Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Curacao/Lions Dive in
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Ocean Encounters Curacao/Lions Dive, May, 2004, by Mark Webber, Ontario, Canada . Report 1036.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Site: I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity and condition of the reef - very good coverage with hard and soft corals, sponges, crinoids, very little sign of bleaching or disease. Little reason to go below 70-80 feet. The currents were manageable but sometimes required drift-diving - one advantage of the currents was very large christmas-tree and featherduster worms. Fish, too, were plentiful and large, especially the midnight and blue parrots. Lots of little critters as well as larger crabs, lobster, squid, and the occasional octopus. If you like beautiful and varied reefs, and don't need sharks, wrecks or deep dives, this is a good place to come. Operation: Ocean Encounters Curacao (OEC) is a well-conducted, friendly and safe operation that does a lot of advanced instruction (including thorough rescue diver courses and divemaster qualifications). There are lockers, bathrooms, showers, and rinse tanks available at the dock/diveshop. The fills varied from 2700 to 3200 psi - it pays to check out two tanks before the boat leaves. Usually there is a two-tank dive in the morning only (leave 9:00, back by 12:30 or 1:00), but occasionally there was also a one-tank afternoon dive. Nitrox was available. The boat was a standard diveboat - a bit bouncy for some, but basically fine. They supply water, fruit, and some spare equipment along with oxygen and first-aid equipment. Some of the dive sites are suitable for snorkelling by non-divers; others are not - OEC can advise you. But the actual dive sites may change from those scheduled due to wave conditions. It pays to chat up the office staff each afternoon to stay current (no pun intended). Divers are treated as adults - you are welcome to dive your own profile, but not to keep others waiting: max bottom time is 60 minutes. If you want to go with the divemaster, most of whom are very good about finding stuff, that's no problem, but navigating with this reef system is also no problem. Raul and Naldo were especially good in finding interesting critters, but all DMs were friendly and competent. If you have a car, there is good shore diving on the island - the double reef at St. Marie is especially recommended. Organized night diving was more problematical - cancelled one for lack of divers. Hotel / Food: Lions Dive (LD) Resort is comfortable, clean, friendly, and very convenient. The staff are extremely eager to please. Rooms have all the amenities from air-conditioning to real hot water, room safes, phones, and a few TV channels (most in Dutch, Spanish or Papiamentu). It's not as luxurious as the nearby Breezes all-inclusive (same dive operation at both places), but may be more friendly than Breezes. LD is pretty Dutch, so if you need to believe that the world speaks English without exception, it may not be your cup of tea. The food was perfectly acceptable but a bit limited in choice and often heavy on the garlic. The breakfast buffet (included in our room package) was excellent, with lots of hot and cold offerings; lunch and dinner were less creative yet relatively pricy. The better place to eat is the Mambo Beach Club, about 5 minutes by foot down the beach towards Breezes - Mambo's food was superior and less expensive, and the ambience was better. Overall: A very good place that had everything we needed and did what it took to make us feel welcome. We still prefer Bonaire overall, but for those who want some city life too, Curacao, Lions Dive and Ocean Encounters are a good choice (there is a shuttle-bus into town twice a day). It's not a great exotic adventure, but the reef is full of interesting sealife if you take the time to look, and the whole thing is just a very non-hassly and pleasant vacation.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Provo, Nevis, St. Kitts, Jamaica, Andros, St. Lucia, Hawaii (Big Island), British Columbia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	81-0°F / 27--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minutes max, whether air or Nitrox. Depth was left to the divers, recommended 60 ft 1st dive, 50 ft 2nd dive
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Boats have separate rinse tank for cameras, no dry table; uwp shop in nearby seaquarium, but not at or through dive shop itself

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Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Curacao/Lions Dive in Curaçao

Ocean Encounters Curacao/Lions Dive, May, 2004,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Curacao/Lions Dive in
Curaçao