Need help with Curacao

[Sue L]

We are going on a Panama Canal cruise and one of the ports is Curacao. We have already decided on some of our tours, but we are stumped on Curacao. We like to do a variety of activities.

 

We are trying to decide on where we are going to snorkel. Aruba or Curacao. We have been to Aruba before but did not snorkel.

 

Our cruise lists several snorkeling tours and all mention the sunken tugboat. Is this a good spot? Is there a better spot? Or should we snorkel in Aruba.( we are leaning towards the bike tour there. Any help would be appreciated

 

Sue

[diverearl]

Curacao is one of the best dive or snorkel spots in the caribean so you can't miss a good underwater adventure on this island. The tug is a good spot just a bit crowded but it is hard to find somewhere that isn't these days. Aruba would be a great second choice in my opinion.

[10X]

Sue L,

 

We were just in Curacao in February and snorkeled at the tugboat. This is the second time we have done this tour, the first being about 7 years ago.

 

I have posted some pictures on the Internet if you would like to see what you'd be in for. Go to: http://www.sunfield.smugmug.com/

 

Select "Cruise 2006", where you'll find an album for "Curacao Snorkeling". There is just under 2 dozen pictures there on 2 pages. We took probably a hundred but I didn't want to post that many.

 

If you decide to snorkel in Aruba, I would opt to go to DePalm Island, it's a lot better than around the old German freighter.

 

Denny

[Sue L]

Hi Denny,

 

Well you just made up our minds, we are snorkeling in Curacao. Your pictures were absolutely beautiful.

 

 

May I ask what type of camera you used? The pictures were great!

 

 

Thanks Sue

[10X]

Sue,

 

I use an Olympus C5050, a 5MP camera. My wife uses a Canon A95, also a 5MP camera. We each use underwater housings that were made by the camera maker. Neither camera is currently in production.

 

However, the Canon A610 (5MP) and the Canon A620 (7MP) are currently on closeout and can be had a great prices. These are the replacement models for the A95. Underwater housings are available for both cameras. I just bought a 620 for my daughter for $299. They were $100 more than that a couple of months ago.

 

I liked the C5050 so well that I bought a second one as a backup. A friend who snorkels with us also uses an A95 and he bought 2, one for him and one for his wife.

 

I also take my camera scuba diving and have a extra lenses and an underwater flash. On that web site you'll also find some of my scuba diving photos for that cruise.

 

I HIGHLY recommend that you use something besides the disposable cameras for your snorkeling pictures. You'll never regret it. One word of caution though, be sure to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for o-ring maintenance on the housing. If you don't, you'll find your housing filled with water and your camera ruined.

 

Maintenance is simple but MUST be done before every snorkeling excursion. You just remove the o-ring, clean it, apply a small amount of the lubricant that they supply, and replace the o-ring. It only takes about 5 minutes. Neither my wife, nor myself, have ever had any problems by following this procedure and we have taken our cameras on literally dozens of snorkeling and diving trips, from Tahiti to Hawaii to the Caribbean.

 

Enjoy your snorkeling in Curacao.

 

Denny

[Sue L]

Hey Denny,

 

 

Thanks for all the great info. We have a Canon Sd400 which takes wonderful pictures and in Feb while we were in St Thomas we bought the waterproof housing for it. My husband is a fanatic about stuff like the "o" ring so I know it will always be done right. We took it snorkeling already and the pictures came out great but there was not much to take pictures of so I cant wait to get to a site with such an abundance of fish.

 

Thanks again

 

Sue