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Dive Review of Ocean Encounters/Curacao Seaquarium in
Curaçao

Ocean Encounters/Curacao Seaquarium, Aug, 2004,

by Tim & Jill Kolakowski, PA, USA (Contributor Contributor 12 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 2115.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments We went to Curacao's Seaquarium resort for the Kids' Seacamp. If you ever wanted to take your children on a trip with you and keep them busy, this is what you've been waiting for. For $600-$800 your kids get first class treatment and activities. Check out their website www.kidsseacamp.com for all the info, including their destinations for 2006. On Curacao they are treated to dolphin, seal, and various other animal encounters. They do ocean art projects and learn about the ocean and enviornment, taught by first class instructers brought in for the week. Depending on their age, they either learn SASY, Scuba in the pool, or get their junior open water certificates. Parents either dive or take part in other scheduled activities, having the days to themselves because the kids are kept busy from 8:30 - 3:30 every day. The kids had lunch every day and 3 group dinners were provided, plus a pizza & movie night for the kids. We parents dove with Ocean Encounters, a very well run organization. We always dove together, sometimes up to 20 on a boat. More crowdwed than we usually like but after the first day you knew everyone so it was like diving with friends.
Curacao's diving is underrated. OC took us to sites along the southeast coast where we found walls right near shore, healthy reefs and nice coral. The surface tends to be a little rough but it's worth the effort. In addition to the usual tropicals we found squid, seahorses, frogfish, drumfish and octopus, all pointed out by OC's helpful divemasters. During one surface interval we toured a 17th century fort, during another we came across a pod of dolphins in a bay and let them play in our boatwake for about 20 minutes. Late in the afternoon on 2 days in a row whales were spotted off shore and several lucky folks jumped in one of OC's boats to head out for a closer look. One of the Caribbean's best wrecks, the Superior Producer, is close enough to shore near the main harbor of Willemstad to shore dive. Try it at night too! Speaking of shore diving, many of the sites OC took us to can also be shore dives. For excellent guided shore dives and service check out Martin & Brenda at Silent Immersion. They'll pick up and drive you to different shore diving spots
For a change of pace try Curacao's beautiful west coast. It's lined with beautiful beaches and little villages tucked into picturesque bays. The underwater topography is completely different from the east side - you'll think you're on a different island.
If you've got kids, you and they will love Kids Sea Camp. And if you've never been to Curacao, give it a try. You'll be glad you did

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Key Largo, Grand Bahama, Saba, St. Vincent, Bonaire
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas choppy, noCurrents
Water Temp 78-80°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Stay with group
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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