful spa.

We flew to Curacao from CVG on Saturday the 6th of April. We rented a car at the airport, bought some groceries and drove off for Oasis Coral Estates.

We were given a second floor room with a large balcony that overlooked the pool, pool bar, and the Caribbean Sea. The room was fresh, clean, and modern (it is about 3 years old).

The next morning, we went to Coral Divers which is just below the pool and about 20 paces north, where the Sea Lion dive boat was waiting for us. Surgers from Bonaire remember the Sea Lion as it was one of the dive vessels that we dived from, on one day or another. Brian was at the helm. Evidently, the Coral Divers' boat was being repaired so they worked with Go West Diving to keep their customers happy. Louis skippered the boat the remaining 4 days.

I definitely like diving the west end of Curacao. I want to spend more time at the Mushroom Forest (slow diving) and dive more west end sites. Andrew was our first DM and he slowed the pace way down. We were shining our lights and poking our heads into every nook and cranny we could find. We had some very enjoyable dives. Our co-divers were fun and good divers. Coral Divers has a slick operation. Very professional.

We ate at Karakter a few times; however, the atmosphere, booze, and food were really fun at Koraal Bar and Grill, which is the pool bar for Oasis Coral Estates. They usually have a theme night on weekends and one weekday evening. One was the Egg Barbecue, another was Sushi Night, and lastly The Taste of the Caribbean. We met two Dutch couples there and had fun dining with them throughout the week. Zander, Nonny, Riley, and Dianne were standouts at the restaurant. What a blast.

I have never had a massage before. The couples massage was totally cool--and the spa was 100 feet from our balcony.

We loved the fresh baked bread and breakfast sandwiches at Bread & More. Bread & More was 80 feet from our front door.

Yeah, our room was the hub of the wheel, so to speak. Everything was right there.

Here is our balcony view (the stairs for the spa are on the right):
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Here is "The Life of Riley", our bartender Riley; he thinks he has 450 drinks memorized:
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Here we are on "Sea Lion" with Coral Divers in the Background:
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Here is some of the staff from Coral Divers:
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I think the pictures paint the correct portrait for our trip: Awesome People!

The Dutch know how to entertain.

Thanks @cardzard and @ROXANNE for doing all the legwork that made this trip possible. If you hadn't asked for prizes from vendors and resorts, Cathy and I could not have won this trip and had a wonderful time. If you had not organized the Curacao Surge, we never could have won a memorable week in paradise.

much gratitude,
mark and cathy
 
Thanks @cardzard and @ROXANNE for doing all the legwork that made this trip possible. If you hadn't asked for prizes from vendors and resorts, Cathy and I could not have won this trip and had a wonderful time. If you had not organized the Curacao Surge, we never could have won a memorable week in paradise.

much gratitude,
mark and cathy

It was our pleasure! We are so pleased that the 2 of you had a fabulous time! Thank you for also taking the time to write a review. Our Sponsors are the best!
 
Thanks for sharing this review. Are there any restaurants within walking distance from the resort?
 
Thanks for sharing this review. Are there any restaurants within walking distance from the resort?

Hi morecowbells,

Only the restaurants at the resort. I would recommend renting a car.

Burefeau (spelling completely incorrect) was really good. It is on the main highway between the airport and Oasis Coral Estates. We had so much fun at Korral that we did not venture off resort for many meals.

cheers,
m
 
Not close to much of anything else there, we always rented a car. About the closest outside restaurant is Landhuis Daniel which has always been a good meal, though we haven’t eaten there in a long time. Maybe 10 minute drive. There might be a couple local snack places closer, at least as the bird flies, but nothing walkable.

An advantage of the Coral Estate location over West end is that driving to town for some dinners or whatever is a more reasonable option. Not exactly close, but we would actually do it - rarely if ever did that from the west end.
 
Thanks for the trip report. The mushroom forest and Alice in Wonderland are both great dives on the West side of the Island. So varied! Glad you had a great time.
 
Glad you guys won and got to go take advantage of it. Sounds like a different kind of trip in terms of location and logistics from the Surge event at Sunscapes Curacao (an A.I. resort). Putting aside the 'apples and oranges' thing (and the added perks of a Surge vs. an independent booking), of the two trips did you have a favorite? Did you do any shore diving?
 
Glad you guys won and got to go take advantage of it. Sounds like a different kind of trip in terms of location and logistics from the Surge event at Sunscapes Curacao (an A.I. resort). Putting aside the 'apples and oranges' thing (and the added perks of a Surge vs. an independent booking), of the two trips did you have a favorite? Did you do any shore diving?

Hi Rich,

It was an apples to oranges trip. So I really can't judge the two in a side-by-side review. We had a grand time at both events. The Curacao Surge was our second Surge event. Many of the people we dived and socialized with on Bonaire were at Sunscape. It was as if we were seeing old friends for the first time in a year.

At Coral Oasis, we were surrounded by strangers who were all friendly, and some were happy to socialize with us. A different experience.

Technically, I did not do any shore diving. We were dropped off by Sea Lion and swam westerly toward Coral Oasis and Coral Divers. We did not re-board the boat; the boat followed us to the pier. So, we did dive their house reef.

I definitely like west-end diving better. The cove where Go West Diving is in the lee and flat calm; even on a windy day. It was beautiful.

cheers,
markm
 
Thank you for the nice report and great pictures.
I do have to attend one of the surges one of these days and meet all the nice people who attend.
 
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