Visiting Curacao, would like some info

[ives]

Hi all, I'll be visiting Curacao the next two weeks and I have a number of questions:

* I did a PADI open-water course and 10 or so dives so I'm a real newbie. On top of that it's all 4 years ago :blush: so I guess I'll need some retraining. Any tips on good dive operators? I'll be staying in Willemstad for the first 6 days and then 4 days on Westpunt.

* Any idea how prices for fins & masks compare to Europe?

* Maybe not really on topic but where's the best place to rent a car?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Bryan.]

Hi all, I'll be visiting Curacao the next two weeks and I have a number of questions:

* I did a PADI open-water course and 10 or so dives so I'm a real newbie. On top of that it's all 4 years ago :blush: so I guess I'll need some retraining. Any tips on good dive operators? I'll be staying in Willemstad for the first 6 days and then 4 days on Westpunt.

* Any idea how prices for fins & masks compare to Europe?

* Maybe not really on topic but where's the best place to rent a car?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey there Ives!!

Happy to hear that you are coming to Curacao!! My name is Bryan and I am one of the Manager's of Ocean Encounters. So... if you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. More than happy to help.

As for completing a refresher, that is an excellent idea! It is amazing how fast the skills will come back to you but it is always a great idea to get in the water with an instructor first to refresh. As for good dive ops, well as you can imagine, I am a little biased!!

Ocean Encounters is truly the One Stop Dive Shop on Curacao. We have 5 locations on the island w/ 7 large dive boats that cover all the dive sites from Klein Curacao to Watamula, plus all point in between!! (That is as far east and as far west as you can get). Our locations are at Lions Dive, Kontiki, Superclubs Breezes, Hilton Curacao and up at Westpunt, Ocean Encounters West which serves Kura Hulanda, Allwest Apartments & Marazul. Please check out our website.

As for price comparisions, not sure. However, for a nice set of fins and a mask, the price should be somewhere around $100-150 US depending on what you like.

As for rentals, check out Noordstar or if you are staying up on the west (like Allwest Apartments) then the apartment includes a rental.

As I mentioned, please feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

See you soon!!

Bryan

 

[Diver OnLu]

Hi Ives,

I am working for Ocean Encounters West and All West Apartments in Westpoint. If you visit Westpoint we can offer you complete service including accomodation with the best evening sunset view on the island, rental car and diving (boat and shore). Feel free to pm me for further information.

Best regards from Curacao
Andreas

Hi all, I'll be visiting Curacao the next two weeks and I have a number of questions:

* I did a PADI open-water course and 10 or so dives so I'm a real newbie. On top of that it's all 4 years ago :blush: so I guess I'll need some retraining. Any tips on good dive operators? I'll be staying in Willemstad for the first 6 days and then 4 days on Westpunt.

* Any idea how prices for fins & masks compare to Europe?

* Maybe not really on topic but where's the best place to rent a car?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Damselfish]

where are you staying in Willemstad?

 

[ives]

Hi again. Thanks for the replies!

We'll be staying at the Kura Hulanda (6d Willemstad, 4d Westpunt). We plan to try the snorkeling first. If that doesn't scratch the itch enough we will drop by for some more serious underwater fun

 

[Bryan.]

BTW Ives... if you are up at Westpunt from a Friday to Sunday, check out Sol Food which is right down the street from the lodge!!

Sunshine and David make the best pizza's on the island, not to mention the other great items on the daily menu!!

Regards,
Bryan

 

[ives]

Just back from a *very* good vacation on Curacao. What a beautiful island!!!

We did a refresher course with Diveversity on Blue Bay. Very professionally handled; all went smooth and it was nice to restart slowly with our last dive being four years ago. Lots of storm damage on the house reef though.

Afterwards we did two more guided dives with Diveversity on Porto Marie. Much nicer reef with a cool turtle. Unfortunately our guide visited it for the first time too (and was taking care of two AOW students at the same time), so the "guiding" could have been a lot better.

Later we rented material from Ocean Encounters West for a shore dive on Playa Kalki. Again very beautiful. And the first time we dove without an instructor or guide . We did underestimate the current on the way back a bit, which meant we had to surface before reaching the starting point but luckily not that far. In the afternoon we opted for another guided dive, this time with OEW to Watamula. This was even more beautiful than Playa Kalki and the best dive of the trip.

All in all a very recommendable place to visit; beautiful diving, nice people, lots of things to see on the surface.

Highlights on the surface:
- the pizza at Sol Food & the friendly reception by David & Sunshine (thanks for the island notes!)
- climbing mount Christoffel
- walking through Otrobanda
- the rough north side at Shete Boka