Curaçao Trip Report

Only a 2 1/2 hour non-stop flight from Miami is the beautiful island of Curaçao, in the Netherlands Antilles. Warm, turquoise water, cool breezes, vibrant bougainvilleas and prickly cacti abound around the island, but most importantly, some really fantastic diving! I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the diving: day or night, the reefs were lush, healthy and full of life.

Arriving at Curaçao's 5-month old new airport addition, we easily cleared immigration and grabbed our luggage. Last year, when I flew into Curaçao (on my way to Bonaire), we deplaned on the tarmac and walked inside to the very small terminal. I was amazed to see the new addition at the Hato Airport. There was glass corridor leading to the immigration desks, and with over 8 officers, the process was smooth and very quick. Everyone's bags arrived and we quickly made our way outside. Our transfer representative was waiting for us outside baggage claim and we packed the air conditioned van for our 25 minute ride from the airport to the all-inclusive Sunset Waters Resort.

As you enter the winding road to the resort, the colors of the bougainvilleas were spectacular... pinks, reds, purples, salmon, all in full bloom. It was a beautiful sight. We were dropped off at the front desk and everything was in order. We got our all-inclusive wrist bands, and the manager, Jim, gave us a briefing on where everything was located (restaurant, dive shop, pool, etc.) and what times meals were served. Even though we had missed lunch, there was a special menu for the late arrivals on the American Airlines flight. Our luggage was in the room by the time we were shown to our homes for the next week, and as we dropped off our handbags, we headed straight to the restaurant for some food and drink. Of course, we HAD to try some of the famous Blue Curaçao that the island is known for. However, no one in my group could figure out exactly what it tasted like. "It tastes blue" said one of our divers!! We decided to stick to the local beer, which was flowing readily from the bar!! After lunch, we stopped in at the dive shop to fill out paperwork and get our schedule sorted for the week. Morning dives were on our schedule, so we would have to be at the dive shop by 8:30 am for the next few days. The friendly crew informed us that a large group was just leaving, so we would have the boat to ourselves and have our pick of dive sites.

After leaving the dive shop, we decided to take a rest before the manager's party at the pool bar later that evening. As group leader, I was lucky enough to get upgraded to the king superior room right by the pool. There are two rooms that share a very large balcony and they are close to everything! The rest of our group were in the oceanview superior rooms that were a bit farther away from the action, but everyone was happy with their accommodations.

We attended the pool-side party and were served a variety of appetizers, along with refills on everyone's favorite beverages. We mingled with other guests and after a couple of hours decided that we'd call it a night. Since we had such a late lunch, no one was hungry for the beach BBQ that was on the schedule for that evening!

After catching up on some sleep, we rose to a beautiful, sunny morning and headed to the restaurant for breakfast. There was an omelet station where you could request your favorite eggs or omelets with all the trimmings, along with your choice of breads, yogurt, fruit, bacon, sausage and a variety of other items. The number of staff far outnumbered the guests, so we were well taken care of.

We headed to the dive shop for our first day of diving, and were happy to hear that we would be diving the famous Mushroom Forest! We were not disappointed, the dives were great, and we saw lots of eels, flounder, hard and soft corals and little critters. The dive operator, Sunset Divers, operates two boats: the Day Dreamer and the Day Tripper, both named for the owner, Mike Day. The crew sets up your BCD and regulators on the tanks, and we were responsible for bringing our mask, fins, snorkels, wetsuits and computers. Between dives, they would quickly and efficiently switch over our gear.

The boat rides were quick, since Sunset Waters Resort is located on the west end of the island, close to many beautiful dives. We dove a variety of sites, namely Radio City, Hell's Corner, the Mushroom Forest, the Sponge Forest, Harry's Hole, Santa Cruz, and even spent a surface interval snorkeling in the Blue Room, a cave where the sunlight reflects on the water making it seem electric blue. Very pretty. We even had some brave divers, climb the rocks on the outside of the cave to do some amateur cliff diving!

After the dives, we would eagerly head to the restaurant to see what wonderful meals the chefs had prepared for us! We were never disappointed. Afternoons were spent lounging by the pool bar, napping, getting a massage, or heading into town to do the obligatory shopping and sightseeing. The Resort offers a free shuttle that departs the resort at 2 pm and returns by 6 pm for those wanting to check out the picturesque downtown area of Willemstad. If you're looking for some duty-free shopping, want to visit a museum or try your luck at a casino, this is the place. There's also an interesting floating bridge in the center of town that spans the harbor entrance and links the two downtown areas, Punda and Otrabanda that is fun to walk across.

The resort has a beautiful crescent shaped beach with shaded areas, lounge chairs and a well-marked snorkeling trail. We did a night dive on the House Reef, which drops down to about 100' feet, and is as beautiful as any of the reefs we dove by boat. We saw several spotted eels that were out hunting for their dinners, and had a nice 'fly-by' by a spotted eagle ray, which stopped and did a little underwater dance for us before scooting off into the dark waters. When we mentioned that sighting to the dive shop staff, they said they had not yet seen an eagle ray on the house reef, so I think we were pretty lucky that night. It was a nice ending to some training I was doing for an Advanced student, as he experienced his first night dive! We navigated perfectly along the wall and back to the resort beach.

There is no shortage of activities offered by Sunset Waters, and a schedule is provided when you arrive, so you can plan your days accordingly. Whether you want to go island exploring, visit historical plantations, see the famous Hato Caves, or just relax at the resort, there is definitely something for everyone.

Before I knew it, my vacation was over, and it was time to head back home. Everything worked out great and the whole group was pleased with our destination choice! I would definitely recommend Curaçao as a divers' destination. With lots of topside activities and the beautiful underwater scenery, this destination has it all!