The best way to "do" Curacao?

[morecowbells]

We stayed in a lovely condo on the water called Marazul Dive Resort (not a dive resort in the true sense of the word) rather a collection of duplex style condos with a great house reef and a rinse tank to clean your gear after diving. I'd stay at Marazul again in a heartbeat they have a security gate that you use a key code to open. From Marazul you can see both Go West Dive shop and All West appartments as they are just along the shore from Marazul. I considered All West but elected for Marazul because they had more space, a pool, etc. All West is built more like an appartment with small balconies and a small beach (sand and rocks) out front.

I have stayed at the Lodge Kura Hulanda and All West Apartments. Enjoyed both places but gravitate more towards All West due to the awesome tank room set up and the stunning views from every room. The Marazul Resort looks nice(especially the security gate and pool) and I was encouraged when reading about the property possessing a rinse tank. Do they also have an area to store and hang gear? Schlepping gear up to your room is not a deal breaker, but it makes life easier having a separate area to hang and store gear

 

[chauncy19]

morecowbells,
agree entirely with ALL West Apartments. Loved staying there and would do it again--okay planning on going back someday.

 

[TheWizard]

Hey Wizard... I totally understand the service dilemma we have regarding the stairs! Carrying tanks up and down is a work out unfortunately... I have done it enough aswell!!

Having said that, we are currently constructing an upstairs fill station and shore tank storage locker!! Therefore, in the near future tank pick and drop off will become simple and easy... back your truck and load/unload! This should allieviate alot of problems and provide a higher level of service to our shore divers everywhere!!

For now, my staff and I are more than willing to assist until this project is complete!!

Excellent, Bryan, we'll keep that in mind when time comes for next Curacao trip.

We remember you from two years ago; you fixed my son's free-flowing octo after some inept service tech back here installed some round piece backwards...

 

[SayNo2Snow]

Marazul doesn't really have a designated place to hang gear, however entry to all the units is main floor so hauling in & out is not a problem and there is a bathroom with shower on both the main level and upstairs in the bedroom. There is also a community clothes line right beside unit 8A & 8B so we hug our wet suits there to dry then tucked them into our gear bags that we stored under the stairs with our reg's. and BCD's to the bedroom. They were out of the way and very accessible.

 

[slkay]

We just went to Curaçao and stayed at the scubalodge. I would highly recommend them, awesome little hotel with a great staff. We dove with them 2 days and rented a car for 4 days and dove on our own.

Would stay again with them in a heart beat great location, staff and accommodations. The only thing they lack is a large beach. By the second day everybody knew our name and it felt like we had been staying multiple times - great staff!

They took us on some shore dives that you would never find without a knowledgeable person and we did both a day and night wreck dive that was fantastic. The dive was by where the cruise ships dock so it can be hit or miss wether you can do it - ships must be gone.

We do a lot of Caribbean diving and curaçao is now my destination of choice.
- great accommodations (scubalodge)
- shore diving with and without a guide was great, could come as go as we wanted
- location of scubalodge allowed us to walk to a most of dinner locations
- locals were very friendly
- my son who is in college also agreed that it was his top diving location (Mexico, Bahamas, St Martin, Aruba, Cayman Islands, curaçao)

 

[arubabob1]

I am a Aruba man but I went to Curacao last Nov and last March and fell in LOVE with the Island. I stay with Dave and Sunshine and get my air at All West and the first time, I dove with Hans, Curious 2 dive. He can take you to a lot of different sites and I am now going to Cur. twice a year do dive. Its the BEST!!! Aruba Bob

 

[DocSmiley]

FYI, last fall I stayed at All West and did boat and shore dives with Go West. I enjoyed it so much that I am returning later this summer. The dive sites at Westpunt are terrific and the support from Go West is top notch. I recommend them highly. The location is near the tip of the island, so visiting the city takes about 30 minutes each way, but there are good restaurants in the area. My only trip to Willemsted was to shop at Centrum and stock up the apartment.

Enjoy.

Ed