Trip Report Trip Report 5 days Westpunt

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tkaelin

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Location
CT
# of dives
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We just returned from our 5th trip to Curacao. A short trip for 5 nights and 4 days of diving. Because it was a short trip, we stayed at Nos Krusero just across the street from Gowest and dove their house reef every day. I had 11 dives and my wife 9. We flew down on JetBlue from NY and stayed at the TWA Hotel at the airport the night before which was fun and convenient with valet parking and an elevator that takes you right to the JB terminal. Flight fine. First ones off the plane and through immigration, baggage in 10 minutes and a rental car from Budget in another 10 minutes. All went well. Quick Centrum stop and then the drive out to Westpunt.

Nos Krusero worked out okay. It checked some boxes but missed some on others. Location and price were the big pluses. The air conditioning and our room being bug free were some other positives. Big Negative was no hot water for showers. The manager explained how the little heater unit above the shower head worked and heated the water but other than taking some of chill off the water we couldn't describe it as warm. It got old taking cold showers as the week went on. The interior of our unit was relatively spartan. but mostly clean. There is an outside porch with hammocks and table and chairs and drying rack.

Diving was great and we never got bored diving Playa Kalki. I like the Gowest set up and the staff were friendly. Lots of morays on the reef including the 5' green that was hanging out down the rope at about 47'. One turtle, one huge southern stingray, an octupus and lots of the usual characters. I have a video of a flying gunard scrounging along the bottom which I hope to edit and post sometime soon. Water temps consistently 84 in the shallows and 82 at depth. Dove in a rashguard and shorts. Never used my shorty. I thought the vis was fine with it sometimes being more cloudy in the shallows. Maybe 60-90'. It varied but was never bad. There was some rain but not bad.

Dining consisted of breakfasts and most lunches in. Diners out. 2x Cactus Cafe, Sunshine's Sol Food (she is always so nice and welcoming) Blue View and Playa Forti. All were fine and enjoyable, . Big plus having Cactus Cafe now located in Westpunt.

Thoroughly enjoyed our time out in Westpunt. It has such a laid back undeveloped slow quiet vibe. There were still wandering goat herds to be seen. No TV in the room so we pretty much read books in the evening after dinner for entertainment and listened to a radio in the morning for some news over breakfast.

As far as Westpunt news I was told and subsequently read that Kura Hurlanda had been sold this year to a group of local investors and they are working to have it reopen mid '23. They were working on the area around the snack shack/beach restaurant down by the water next to GoWest and was told that should reopen soon. That would be nice as it is a convenient place to grab lunch and snacks between dives. We did notice more tours and tourists coming to Westpunt from the city by bus and boat but they did not seem to stay very long or interfere with our diving and dining. Some pics below of Gowest. I

MICR1056.jpgMICR1054.jpgMICR1058.jpgMICR1059.jpgMICR1061.jpg
 
We just returned from our 5th trip to Curacao. A short trip for 5 nights and 4 days of diving. Because it was a short trip, we stayed at Nos Krusero just across the street from Gowest and dove their house reef every day. I had 11 dives and my wife 9. We flew down on JetBlue from NY and stayed at the TWA Hotel at the airport the night before which was fun and convenient with valet parking and an elevator that takes you right to the JB terminal. Flight fine. First ones off the plane and through immigration, baggage in 10 minutes and a rental car from Budget in another 10 minutes. All went well. Quick Centrum stop and then the drive out to Westpunt.

Nos Krusero worked out okay. It checked some boxes but missed some on others. Location and price were the big pluses. The air conditioning and our room being bug free were some other positives. Big Negative was no hot water for showers. The manager explained how the little heater unit above the shower head worked and heated the water but other than taking some of chill off the water we couldn't describe it as warm. It got old taking cold showers as the week went on. The interior of our unit was relatively spartan. but mostly clean. There is an outside porch with hammocks and table and chairs and drying rack.

Diving was great and we never got bored diving Playa Kalki. I like the Gowest set up and the staff were friendly. Lots of morays on the reef including the 5' green that was hanging out down the rope at about 47'. One turtle, one huge southern stingray, an octupus and lots of the usual characters. I have a video of a flying gunard scrounging along the bottom which I hope to edit and post sometime soon. Water temps consistently 84 in the shallows and 82 at depth. Dove in a rashguard and shorts. Never used my shorty. I thought the vis was fine with it sometimes being more cloudy in the shallows. Maybe 60-90'. It varied but was never bad. There was some rain but not bad.

Dining consisted of breakfasts and most lunches in. Diners out. 2x Cactus Cafe, Sunshine's Sol Food (she is always so nice and welcoming) Blue View and Playa Forti. All were fine and enjoyable, . Big plus having Cactus Cafe now located in Westpunt.

Thoroughly enjoyed our time out in Westpunt. It has such a laid back undeveloped slow quiet vibe. There were still wandering goat herds to be seen. No TV in the room so we pretty much read books in the evening after dinner for entertainment and listened to a radio in the morning for some news over breakfast.

As far as Westpunt news I was told and subsequently read that Kura Hurlanda had been sold this year to a group of local investors and they are working to have it reopen mid '23. They were working on the area around the snack shack/beach restaurant down by the water next to GoWest and was told that should reopen soon. That would be nice as it is a convenient place to grab lunch and snacks between dives. We did notice more tours and tourists coming to Westpunt from the city by bus and boat but they did not seem to stay very long or interfere with our diving and dining. Some pics below of Gowest. I

View attachment 754459View attachment 754458View attachment 754460View attachment 754461View attachment 754462
Loved that dive!
 
Fine report, and good to see. If blessed to make it to that area one day, I imagine it would be a struggle to decide between All West Apartments and Nos Krusero.
 
I am leaning towards Allwest for our next trip. I missed the ocean front view and ability to grab a tank 24 hrs.
I would never be able to get my wife to stay at Nos Krusero due to lack of ocean view, lol. Allwest might be doable, but she liked Marazul for the view and having the pool for use at night.​
 
My wife and I stayed at Lodge Kura Hulanda back in 2010, it was very nice. Will be interesting to see what transpires here, seems like they have had a couple of false starts. Right next door to Go West and Playa Kalki.
 
We stayed at Kura Hulanda I think 3 times. Not perfect, but no place else on Curacao has quite the same combination of trying to be a nicer resort while having convenient boat diving and good shore diving on site. I hope they pull it together.

(The Marriott Beach almost, the boat from the old dive shop at least headed pretty far west, but I’ve never gotten the impression the shore diving there is anything special, though never had a chance to do it. Lions or Sunscape are good dive resort options, but aren’t trying for the higher end, too far to boat to eest end, and I don’t think the shore diving is as good at those either. There’s the place that took over Habitat, but not really sure what it’s like now.)
 
The only downside to Marazul is the lack of an on-site dive shop or dive shop service like you would have at Allwest. Sublime is right next door, at Rancho El Sobrino, and I have heard the owner might be willing to set folks up for late pick up/drop off, but it’s still not the same as having it on-site.
 
The only downside to Marazul is the lack of an on-site dive shop or dive shop service like you would have at Allwest. Sublime is right next door, at Rancho El Sobrino, and I have heard the owner might be willing to set folks up for late pick up/drop off, but it’s still not the same as having it on-site.
I have not found a place in Westpunt that checks all the boxes. Nicer accommodations and oceanfront at Marazul would be a plus. I think we could do unlimited tank packages at Gowest and drive over in the early morning and spend at least the entire morning diving there if not most of the day.
 

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