Bon Bini Beach Club/Sonesta Beach Hotel, April 1995, Connie Crowther, Coral Gables, FL. "Nondivers resort; Dive shop: Johan Bruyns has a can-do attitude; took us by van to the best sites out west. Wall diving close to beach - superior - with enormous coral mounts, swim-throughs, sand chutes, prolific coral, marine life, good vis."

Bon Bini Divers/Coral Regency, September 1995, Cynthia Flaksman, Grand Junction, CO. "Bon Bini Divers great! Divemasters helpful and knowledgeable. Susan Dairs, manager and master instructor, has a talent for teaching. Did five specialty courses to qualify for master diver. Coral Regency a nice place but services lacking."

Coral Cliff, 1995, Brant Shenkarow, San Anselmo, CA. "Best kept inexpensive secret in the dive travel world. Discovered some new dive sites that make Roatan's reefs abundant coral species look old and tired and overdived. Coral castles and skyscrapers from are homes to abundant giant morays, crab 4 ft. claw to claw, schools of wrasses and grunts, criss-crossing at different depths, just missing one another. Enormous amount of small tropicals, reliable rays, sure bet shark or two, some of the most remarkable coral gardens. Few divers go to the West End because majority of operators are out of Willemsted, towards East end. Coral Cliff Diving has a good thing going. . . . Owner Marlies Feyts booked me a charming little house on a ranch 10 minutes from the shop and dock and a LADA station wagon (Fiat parts assembled in Russia); house, car, and a boat dive and shore dive was $105/day. Another person - add $30 for dives. . . . Grocery shopping is fun; eat healthy and cheap."

Coral Cliff Diving/Holiday Beach, June 1995, Randy and Barbara Phillips, Bloomington, IL. "Large boat gets you to sites in 15­20 minutes. 'Mushroom Forest' and 'Black Coral Garden' nice. Dives 35­70 foot, deeper available. 4­8 divers. Divemaster dove with the group. Most divers experienced, but made same dives as inexperienced. Lots of coral and sponges. Many smaller fish. 40 Porpoises played on dive. . . . Coral Cliffs well-run, friendly operation. Facilities excellent and convenient. Prices reasonable."

Coral Cliff Diving, September 1995, Raeford and Mae Brown, Wilmington, NC. "Cecil skippers boat and dives with you. Few other divers. Boats comfortable, slow, dive sites are a short ride. Good night dives in front of shop. Sloping walls to more than 100 ft. Battery for one engine died; Made it home on one engine, half speed. . . . New rooms good, old ones inexpensive and adequate. Long ride to town, unless you have a car; courtesy van doesn't run on schedule. Restaurant food limited, service slow. Beach bar burgers good. . . . Small casino on site. Beach covered in broken, washed up coral and rocks, wear shoes. vis: 60­85 ft. water: 82°­84°."

Coral Cliff Resort, February 1996, Linda Libby, Craftsbury Common, VT. "Sometimes surface murky, but at 30 feet water cleared. Coral at north end untouched; no damage or trash; large crab, morays, spotted ray, sponge 10'x 12', vis. 60­100 ft. water: 80°. . . . Resort: breathtaking location, nice staff. New, clean, two story beachfront, private balcony, pool. Toilets clogged easily; rooms advertised as deluxe were standard 2 bed hotel rooms. Jr. Suites: king-sized bed, separate living room, larger balcony, no kitchen. Apartments upstairs had kitchen, deluxe accommodations, large balconies. Nude beach in front of closest hotel building. Ask for rooms further away if you bring kids. Restaurant had good food, incredibly slow service. Great breakfast buffet."

Curaçao Caribbean Dive Shop/Caribbean Resort and Casino, June 1995, John, Cambridge, MD. "Resort excellent, good restaurants. Diving wonderful except bottom littered with refuse; bottles and plastic to dredge derricks. No current even though we were 'drift' diving. Regular boat out of commission; outboard made for rough rides and difficult gear up. Only one staff manned the boat, but all divers were experienced. 5 divers at most."

Curaçao Caribbean Dive Shop, October 1995, Gorgon W. Gribble, Norwich, VT. "Divemaster Walter knowledgeable and helpful, appreciated by inexperienced divers. No more than 10 divers on boat. Vis 40­60 feet; abundant fish, eels, stonefish, sponges, soft corals, sea fans. Immense school of barracuda; tug-a-war with a strong octopus over a conch. Beach and pier provide facile entries for unlimited shore diving, drop-off begins a few yards off pier. Marine life excellent though much trash. Used a tank of air filling one garbage bag."

Landhuis Daniel, May 1996, Drummond McCunn, Menlo Park, CA. "Third trip to Landhuis Daniel. A dive operation and Harley Davidson dealer; they repair the motorcycles of the police, and have one Sportster, some Viragos and other motorcycles for rent. About the lowest cost and lowest key diving in the Caribbean. All beach diving; 20 or more dive sites along the lee of the island, ranging from a freighter which sank after leaving the harbor at Willemstad to numerous beaches with dropoffs less than a 100 yard swim from the beach. Flora, fauna, and sea life very similar to Bonaire; no big stuff but lots of nice corals, sponges, and tropicals. . . . After a leisurely breakfast, load up your gear in your little rental car and head for your dive site. Excellent guide to beach sites, with directions on how to get there. Often no one else at the beaches. Ledges start at 20 or 30 feet and drop to 100+. Stay at 60 feet, enjoy the coral, sponges, and tropicals for an hour, or drop deeper and come back earlier. . . . Landhuis Daniel might be described as a B&B, but breakfast costs an extra $6/person. Room with bath is $51/night. Tanks and weights are $8/diver/day, including refills. Young Dutch couple running the operation, Ronald and Joan, were the most solicitous hosts (Speak Dutch, German, English, French, Papiomento, and a little Spanish), and could not seem to do enough for us. Landhuis Daniel is on the west side of the island, pleasantly rural. Most of the population (145,000) is located on the east. $31/day for a no AC compact from Star rental. Noticed a coupon in the local throw away paper for $25/ day. Don't get the jeep - no way to lock it when you dive, and there is a problem with theft. Good dinners at prices comparable to US, Pizza Hut, McDonalds. Sea Aquarium one of the nicest tropical fish aquariums anywhere. Animal Encounter: they give you a container of bait fish and you get to get into the central pool and play with the rays in 12 feet of water. You have never been caressed until you have one of those guys go over your body looking for baitfish. 80% of the people who do this dive are not certified. Told us to just go ahead."

Lion's Dive Hotel, April 1995, Ron Vaccaro, Philadelphia, PA. "Could dive own profile. No help on boat - just put you in the water. If you didn't have a buddy, skills levels weren't compared to match people up. Aquarium at Lion's Dive was interesting. Good sea life. vis: 75­100 ft. water: 75°­85°."

Lion's Dive Hotel/Underwater Curaçao, October 1995, James Hansen, Great Falls, VA. "High marks overall. Underwater Curaçao - Jack & Bart - real pros. Animal encounter dive with sharks and turtles in controlled environment. Choppy at hotel for shore dives and snorkeling. Water 83°F, vis: 50­60 ft. . . . Wish we'd known about unreliability of ALM: should have added another 1­2 hours to connect going home in Atlanta."

Princess Divers/Curaçao Princess, July 1995, John Badham, Los Angeles. "Shop clerks to boat crew courteous and helpful. Dive sites close. Crew treated everyone like adults yet helped anyone who needed it. My strobe sprung a leak; technician in the onsite camera shop performed emergency surgery to save the unit for free."

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Resort, July 1995, Betsey Hansen, Freeport, NY. "Ambassador building rooms: 5-star. Food expensive. Dive staff helpful. Boats spacious and comfortable, until one broke down. Diving comparable to Bonaire, but with currents. Drift diving hasn't come to Curaçao, yet. One wreck beautiful, but at 100+ feet in current, it wasn't for beginners. Advertises unlimited beach diving; if you want to go at night you carry your gear and tanks back to your room before 5 PM. Sea life OK, nothing spectacular. No large fish."

Princess Divers/Holiday Beach Hotel, September 1995, Herve Hosek, Sherman, TX. "Hotel O.K., but shop didn't have working boats, so we used Princess. Good boats. Not crowded. Outstanding soft and hard coral, steep drop-offs, good tropicals, no large fish: morays, spotted drums, jackknife, lobsters. Outstanding beach dive on Superior. Underwater park makes you feel like you are cheating, but you get great shots feeding lemon sharks."

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Resort, October 1995, Michael M. Blicher, Washington, DC. "Great dive staff. Large, fast well equipped boats. Great wall dives. Many fine restaurants, shopping, touring, beaches, etc. along with friendly, no hassle residents."

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Resort, October 1995, Steven Nichols, Dayton, OH. "Shop loaded our gear on board. My bc failed; crew lent me one of theirs and repaired mine within 2­3 hours. I'm permanently handicapped - they helped in every way. Service could not have been better."

Princess Beach Resort, October 1995, Gorgon W. Gribble, Norwich, VT. "Large, sumptuous resort; Boats spacious and fast. Best dives: Tugboat and wall night dive, Mushroom Forest and cave, and Superior Producer, excellent deep wreck dive. Vis 45­65 feet. Princess shore dive: a collection of old cars, crane parts, and other carnage to 130 feet. Multitude of fish and invertebrates, including stonefish at 20­45 feet. Shop is well run and includes a large storage area, classroom, photo shop, and rinse station. Boat dives generally full; only cold tea was served - munchies a must!"

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Resort, November 1995, John Kruyne, Rockford, IL. "Slight current. Most trips no more than 15 min. Two tank dive at 9:30 AM and back by 1:30. Lot of the dives great for photos. They let you dive your own profile. Great photo shop."

Princess Divers, January 1996, Bruce and Rondi Campbell, Summerland, CA. "Like Bonaire , but steeper walls. Surface choppy and windy. Excellent boats and organization. Excellent hotel beach dives. Some drift dives start against current or with no current, then current started or changed direction. Divemasters know what they were doing. Night dives anytime from shore. vis: 30­60ft. water: 80°­82°."

Princess Divers, February 1996, Victor A. Barg, Cranford, NJ. "Friendly, competent staff. Dive gear placed on board for dives. Two large boats. Divers did own set-up and tear down; considerable freedom. Shore dives available (car pile off Princess Beach Hotel). Smooth, efficient operation. Wonderful walls covered in coral and sponges; few large fish. Vis: 60­100 ft. water: 80°­83°."

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Hotel, May 1996, David Lamb, Salt Lake City, UT. "Comfortable highrise. Large open rooms, excellent beach, nice grounds. Hallways have cellblock ambience. Food good in all the restaurants; prices moderate to expensive, service fine. Breakfast buffet good, satisfying brunch, shuttles to Willemstad. Seaquarium easy walk, but don't pass up a dive for it. Dive shop and boat 100 feet from room; most sites within 20 minutes in Marine Park. Dive staff professional, proficient, and friendly. Briefings included admonishments to take care of the reef, but I never saw follow up when some divers didn't. Would like to have dived north end of island. Nice package, over all."

Princess Divers/Princess Beach Resort, June 1996, Hans Menco, Pittsford, NY. "Sign up for a dive and your equipment is on the boat waiting for you. Help available with gearing up, handing cameras . vis ; 60­80 ft. water: 78°­80°. Ample rinse tanks; photography services and assistance outstanding. Some diving mediocre, but they took us to unspoiled spots with beautiful soft coral sceneries. Outstanding for macro. Hotel is first rate."

Underwater Curaçao/Lion's Dive Hotel, October 1995, James Hansen, Great Falls, VA. "Hotel well-run, clean, professional. Excellent atmosphere, nice pool, good food. Great health club; close to Seaquarium and public beach and Princess Beach (15 minute walk). Underwater Curaçao puts divers' needs first, responsive and capable. Dutch divemasters and local staff speak English, are safety oriented and professional. ALM Airline - missing bags and late arrival in Atlanta on return caused missed flights for many. Same old sad story."

Underwater Curaçao, January 1996, Mark Emde, Davenport, IA. "Dive your own profile. Afternoon dives: sign up day before or boat would be full. Rent a jeep, get tanks and dive the Northern beaches like Playa Kalki and Portomariabaai; untouched by the resorts. Coral in good shape, lots of fish. vis. 60­90 ft.water: 75°­80°."

Copyright 1997 by DSDL, Inc.Publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.