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Curacao Review

Posted on 9/26/17 at 8:18 pm
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/26/17 at 8:18 pm
I reserve the right to refine this and it will be TLDR there was a lot that happened on the trip.

First of Sunscape asked me to move to the Hilton for the first two night because of "hurricane maintenance" they over booked! They gave me four free nights good for one year as compensation.

DIVE NOTE, you can get certified PADI there for $500 about $200 more than most places in the US.

The Hilton

The hotel is nothing nice, my A/C barely kept up with the humidity but some claimed they were getting frozen out of their rooms. The food was ok nothing special.

The dive shop was good, but the dive masters/guides were ok, one of them was speed racer when it came to leading the dive and the other took pics and promised to send them but never did, there was a statue of Neptune at on the floor and he took one of me with it. One good thing is that the web site said $99 two tank dives and that's what I got charged (more on this later.)

I left my camera back at the room for the majority of my dives due to no red filter.

First dive was Via Grande






2nd dive was Long Beach no pics but the coral there had a lot of algae problems.

Not it was time to move to Sunscape and here is where the fun begins.

Sunscape

The food was so so, the Italian restaurant was good and the beach bard had good food, the buffet was a notch below Golden Corral.

I called to delay my transfer from the Hilton to Sunscape due to diving in the morning, they never showed to pick me up and I had to take a taxi after half an hour of waiting (they did pay for it.)

Booked two double beds because I like one to crash in when I comeback and not have to worry about sand and such, they gave me one king bed, lifted the toilet seat to take a piss and it had not been flushed from the previous use. A manager moved me to a room and I got the double beds. They skipped restocking the mini bar one nigh, and didn't replace hand towels or wash rags my whole time there.

Took a day off from diving a laid on the beach. The Dutch people are strange, 80% of the couples I saw the women weighed 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 time what the man did, and they love tattoos, women with full sleeves. I did some snorkeling




The dive shop at Sunscape advertised $99 two tank dives but threw in a $10 "sales tax" fee. The next two dives ended up being drift dives because the current was strong. Beacon Point and Shipwreck point, no pics. We did see about a 2 foot long Barracuda and Moray Eel coming out of his hole.

The week before dive guides saw a 200 lb grouper, and eagle ray, and some large tarpon.

Here is the crown jewel of the trip, I did the Dolphin dive, we saw them the day before on one of our drift dives to Shipwreck point. They take up to 8 divers but I got extremely luck and the family of three backed out. I was the only one on the dive so I had Pasku to myself for the entire time. It was great because it was not a dive in an enclosed area, they take the dolphins out into the open water where they can go and do as they please.

The Dolphin Academy has about 24 Dolphins and it was cool to visit, the great thing is that they take them out into the open water to do their own thing and mate if they want with wild dolphins, but the always come back.





This post was edited on 9/26/17 at 9:13 pm
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/26/17 at 8:19 pm to
I didn't dive on Friday due to flying.

Sunscape is a tame club med the try schedule a lot of activities, but overall it's meh unless you are hanging our hat while diving.











There is a lot to do outside of diving like a Catamaran cruise with lunch and snorkeling on a private beach, dune buggy driving, etc... The island is diverse in topography so there are a lot of things to do.
This post was edited on 9/26/17 at 9:18 pm
Posted by HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Member since Jul 2011
32683 posts
Posted on 9/26/17 at 9:06 pm to


Will sticky this and 2 other new reviews in the morning.
Posted by Bubbles Up
Member since Jul 2011
2917 posts
Posted on 9/27/17 at 6:29 am to
Were you able to do any dives on the North West end of the island? I've read that it is really good diving up there, but not too many places to stay.
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/27/17 at 7:20 am to
The first dive Via Grande was in the NW, it's where you see the sea turtles


This post was edited on 9/27/17 at 7:34 am
Posted by speckledawg
Somewhere Salty
Member since Nov 2016
4257 posts
Posted on 9/27/17 at 10:32 am to
Very cool.
I have always wanted to get into diving, but the last thing I need is another expensive hobby.
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/27/17 at 11:45 am to
It can be done without a HUGE investment. $500 for open water cert, fins, mask, snorkel and boots. If I wanted I could rent a BC and regulator at my dive shop for $60 for the week. Two tank dives are usually in the $100 range whitch is on par with a lot of other day trips.

Buying your own BC and regulator will run you anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500. You can spend more if you want as with all things. Depending on the amount of use and how you take care of it the equipment will last a LONG time.
This post was edited on 9/27/17 at 11:48 am
Posted by SeeeeK
some where
Member since Sep 2012
30609 posts
Posted on 9/27/17 at 3:26 pm to


Next time, for diving, go to Bonaire. Best diving of the ABC Sister Islands.

Leaving for Aruba in Morning, have always wanted to dive, but man, my ears start popping bad at 9feet.
Posted by HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Member since Jul 2011
32683 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 8:07 am to
Posted by hoppinnissan
Louisiana
Member since Sep 2011
1003 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 10:43 am to
Thanks for the review. I have been interested in Curacao for a while.
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 10:48 am to
My trip was mostly diving, but there a lot of other fun day trips (from people I talked to.)

Dolphin Academy
Catamaran day trip to a secluded island with snorking and lunch on the beach
Dune Buggy trips.
etc..

Sunscape was an OK all inclusive but had it's issues. The food was hit or miss but the beach area was really good. They have live music each night, a casino, spa, and try to schedule activities by the pool through the day.

The price was nice though $2,100 7 night, all inclusive, and round trip airfare.
Posted by HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Member since Jul 2011
32683 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 11:41 am to
That's a crazy good deal. Who did you book through?
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 12:38 pm to
Expedia, it's where I do all of my booking, I like one stop shopping.

Prague next September is looking like $1,500 for 7 nights and airfare.
This post was edited on 9/28/17 at 12:39 pm
Posted by Bubbles Up
Member since Jul 2011
2917 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 1:27 pm to
I have enjoyed your post on Curaçao. We have friends that have gone there and loved it. I think they stayed at Lion's Dive. Said the diving was as good as Bonaire.

However, I really seem to read mixed reviews on Curaçao. I hear that hard core divers should stay up in the Westpunt area. It looks like Kura Hulinda is the only resort up there, and the reviews on it are very average. I've read that some of the rentals up there are ok, but that means you have to shop for food and cook. Mrs. The Balinese Club isn't going to do that. I guess we can do a package at Lion's dive if we went. I just like "off the beaten path" places, and being in town doesn't appeal to me.

Thoughts?

Thanks for posting!
Posted by DoUrden
UnderDark
Member since Oct 2011
25965 posts
Posted on 9/28/17 at 1:54 pm to
My first couple of days I dove with a guy that has been to Curacao diving about 15 times. A couple of years ago he stayed at a rental in the NW and said it's pretty remote. You might check out around Lagun, that will put you close to the dive sites but still have some civilization near you.

The Lions dive is right next to the Dolphin Academy and next door to where I stayed at Sunscape. You are in the heart of things but remember taxis are VERY expensive.
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