Meow......! I am a very fluffy kitty. My master is a dive instructor. I was his first certification. All those fish to chase...yummm... We have many underwater adventures. He brought me along to Curaçao. He wanted to...

• Research accommodations suitable for his clients' preferences,
• Research Dive Operators who best match his clients' experience levels and preferences,
• Research Dive Sites on Curaçao,
• Become familiar with Curaçao's offerings—food, sights, environment,
• [I wanted to check out the fish and lobster.!]

---

          Note:This trip was an ABC odyssey—Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.We flew American Miami to Aruba and stayed five nights at the Sonesta Resort and Casino. We dived with Red Sails Sports.
          Then we flew ALM to Bonaire and stayed three nights at Captain Don's Habitat. We dived with Toucan Divers (due to Hurricane Lenny).
          Then we flew via private charter (not ALM, due to Hurricane Lenny) to Curaçao and stayed three nights at Princess Beach Resort and Casino. We dived with Princess Divers.
          Then back to Miami flying American.

          A positive word about ALM airlines—We wanted to get into Curaçao earlier than booked so re-booked to an earlier flight. ALM's planes were needed in St. Maarten/St. Martin. They canceled our original flight as well as our re-booked flight—and reserved us on a 9am flight (perfect!). Only we didn't get the message until after they left. ALM faxed the changes the previous day, but somehow we never got the message. ALM did their best!
          Upon arrival at the airport, we found a 6–pax plane with one pax about to take off. Everybody, including ALM personnel helped us and our luggage make that plane! We had changed our car return from Habitat to the airport. The car checked in fast. The departure taxes were paid fast. The security at the gate worked with us. Everybody was moving and working as a team! The pilot was happy—he got more revenue for the same trip! We were happy—we got in to Curaçao very early! And maybe even all the wonderful people at the Bonaire airport enjoyed the excitement and challenge of getting us onto that plane, breaking up an otherwise dull day! Especially with a Fluffy Kitty on top of all the luggage and meowing loudly! And we received in short time our $35.78 per person refund from ALM—yes, not all airlines keep your money for unused tickets or provide future use of changed tickets (for a fee, of course). Too bad they no longer are in business!
          Upon arrival in Curaçao, it was raining hard. The pilot called up a minibus with umbrellas, and assisted us through customs there. No rain on this kitty!

---

Captivating Curaçao !

Princess Beach Resort and Casino

Continuing our ABC dive adventure odyssey, after clearing customs in Curaçao, we tried to rent a car and checked out the eight agencies at the airport. They were basically out of cars, unless we wanted a van with handtruck. Then, one car returned. It was a tiny Daewoo and caked with mud. Asked if we didn't mind the mud, we agreed to take it if we could bring it back even muddier ;-) Later, exploring this large island, we were very impressed with this mini-mobile—second gear was geared for higher speed and there was still a little power in fifth gear. And it held in addition to us, our two large suitcases, our two large carry-on suitcases and my fins. Good little car—I see why GM is very interested in working with Daewoo. There was just enough room for me to stretch out and sleep.

The Princess Beach Resort and Casino is a gorgeous property. The Princess Divers dock and shop is on–site, a short walk past the pool and restaurants. After a fast check-in, we made contact with Princess Divers and set up our 2-tank morning dive for the following day. I climbed several coconut trees chasing after parrots. They talk kind of funny. Then, needing to rest, we ate at the on-premises Don Luigi Italian restaurant.

Explore the Land and Restaurants

The following day, we had breakfast on-premises and then dived with Princess Divers. I almost snagged a medium sized grouper! After resting we decided to explore via car. We found a parking space in Willemstad—on the Punda side, walked around a bit where Marilyn had visited the previous year on a dive-FAM trip (she leaves Robert and me at home sometimes!!!). We waited for the Queen Emma Bridge to swing across from the Otrabanda side, walked across and dined at the Otrabanda Baysight Restaurant and Terrace (local cuisine). What a with a great view across the water to the Punda side! Music filled the air from both sides of Willemstad.

The foullowing (er...following) day, 11/21, after our one day diving and another dive day planned, the wind and waves whipped up again and nobody was going out. So, it's island exploration time!

We opted to go west, figuring if Curaçao is similar to Bonaire, that it would be more interesting heading westward. On our way we got lost a few times heading out of the Willemstad area, but eventually wound up on the road we wanted—southern route, so we would return on the northern route. Toward the end of this route was private property, but from the map, a dirt road seemed to be the route to take. After turning around and heading back, we asked of a 4-wheeler how to get to the west end of the island. Follow them back along our first guess of a dirt road—thereby we fulfilled our promise to return the car even dirtier ;-)

We inspected one resort which definitely at the time does not reflect it's printed publicity—we will have to find out what's going on with this property. It shows great promise. We managed to find a restaurant with a fabulous view of the cliffs and ocean and dined while watching the sunset. We arrived as most visitors (mostly locals) were leaving and before the evening crowd arrived, so the best table was available for us. The local cuisine was attractive, well-prepared and very tasty! Playa Forti Bar and Restaurant is a very good value, even though none of their tables match. And they gave me some extra tidbits of fish.

This Westpoint area offers tremendous potential as a dive and land-lubber destination. Located in this area is Habitat Curaçao. It is fairly new and owned by the same company as Captain Don's Habitat (Bonaire). The diving is similar. Habitat Curaçao is ideally located near the Westpoint area! They would not build their dive resort there if they didn't see the tremendous growth potential for Curaçao dive adventures—a real "sleeper"!!!

The morning before our flight home, we decided to explore a little more. Marilyn wanted to buy some gifts and we wound up at a hard-to-find shop specializing in native crafts. They told us we could get a nice native cuisine breakfast at Jan Thiel Beach. Tell the guard there we were only entering to eat breakfast, not to use the beach. Nice area! and we noticed an instructor and several students entering the water. I really wanted to join up with them.

 Photo by: David Playfair–2/2001

Princess Divers

Princess divers are situated on the dock of the Princess property. Their dive shop, gear storage, fill station and rinse tanks are right there on site. Their dive boats pick up at this dock. Their operation is very safety–oriented. Their DMs provide just the right amount of assistance to any level of diver expertise. Diving is generally into the current along a wall and the dives are multilevel.

The Dive Log—Princess Divers

Dive 1—11/20—Divers Leap
65fsw for 59min. Multi-level Wall. Hawksbill Turtle, Moray eels, Pillar Coral, Banded Shrimp, tiny shrimp, French angel? with yellow vertical bands. I began purring and frightened a school of juveniles.

Dive 2—11/20—Tug Boat
59fsw for 57min. Wall dive, Multilevel, Wreck, Moray eels, shrimp, highhats, spotted drum, schools of juveniles, huge Midnight Blue Parrotfish, jacks. Near tug (15fsw) coral and sponges, too much surge to get close. Not even with my claws extended!

Curaçao's Future Diving

Curaçao runs generally southeast to northwest. The leeward side is to the south. Sites are well developed on the southern, leeward side where seas are usually fairly flat. The windward sides are not frequently dived because of currents and waves.

As SE Florida experienced divers, Marilyn, Robert and I are used to diving in waves 2–4 feet high, and sometimes current running about 2.5 knots during a leisurely drift dive or a higher-stressed stationary dive (wreck). We feel that most of the dive operators in Curaçao simply are not used to such conditions. Waves over 2–3 feet really impact their operations and we have yet to see any by-the-book drift diving—with surface float and dive boat attentive to both the divers down, divers on the surface and other boats in the area.

There are at least two operators on Curaçao well–situated to dive the windward side. Whoever develops this option will gain a great market share by picking up advanced divers from the various resorts. From the shape of this island, I would speculate there might be excellent drift diving right around the west end on the windward side. While there is an abundance of great sites on the leeward side and the operators there provide just the right amount of assistance for all levels of experience, next time around we are going to try to dive the windward sites.

We feel the following diver attributes are pre–requisite to dive the windward side—over 100 logged dives, Advanced Open Water certification minimum, perfect buoyancy control, ability to maintain low stress levels in this high stress environment, use a dive computer, good on air and aerobically fit. No...one does not have to have Navy seal training, but one needs to be competent and comfortable in waves and currents, and possess ability to deal with the unexpected. All dives must be planned beforehand.

---

Marilyn's Curaçao Dive Adventure...
One Year Previous

Photo by: Fred Altrieth–3/2000

While Robert "minded the port" and looked after Fluffy...our cat who loves chasing after for fish, and anything else that moves...I was a guest of the Curaçao Tourist Board. We have sent various clients to Curaçao over the years all who returned with enthusiastic recommendations. Finally, I had the opportunity to check this out and not only visit properties but also log my 181–187 dives with various operators there.

Our group flew American Airlines, non-stop Miami to Curaçao, in about 3 hours. We found the food very good at every property and restaurant where we ate. The cuisine at the Princess Resort as well as The Small World Restaurant was excellent in every way—as well as the ambiance and service.

I had very positive dive adventures with all the following operations. The respective captains and crew were very helpful, knowledgeable, safety-oriented. They provided excellent briefings covering both their boats and sites. We did not have to follow the DMs, but when we did, we had pointed out to us much fascinating sea life we might likely have missed. Visibility on almost all dives was 100+ feet—one was 80+ feet and the Seaquarium was about 20 feet (because of heavy rain that day).

Marilyn's Dive Log

Seascape Dive Center—Affiliated with the Curaçao Casino Resort

Dive #181–12/5—Blue Bay
62fsw for 35min. This was a multilevel drift dive along a near-vertical wall. Spotted eels, arrow crab, healthy corals, anemones, rock hind, houndfish, goldentail moray, red-hard urchin, long- spined urchin.

Dive #182–12/5—Playa Largo
66fsw for 49min. This was a multilevel drift dive along a wall with a gradual slope. More of the same beautiful underwater terrain and sea life as previous dive.

Caribbean Sea Sport—Affiliated with the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort & Emerald Casino—formerly the Sonesta Resort Curaçao

Dive #183–12/5—Snake Bay
64fsw for 34min. This was a multilevel drift dive along a wall. More of the same colorful sealife seen earlier. With sandy patches, this reminded me more of a reef dive.

Underwater Curaçao—Affiliated with the Lions Dive Hotel

Dive #184–12/6—Superior Producer
103fsw for 36min. A perfectly preserved wreck lying on sand at 110fsw. Much growth coming along just fine.

Princess Divers—Affiliated with the Princess Beach Resort

Dive #185–12/6—Lost Anchor
65fsw for 104min. A multilevel reef and wall dive. Great abundance and variety of beautiful, colorful sea life.

Habitat Curaçao—Affiliated with the Habitat Curaçao Resort

Dive #186–12/7—Nos Kas
70fsw for 58min. Shore dive! Reef and wall. Multilevel. Lush wall fringes around island. Saw my first seahorse! Beautiful underwater environment. Excellent and easy entry!

Curaçao Seaquarium

Dive #187–12/7—Curaçao Seaquarium
10fsw for 37min. Poor visibility due to heavy rain that day. Dive with sharks, turtles, stingrays and native fish in an aquarium.

Curaçao's Future Diving

In general, Curaçao has finer resorts as well as more land-based activities than Bonaire. Bonaire was there first as a dive destination. Bonaire diving has a reputation of being world-class. Curaçao has very similar underwater topography and sea life. It is far from being "dived out." Habitat Bonaire was there first. More recently Habitat Curaçao was built. Excellent diving in both destinations! Some of our clients have preferred to dive both destinations on the same trip.