Shore diving Curacao - Ocean Encounters

[bshonesy]

Going to Curacao in June, and staying at LionsDive, so hoping to just use Ocean Encounters as my tank rental shop. I’m just planning to do shore diving around the island all week. My wife and daughter will go some, but I also do a lot of solo diving. Is it just a show your card, get your tanks and go do what you want type of experience on Curacao (and specifically with Ocean Encounters)? Am I going to get hassled about solo diving? I bring my own pony and a transfill whip so I’m not reliant on a shop for my alt air source. Any sharing of experiences is most welcome and appreciated. Even if you are not a solo diver, you probably can tell if shops act like scuba police or just leave you to it. Thanks in advance!

 

[BoltSnap]

Don't ask, don't tell.

 

[Outbound]

I didn't do any solo diving when I was there, but the Ocean Encounters staff are all pretty chill. Get your tokens for fills at the front desk and then ask one of the staff to grab you some tanks. Gear up and head down to the beach and you should be good to go. Not sure if they'll say anything if they see you filling a pony off of a transfill whip though. But after the boats leave in the morning it should be pretty quiet around the dive op, so there's your chance.

 

[arew+4]

You should only need to fill your pony once just do it out of view. If you have three C cards on file you should be able to take 3 to 6 tanks at a time. No one's going to stop you from going into the water solo, especially if you have a pony, and your not getting equipment from the site you are at.

 

[MarkH]

I got banned from the first shop I rented a tank from in December. I accidentally admitted I was solo diving when I returned the tank. The guy was actually quite angry, like I had robbed them or something. The strange thing was that he was getting ready to lead a guided dive. So basically he was solo diving himself and also babysitting a group that was so uncomfortable in the water that they were paying him to keep them safe. And he thought what I was doing was dangerous. After that, when I rented tanks at the next shop, I was careful to use the plural when I mentioned divers, like "WE are diving at..."

 

[iointerrupt]

I've certainly seen some of the little shops on the island be anti-solo-diving. I have a theory that the more Dutch-oriented shops have a strong no-solo position.

But I'd expect the bigger shops to not care if you don't say anything and just do it.

I get my fills from Goby (by the Marriott), they are happy to support pretty much any type of diving you want to do, as long as you bring the tanks back.

 

[rick00001967]

when i asked about solo diving there i was told no one would rent me tanks. so if you are with your family, i would suggest not bringing it up.

 

[passedoutwookie]

I just got back from there last night. My dive buddy/fiancé is pregnant so she is not diving. I brought my sidemount rig and showed them my cave card. There was some discussion and they had to get clearance from the boss but I had no issues openly diving solo. I ended up renting tanks from a shop in Jan Thiel but spoke with a couple shops beforehand and all seemed to be ok with it. I think they will want to see some sort of self reliant or cave card and your redundant equipment but if you have those you should be fine to be open about it.

 

[ScubaBunga]

I got banned from the first shop I rented a tank from in December. I accidentally admitted I was solo diving when I returned the tank. The guy was actually quite angry, like I had robbed them or something. The strange thing was that he was getting ready to lead a guided dive. So basically he was solo diving himself and also babysitting a group that was so uncomfortable in the water that they were paying him to keep them safe. And he thought what I was doing was dangerous. After that, when I rented tanks at the next shop, I was careful to use the plural when I mentioned divers, like "WE are diving at..."

royal "we"

 

[ReefHound]

I got banned from the first shop I rented a tank from in December. I accidentally admitted I was solo diving when I returned the tank. The guy was actually quite angry, like I had robbed them or something. The strange thing was that he was getting ready to lead a guided dive. So basically he was solo diving himself and also babysitting a group that was so uncomfortable in the water that they were paying him to keep them safe. And he thought what I was doing was dangerous. After that, when I rented tanks at the next shop, I was careful to use the plural when I mentioned divers, like "WE are diving at..."

Maybe he was upset because you killed his plausible deniability. I've learned that when talking to anyone with any power at all over me that it's best to say as little as possible. In your case, I wouldn't have said anything about "we" or where we were diving. Who knows when some guy is going to have a fit because you're going to dive at a site he doesn't approve? Or he is friends with the guy from the first shop and makes the link based on all the other details heard in chit chat?