I first visited Curaçao in July 2011 for a weekend getaway. During those few days, I explored the island’s vibrant bars and restaurants, soaked up the sun at the famous Mambo Beach, and discovered why this Dutch Caribbean destination captivates travelers. But my quick trip only scratched the surface. I left knowing I needed to return with my dive gear to explore Curaçao’s stunning fringing coral reefs and dramatic underwater drop-offs that make it one of the Caribbean’s best-kept diving secrets.

Since that first visit, I’ve returned to Curaçao six times, most recently in November 2017. What keeps drawing me back? This Caribbean island offers incredible experiences both above and below the water. The welcoming locals, delicious Caribbean cuisine, and exceptional diving conditions create an unforgettable vacation. Each visit reveals something new—whether it’s a hidden beach, a unique restaurant, or an exciting underwater discovery on Curaçao’s pristine coral reefs.

I don’t know if this is an anomaly but no matter how great my experiences are at a hotel or resort, I never stay at the same at the same place over consecutive visits (unless it’s for business travel). I feel this travel choice allows me to explore, meet new people and I believe this decision also keeps my appetite wet for exploration.

So… when I decided to return to Curaçao this time, the Scuba Lodge Boutique Hotel & Ocean Suites was my choice.  I decided on this hotel due to its proximity to downtown Willemstad and because it has a Curacao Tourist Board approved dive shop.

After completing the standard legal dive due diligence, I loaded my gear on their Scuba Bus and we headed to a dive site called Kokomo located at Vaersenbaai.  Kokomo is a private beach famous for a monthly full moon party that is the largest in the Caribbean.  The beach also has a nice restaurant serving standard dishes and an array of beverages.

When we arrived, there were not that many divers, snorkelers or even sun-seekers since it was a week day.  So, it was decided to do two dives.  With an easy shore entry and the relaxed feeling of the warm turquoise waters, I began to observe incredible macro life all around me.  As we progressed further from shore we saw large and healthy corals, Parrotfish, Trunkfish, Grunts, Groupers, Filefish, Christmas Tree Worms, Butterflyfish, Angelfish and beautiful Anemones with bright purple tips.  These first two dives of my holiday were fantastic!

Later that evening, I decided to explore the Pietermaai District. It is the neighborhood around the hotel. I found this wonderful street called Nieuwestraat. It is lined with a row of restaurants and bars.  Here I discovered Miles Jazz Café. It’s a unique bar with a distinctive local vibe. Several times a week, they have live musicians playing their delightful tunes. (I would spend a lot of post-dive hours here during this trip, but not many late nights, because I had to be prepared to dive each day.)

The next day we boarded the Scuba Bus and headed to Westpunt with the plan to dive Playa Piskado (aka Playa Grandi) and Alice in Wonderland.  At each site, we saw a ton of sea life and healthy corals. I observed a lot of beautiful Damselfish and active Sea Urchins crawling on the sandy ocean floor.

The next day we were off to Porto Marie, another one of my favorite sites. I enjoy returning to an island and diving the same site in a different month. I believe the last time I dove this site was in February a few years back. Sometimes you can notice migration and/or life-cycle changes. We waded into the turquoise water and observed more Seahorses, schooling Creole Wrasse, Sand Divers, Spotted Scorpionfish, and Banded Coral Shrimp.  I made a short video highlighting the beautiful Seahorses I observed.

Next up was Tug Boat located in Caracasbaai. After unloading our gear, we were greeted by a family of Iguanas. I dove the Tug Boat on a previous dive trip to Curaçao from a boat with Ocean Encounters. Boat diving is equally exciting as shore diving in my opinion. However, safety stops can be far more interesting than hanging out in the blue on a boat dive. During my last visit, there used to be an abandoned ferry at the dock. It was removed and replaced with a decaying drillship, waiting to be stripped down for its materials.

A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. This was one the coolest dives of my life! From shore we dove underneath the vessel and surface in the middle of the ship called the Moon Pool. All Drillship’s have what is called a Moon Pool. The Moon Pool is an opening on the base of the hull used to pass through drilling equipment, small submersible crafts and commercial divers.

Since the ship was basically out of operation, our dive guides lead us underneath this awesome commercial vessel. I hope I’m not getting them into any trouble because the sign from the beach did say do not dive under the docked ship. It was awesome to surface in the middle of the ship. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that dive again. After spending a few minutes there we descended and continued our dive under the dock. Here we saw Lettuce Nudibranchs, Arrow Head Crabs, Parrotfish, Anemones, Octopus and more Seahorse’s.

My final dive of the trip was at Director’s Bay, which was not that far from the Tug Boat dive site. This dive was by my request. We didn’t take the big red school bus but a non-descript faded red pick-up truck. It was perfect to navigate the narrow road leading to the dive site. After gearing up, we descended a flight of stairs to reach a beautiful beach with a very few scantily clad and beautiful sun-worshipers. Once again, we waded in from the shore to a large ball of schooling fish. As we dove we saw, Trumpetfish, Arrowhead Crabs, healthy Anemones, Lettuce Nudibranchs, large Brain Coral with Christmas Tree Worms protruding from the sides, Staghorn Coral, Bluehead Wrasse and large Sea Fans.

And now, I’m at the end of my stay. One more stop at the Miles Jazz Café and I’m back to NYC. I’ve put together a short video of some of what I observed during this visit. Watch & Enjoy… but most of all, Discover and Dive Curaçao!

I can’t wait to return to get another chance to observe the fantastic bio-diversity Curacao has to offer and continue my topside restaurant/bar exploration.  Until next time, Curaçao!

The optimal time to visit Curaçao for underwater cinematography is between November and April, when calm seas, lower tourist traffic and good visibility align. During this period water temperatures hover around 26–28 °C (79–82 °F), and shore‑dives like Kokomo and Westpunt offer early‑morning windows with minimal crowd and excellent lighting. Dive shops at the Scuba Lodge region are well‑equipped for gear rental and tank fills, and walk‑in shore dives reduce dependence on boat schedules.
For macro filming, plan two dives per day (morning and late afternoon) and use the midday time to download footage, recharge batteries and scout additional sites. While the island’s macro life is strong year‑round, mid‑season visits provide the advantage of lower waves and fewer surface reflections. Always check local dive‑shop tide/current reports and aim for surface‑entry sites 30 minutes after slack tide for best stills capture.

This article was originally published on https://www.divecuracao.info