Wow, it actually sucks to be home and I have never said that after ANY vacation...ever. I go into any vacation somewhat jaded because we love Cozumel. We love everything about Cozumel, so even after a few days of being somewhere else, I always say, "It's nice...but it's not Cozumel" Spoiler alert....Not this time!!
Getting there- That was the biggest deal. This trip had been canceled by Covid 5 times in the last year and a half. We flew American out of OKC to Charlotte NC (3 hours-ish), then on to Curacao (4 hours). We were a group of 14 and no issues. They checked our Covid Tests in Charlotte before we could board, but that only added 10 to 15 minutes. No big deal. Flights went as planned within reasonable variations on time.
We landed in Curacao and cleared Customs easily. 2 of our group were directed to the wrong line (residents line) and that took 10 minutes or so to get sorted out. Bus was waiting with an XCEL Scuba sign and 25 minutes later were walking into the resort. Nice place. Typical resort facilities. Rooms are nice, beds are a little small but comfortable, we did all inclusive so the first stop was the bar for me. That is where I met my Jamaican Sister Norma. Absolutely one of the sweetest people I have ever met and hands down the best bar tender we have ever had. She remembered me everytime and took care of me even when I didn't know what I wanted. The beer was decent, but Norma's cocktails were excellent...everytime.
The resort food was excellent. After the first night we usually had the same waitress most of the time and Verona remembered our drink orders perfectly, even after a night off. Again, the service was the best we have ever had. The food was always better than any resort food we have had, and the Tuna salad at the grill, fried grouper, and everything on the breakfast buffet was always great. The one true standout was the Tuna Steak at the Resort Restaurant called Oceana. I raise Angus Beef and it hurts me to say this was one of the best "steaks" I have ever had.
Now for the good part- the diving!!
Ocean Encounters has a satellite shop on the resort. Jorge or "George" runs the shop and he absolutely made my vacation. Tanks and weights are always available and they will give you a key to the shop for afterhours diving. They are open mostly from 7:30 to 4ish. Air fills were always 3000+, Nitrox was always with 1%. The rental gear was newer and in excellent condition. Most of us had our own gear but I ended up needing a shorty and one our divers wanted to use a different BCD. We also had the obligatory High Pressure hose failure (spool orings) on one of our personal regs and they loaned him a SPG console at no charge.
The house reef more than saved us. After 3 days of boat diving, they shut the island down and canceled the boat dives. George went out of his way daily to make sure he knew how many tanks we would be needing and made damn sure they were there. Frankly, the word "House Reef" means little more than "Weight Check" to me. I was wrong. THE HOUSE REEF IS AS GOOD AND HEALTHY AS ANY I HAVE EVER DOVE, ANYWHERE, AT ANY PRICE!!!!. There is a breakwall that runs East-West and serves as an excellent navigation reference. The reef is flat out to 30 to 40 feet, then drops to deeper than most will want to go. We covered probably 1/2 a mile at various depths and usually kicked to the edge, and worked our way at depth for 40 minutes or so then came to the flats and worked our way back at 20 feet-ish for a long swimming safety stop. I had over 15 dives on this reef and it never got old. From night dives at 20 to 40 feet to a froggy deco dive down to 165, non of the dives ever got old. The wall reminded me of Santa Rosa in Cozumel, but with some steeper sections. It was amazingly healthy, but there was some brain corral bleaching starting.
Continued in Part 2 in responses
Getting there- That was the biggest deal. This trip had been canceled by Covid 5 times in the last year and a half. We flew American out of OKC to Charlotte NC (3 hours-ish), then on to Curacao (4 hours). We were a group of 14 and no issues. They checked our Covid Tests in Charlotte before we could board, but that only added 10 to 15 minutes. No big deal. Flights went as planned within reasonable variations on time.
We landed in Curacao and cleared Customs easily. 2 of our group were directed to the wrong line (residents line) and that took 10 minutes or so to get sorted out. Bus was waiting with an XCEL Scuba sign and 25 minutes later were walking into the resort. Nice place. Typical resort facilities. Rooms are nice, beds are a little small but comfortable, we did all inclusive so the first stop was the bar for me. That is where I met my Jamaican Sister Norma. Absolutely one of the sweetest people I have ever met and hands down the best bar tender we have ever had. She remembered me everytime and took care of me even when I didn't know what I wanted. The beer was decent, but Norma's cocktails were excellent...everytime.
The resort food was excellent. After the first night we usually had the same waitress most of the time and Verona remembered our drink orders perfectly, even after a night off. Again, the service was the best we have ever had. The food was always better than any resort food we have had, and the Tuna salad at the grill, fried grouper, and everything on the breakfast buffet was always great. The one true standout was the Tuna Steak at the Resort Restaurant called Oceana. I raise Angus Beef and it hurts me to say this was one of the best "steaks" I have ever had.
Now for the good part- the diving!!
Ocean Encounters has a satellite shop on the resort. Jorge or "George" runs the shop and he absolutely made my vacation. Tanks and weights are always available and they will give you a key to the shop for afterhours diving. They are open mostly from 7:30 to 4ish. Air fills were always 3000+, Nitrox was always with 1%. The rental gear was newer and in excellent condition. Most of us had our own gear but I ended up needing a shorty and one our divers wanted to use a different BCD. We also had the obligatory High Pressure hose failure (spool orings) on one of our personal regs and they loaned him a SPG console at no charge.
The house reef more than saved us. After 3 days of boat diving, they shut the island down and canceled the boat dives. George went out of his way daily to make sure he knew how many tanks we would be needing and made damn sure they were there. Frankly, the word "House Reef" means little more than "Weight Check" to me. I was wrong. THE HOUSE REEF IS AS GOOD AND HEALTHY AS ANY I HAVE EVER DOVE, ANYWHERE, AT ANY PRICE!!!!. There is a breakwall that runs East-West and serves as an excellent navigation reference. The reef is flat out to 30 to 40 feet, then drops to deeper than most will want to go. We covered probably 1/2 a mile at various depths and usually kicked to the edge, and worked our way at depth for 40 minutes or so then came to the flats and worked our way back at 20 feet-ish for a long swimming safety stop. I had over 15 dives on this reef and it never got old. From night dives at 20 to 40 feet to a froggy deco dive down to 165, non of the dives ever got old. The wall reminded me of Santa Rosa in Cozumel, but with some steeper sections. It was amazingly healthy, but there was some brain corral bleaching starting.
Continued in Part 2 in responses
