Tennessee Slim
Contributor
I just want to put in a plug for Sunset Divers. Ive been living on Curacao since August and I do more boat dives than Id like because I dont have a regular dive buddy. One of the places I keep going back to is Sunset Divers. Why? First, they dive everything from Mushroom Forest to Porto Mari on a regular basis (Watamula, Playa Kalki and Airplane on special request). Second, theyre real people.
Dive with the bigger operations (Ocean Encounters, et. Al) and you get the impression that the guys driving the boat and shepherding the tourists are at the nether end of the food chain. That someone in a Brooks Brothers suit has written their script du jour for them. Theyre not inhospitable, they just work for a company thats too concerned with their image to let the kids be kids.
The staff at Sunset Waters is warmer, more genuine. You can tell theyre not making squat but theyre doing what they love and theyre happy to do it. If they ever get rid or Rick or Carl, I figure I'll have no recourse but to go back on Lithium. Karl, frinstance, likes to tell dirty jokes between dives on 2-tankers (always asking the group for permission before doing so). But being Dutch, English is not his native tongue, which only serves to make the lame jokes even funnier.
Ive not stayed at Sunset Waters so I cant speak directly to their accommodations. From all Ive read and heard, however, they are not on par with the Marriott or Lions Dive or even Holiday Beach. And what Ive seen would lead me to agree.
So what brings this on? Well, Sunday we were returning from Cas Abou and came upon a pod about 30 animals of spinners. Without hesitation, Capt. Rick instructed everyone to don their snorkeling gear and prepare to egress the boat. Then he dumps us into the path of the spinners.
What followed was one of the most magical experiences of my life. The dolphins obviously had bigger fish to fry (pardon the pun) so the encounter was all too brief but, for a few seconds, we were sharing the water with an enormous pod of the most incredible marine mammals. And in the wild, in their habitat. We were free, all of us. Together and free.
And it happened only because Rick took the initiative. He didnt fret over liability (not like thats a major concern here), he just did what all the divers were wishing hed do.
So good on him. And on Sunset Divers.
Dive with the bigger operations (Ocean Encounters, et. Al) and you get the impression that the guys driving the boat and shepherding the tourists are at the nether end of the food chain. That someone in a Brooks Brothers suit has written their script du jour for them. Theyre not inhospitable, they just work for a company thats too concerned with their image to let the kids be kids.
The staff at Sunset Waters is warmer, more genuine. You can tell theyre not making squat but theyre doing what they love and theyre happy to do it. If they ever get rid or Rick or Carl, I figure I'll have no recourse but to go back on Lithium. Karl, frinstance, likes to tell dirty jokes between dives on 2-tankers (always asking the group for permission before doing so). But being Dutch, English is not his native tongue, which only serves to make the lame jokes even funnier.
Ive not stayed at Sunset Waters so I cant speak directly to their accommodations. From all Ive read and heard, however, they are not on par with the Marriott or Lions Dive or even Holiday Beach. And what Ive seen would lead me to agree.
So what brings this on? Well, Sunday we were returning from Cas Abou and came upon a pod about 30 animals of spinners. Without hesitation, Capt. Rick instructed everyone to don their snorkeling gear and prepare to egress the boat. Then he dumps us into the path of the spinners.
What followed was one of the most magical experiences of my life. The dolphins obviously had bigger fish to fry (pardon the pun) so the encounter was all too brief but, for a few seconds, we were sharing the water with an enormous pod of the most incredible marine mammals. And in the wild, in their habitat. We were free, all of us. Together and free.
And it happened only because Rick took the initiative. He didnt fret over liability (not like thats a major concern here), he just did what all the divers were wishing hed do.
So good on him. And on Sunset Divers.
I can only hope we can get as lucky with a spinner experience as you.
excellent report!!!!
