We were convinced, nay, we were adamant we would only be diving on Bonaire this trip. Bonaire is known to be diver’s paradise so we thought five dives there would be enough to satiate our needs. It wasn’t, after the dive at Salt Pier we craved for more, so we booked another dive trip as soon as we arrived on Curaçao.

Scuba Lodge Curaçao

We chose the Scuba Lodge out of convenience because its dive shop was located right next to our hotel.

That having been said, we were extremely lucky about this badly researched find, because the staff were friendly and really accommodating. We rocked up with the announcement we could only dive on one particular day and we notified the staff only two day in advanced.

Still, they gave us options as to what tour we would want to do. We could either do one or two dive trips on a day in the east of the island; or we could book a full day tour in the west. There would be one more couple on the tour and that would be it.

We chose the diving in the west package because it’s supposed to be the best diving on the island.

When we arrived at the Scuba Lodge at 8:30am, we were told it would only be us on the tour! So, we had the dive master Jordy all to ourselves. He’s been diving since he was six so we felt we would be in good hands that day.

Dive 1: Playa Piskado

This is the beach where Quincly took us the day before to see the turtles, so we were almost guaranteed to see turtles during this dive as well.

This was my first actual shore dive and let me tell you, it’s hard putting on your gear and walking to the sea without tipping over.

Let’s get the mess at the bottom of the sea out of the way first. This is a popular sight for fishermen so there’s quite a lot of rubbish on the sea floor; tires and bones of fish are only a few of the many items we saw scattered there.

However, there’s also quite a sight there which is basically rubbish but I wouldn’t call it that, namely a chair with Neptunus on it.

We found the occasional scattering of fish including a scorpion fish.

I won’t bore you with too many bad underwater photographs, but the most special sight we saw here were two turtles. One was chilling on the sea floor until we came a bit too close.

The other was chillaxing amongst the fish.

In total we spent 63 minutes underwater and we reached 16.1 metres (which goes to show that my camera can survive depths deeper than 15m).

It was a beautiful dive and I found out I prefer diving with boots because it makes the fins fit more comfortably.

Playa Kalki

We had visited Playa Kalki the day before, but Jordy insisted on taking us there because he had discovered a “hidden cave” on this beach which he was eager to show off.

It’s not really hidden because there are steps leading down to the cave and it’s on hotel property, but it’s not a very well-known place. That’s why it’s incredibly quiet there, which makes it a cool cave to visit for a few minutes.

Lunch

We had lunch at Bahia, which was provided a nice break in between dives and a good way to get to know our dive master better. We found out that he dived at the same dive shop as we did on Bonaire (at Wannadive). We also found out he dived in The Netherlands, which my friend and I are eager to try out as well (don’t try googling “diving in the Netherlands” because it looks like a true horror movie!)

Dive 2: Playa Porto Mari

Playa Porto Mari was our dive master’s favourite on Curaçao. However, when we arrived it started to rain so we didn’t get a good and sunny feel of the place.

People who had finished diving came up to tell us the currents were really bad and the dive wouldn’t be for beginners. My friend and I looked at each other with worried faces, quietly hoping Jordy would take us somewhere else. He was convinced it couldn’t be so bad, even though dive masters from other groups reiterated what was being said.

This is a strange dive site in that there is a bit of canyon of coral which makes navigating difficult. At the end, Jordy asked us which direction we thought we went and we had no clue!

I wasn’t very comfortable during this dive. Somehow the equipment didn’t feel right, and even though I didn’t feel the so-called strong currents, I did feel a bit strange and unbalanced. The fish were beautiful and so were the corals so there’s nothing wrong with this site; I think I just had a bit of an off-dive.

I used up much more air on this dive than the previous one, even though the depth was the same and we stayed underwater for a much shorter period of time (53 mins), so I guess the currents did get to me.

Beer

Jordy offered to take us for a beer which we of course happily accepted. Imagine our surprise when he parked the truck at the side of the road, told us to stay put, got out and picked up three beers from a counter. Seeing someone drink beer while driving a vehicle is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

Conclusion

People might try to convince you diving in Bonaire is much more special than diving in Curaçao. That’s certainly true when they’re talking about a sight like Salt Pier. However, the dive sites we visited in Klein Bonaire weren’t any better than the sites in west Curaçao. It just really depends on the sites you visit.

Our day trip to west Curaçao was fun-filled day I wouldn’t have wanted to miss!