Diving in Curacao?

[goldenfarm]

Can anyone recommend scuba dive companies in Curacao? Our ship doesn't offer scuba excursions in that port, but we're certified divers and would like to dive while we're there. 

 

 

[omeinv]

@goldenfarm 

 

Easy!  CURious2Dive.  Hans will pick you up at the port, take you on two great dives, and return you.  His shop is in the Jan Theil area, which is where all Curacao's famous dive sites (Caracas Bay, Director's Bay, Tugboat beach, etc) are.  You won't be part of a huge group, probably no more than four divers.  The prices are great, and nitrox is avaialble for a nominal extra fee if you're nitrox certified and want it.  (https://www.curious2dive.com/en/contact/)

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[goldenfarm]

2 minutes ago, omeinv said:

@goldenfarm 

 

Easy!  CURious2Dive.  Hans will pick you up at the port, take you on two great dives, and return you.  His shop is in the Jan Theil area, which is where all Curacao's famous dive sites (Caracas Bay, Director's Bay, Tugboat beach, etc) are.  You won't be part of a huge group, probably no more than four divers.  The prices are great, and nitrox is avaialble for a nominal extra fee if you're nitrox certified and want it.  (https://www.curious2dive.com/en/contact/)

 

Harris

Denver, CO

fantastic, thank you. While I'm at it, any recommendations for diving in Aruba? Our ship goes there, too. 

[omeinv]

Just now, goldenfarm said:

fantastic, thank you. While I'm at it, any recommendations for diving in Aruba? Our ship goes there, too. 

Happy Divers Aruba.  Jeffrey there has a lovely operation.  Maximum six on the boat, and diving at the better sites, with usually the second dive at the Antilla wreck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Antilla_(1939).  When I last spoke with him, they're no longer providing port pick-up and return, but a taxi would be no problem, as his boat is docked near major hotels.  (https://happydiversaruba.com/).

 

Tell both Jeffrey and Hans that Harris sent you.  They'll probably charge you extra.  🙂

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[goldenfarm]

31 minutes ago, omeinv said:

Happy Divers Aruba.  Jeffrey there has a lovely operation.  Maximum six on the boat, and diving at the better sites, with usually the second dive at the Antilla wreck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Antilla_(1939).  When I last spoke with him, they're no longer providing port pick-up and return, but a taxi would be no problem, as his boat is docked near major hotels.  (https://happydiversaruba.com/).

 

Tell both Jeffrey and Hans that Harris sent you.  They'll probably charge you extra.  🙂

 

Harris

Denver, CO

thank you, Harris!

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

While Harris' recommendations have always been excellent, I'll toss out a couple here, based on some recent experience and an upcoming ABC+GCayman cruise in November:

 

In Curacao, after much research, we have settled on Caribbean Sea Sports. They have been very accommodating, moving their morning 2-tank boat to a 9:00 departure to allow for our arrival at 8:00. They offer free pick up and drop off, and free unlimited tanks in the afternoon for unguided shore dives on their house reef. That's a huge bonus, depending of course on the quality of the house reef.

 

In Aruba, Jeffrey at Happy Divers was not available for us on our date in November. I have used him before (back when he picked up/dropped off), and would gladly have booked with him again this time were he open. I will warn: Happy Divers is a one-man operation, or at least it was pre-COVID. Jeffrey was the van driver, boat captain, dive guide and underwater photographer. We dove Arashi Reef and the Antilla Wreck. Great dives.

This time, we have booked the ship excursion as a Plan B, and are on a waiting list with AquaWindies. If two more divers sign up for the day we're in port, we'll cancel with the ship and go with the LDS, which is always preferable to keep diver counts low.

 

I don't think cruise ships typically miss the B in an ABC Islands cruise. Don't forget about Bonaire, which is probably the best diving of the three islands you'll be visiting! You can't go wrong with just about any operator on that island, but I've only ever booked through VIP Diving and never had anything except an excellent experience.

[mac66]

Look at Scubacao in Curacao. Have used them 3 times. Always a good time. It used to be a 2 man shop but they built it up and sold it since the last time we dived with them in 2019. New owners got things running well. We were impressed last Dec when we dived with them.

 

I've used Happy Divers in Aruba but Jeffery couldn't fit me in last December so I booked through the ship (RC). They use Red Sail Sports which is located just a short walk down the pier.  It was a cattle boat operation but we dived on the Antilla and Perdanales wrecks which is what Jeffery took us to 3 years ago.

 

BTW, we dived with Dive Friends in Bonaire. Had the guide all to ourselves. Best reef dives in the ABCs.

Edited April 26, 2023 by mac66

[jbrinkm]

On 4/24/2023 at 1:27 PM, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I don't think cruise ships typically miss the B in an ABC Islands cruise. Don't forget about Bonaire, which is probably the best diving of the three islands you'll be visiting! You can't go wrong with just about any operator on that island, but I've only ever booked through VIP Diving and never had anything except an excellent experience.

 

We're eyeing one for my teens' Spring Break next year on Symphony of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) that goes to Labadee, Aruba and Curacao (not Bonaire). It does seem rare, but it happens! We're thinking about doing our open water dives for our PADI certification during these two port stops.