markmud
Self Reliant Diver--On All Dives.
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):
Here is "The Life of Riley", our bartender Riley; he thinks he has 450 drinks memorized:
Here we are on "Sea Lion" with Coral Divers in the Background:
Here is some of the staff from Coral Divers:
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
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):
Here is "The Life of Riley", our bartender Riley; he thinks he has 450 drinks memorized:
Here we are on "Sea Lion" with Coral Divers in the Background:
Here is some of the staff from Coral Divers:
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