Part 2-
There were all the typical reef critters, far more scorpion fish and trumpet fish than you see further north. Lionfish were plentiful, but the juvenile reef fish populations were still healthy. We did our part to cull the LF population as well as a few more divers we met. We did not see any octopi on our night dives, but we did see an amazing frog fish and a sea horse on a boat dive.
About 200 yards down the reef West, (wild assed guess) there is a debris pile at around 50 feet. This debris pile continues in a line down to a barge at 180 feet. cars, trucks, vehicle frames, steel beams, boats, and probably everything else lies in this pile. A friend described it as looking like a city exploded down there. I made it to the barge, but there is supposedly another sunken boat even deeper. I was feeling froggy....but not that froggy. Anything deeper will have to wait until I have a set of doubles or side mount.
I was damn near despondent (self medicated with Norma's fruity tropical drinks made it better) when I heard that they were shutting the island down on Wednesday and boat diving was canceled. After playing on the reef a little, I could have cared less about the boats. The reef is that good. The beaches were beautiful with no biting critters at anytime.
The day before we left, we all went and got antigen tested at a shipping container turned medical office across the street from the resort at no charge to us. I believe the resort picked up that expense. We all had the results back within hours.
The only bad thing was the music went late into the night, sometimes 2 am with private Bluetooth speakers later than that around the pool. Our room was particularly close so it made it worse. I don't travel well with limited sleep so that was the only drawback to the entire trip. The resort was not crowded at all and I think several buildings were empty.
No drama on the way home other than American delays only allowed us about 3 hours in our hotel rooms in Dallas.
I'm a fanatical diver. Like a healthy crack addiction....but worse...much worse. I went to dive, and the reef was absolutely everything I could have hoped for and more. I spent over 18 hours diving in 5 days on this trip and only surfaced because my wife would have hidden my regulators had I pushed it further. Night dives, morning twilight dives as the sun came up, and day dives at all depths never ceased to be "The Best Dive Ever!!", But the service from Norma, Verona, and George absolutely made the vacation incredible. Beyond Incredible. Should they ever see this, Thank you again!!
We will definitely be back. When the world returns to whatever normal lays ahead, if the resort was a crowded my opinion might change, but the reef was amazing and worth the trip alone. If you go, George likes his coffee with a lot of milk in it, no sugar, and not too hot. Coffee with George every morning was a highlight of the trip!!!
One love my Jamaican Amigos!! (Fist bump and tap your heart twice...you are now Jaimerican!!)
Sunscape Curaçao | Family-Friendly All-inclusive Resort
Curacao's Premier 5 Star Dive Resort ★ SSI & PADI courses for every level
Safe travels guys!!
Jay
