Recommendations for lodging, dive shops for 1st Curacao trip

[JohnN]

+1 on DivecharterCuracao and the Eastpoint reef. The backstory (as I understand it) is that an 'odd' gentleman by the name of Willy Maal owns almost all of the Eastern end of the island. One of his ancestors was the only Dr on the island back when slavery was abolished and he traded land for services.

Willy has been in a multi-decade pissing match with the Curacao government to allow him to build a resort on the East end, AFAIK he 'won' in court, but still can't build. Maybe because of this, Willy doesn't 'cotton to strangers' as they say and has cameras and sensors on the roads leading into his property and has been known to greet 'visitors' carrying pistols and a shotgun. Because of his hospitality, there is no shore diving on those reefs, so they are pristine

Here is an article I found from 2003: Oostpunt is te schoon

 

[dmaziuk]

I for one feel that Westpunt is way underrated and has plenty of topside if you are into nature. Endless remote beaches, great snorkeling/diving, boca tabla, Christophol, landhuis' to visit, host of restaurants Misje, Sol, Rancho Sobrino, Catus Cafe, and that is just a few I would recommend..

Shh, don't tell them!

Seriously though, you have to be really into hiking and into getting up at 4 am to go up the mountain: uphill and against the wind in 30+C heat.

 

[Damselfish]

been to curacao once only so not too familiar with all the areas. but i thought there was diving right off shore at lions ? so i assume there would be snokeling ?

When we stayed there and shore dived long ago from the dive shop, we basically needed to drop right to the bottom to swim out of the harbor because its a busy place. It was definitely a place to get out of, not linger. There may be too much boat and jet ski traffic to make it a viable snorkeling spot, never mind if there would be anything to see. I don’t know if entering further west from the Mambo beach area is any better.