Dive Guide to the Top 10 Dive Sites in Curaçao
The Curaçao Diving and Snorkeling Guide has over70 world class dive sitesplotted on an interactive map that also includes the BEST dive operators and the BEST dive accommodations the island has to offer. But what are the Top 10 dive sites in Curaçao? So, If you want to know about the Top dive dive sites in Curaçao then keep reading!
The island nation ofCuraçaois home to some of the Caribbean’s best dive sites and thriving coral reefs that represent a window into the past when Caribbean reefs were healthy and vibrant everywhere.
Though this little Dutch Caribbean island is best known for its colorful colonial waterfront in Willemstad, too few know about the rainbow of vibrant coral and marine life under its waters.
That is why Dive Curaçao developed this useful Top 10 dive site list along with the Curaçao Diving Guide and Interactive Map. These are essential tools that will allow you to easily plan your next Curaçao diving adventure!
Top 5 Eastern Diving Sites in Curaçao
From the south eastern tip known as “Oostpunt” to the northwestern tip known as “Westpunt”, the underwater world is completely different and unique. Eastern Curacao is known to locals as “Banda Ariba”. This area is truly an unspoiled and largely still unexplored sanctuary inside of Curacao’s only National Marine Park.
This preserve has amazing sheer walls covered with extensive healthy coral and sponge colonies while the shallow plateaus are overrun by magnificent examples of Elkhorn, Staghorn and Pillar coral communities.
Eastpoint (Oostpunt)
Located, on the Curacao Diving Guide, at the very eastern tip of Curacao’s National Marine Park, this is a MUST DIVE!! Only accessible by boat, this site is largely one of the most pristine and unblemished fringing reef systems on Curacao, if not the entire Caribbean. READ MORE
Klein Curaçao
If you could imagine a picturesque deserted Caribbean island surrounded by warm aquamarine waters, then welcome to Klein Curacao. Located approximately 6.5 miles off the eastern tip of Curaçao, this is a very special trip for divers and for snorkelers alike. READ MORE
Kathy’s Paradise/Smokey’s
Often this spectacular dive becomes a drift dive where you literally “fly” east from Smokey’s and end with an amazing finish at Kathy’s Paradise. These immaculate dive locations provide you with a 360-degree experience that will leave you wanting more! READ MORE
Tugboat
Located in just 5 meters (15ft) of water, this famous tugboat was wrecked just a few yards offshore in a protected bay of Caracassbaai. This site is perfect for divers as well as snorkelers. READ MORE
Superior Producer
Sitting quietly upright on her keel with her bow facing west in roughly 30m (100ft) of water and about 150m (500ft) from the shoreline just west of the Curaçao Mega-pier, you will find the Superior Producer. Now with over 40 years of growth, the MV Superior Producer is an amazing artificial reef site home to numerous colonies and different species of corals, sponges, gorgonians and sea whips. READ MORE
Top 5 Western Diving Sites in Curaçao
There is another side to Curaçao, the West side, known to locals as “Banda Abou”.
This is a bucolic haven for boat and shore diving, offering near perfect conditions year-round because of the natural shielding from the easterly trade winds offered by the mountain range running through the middle of the Christoffel National Park.
The western side of Curaçao stretches from Bullenbaai, near St. Willibrordus to the north west fishing village of Westpunt.
Along this rugged and ancient coastline, you will discover some of the best beaches in the Caribbean such asCas Abaoand the famousKenepa Plantation.
These world class locations, among others, provide you with an exceptional opportunity for incredible shore diving and snorkeling. However, this is just to get your feet wet because to truly “sea” the BEST of the WEST, then you need to dive into these essential dive experiences to feel it for yourself!
Alice in Wonderland
Rated as the #1 shore dive in Curaçao, Alice in Wonderland is an essential dive experience! Of course, we regularly see Turtles, Eagle Rays, large schools of Boga’s being hunted by Yellow Fin Tuna and so on… but really the attraction of Alice in Wonderland is the beautiful coral formations and all that hides within!! The key to diving this site is to dive it “SLOW”, believe me, you will be amazed at what you find!! READ MORE
Watamula
Derives its name from the Dutch word “Watermöllen” (Water Mill) because of the how the currents flow in this #1 Boat Diving Site!! Watamula offers the diver an intense and sometimes overwhelming spectacle starting with a hard-coral field, then a soft coral patch, then finally ending with another hard-coral field! It is so intense that the diver really does not know where to look first! READ MORE
Mushroom Forest
Mushroom Forest is one of the most famous dive sites in Curaçao. Over time, hard coral formations have grown in such a way that they resemble mushrooms, hence the name of this top 10 dive site.
Underneath each one of these coral formations an abundance of marine life awaits to be looked at, admired, and photographed. Don’t miss it! You will love it! READ MORE
The Blue Room – an Essential Curaçao Experience
This is the perfect place for off gassing between dives or just enjoying one of the many snorkel trips offered!
Located next to Mushroom Forest, the Blue Room is easily explored by snorkeling through a narrow opening that reveal a large air-filled chamber lit up by the sun reflecting off the white sandy plateau in front of the opening which creates a brilliant glow of ambient light in vivid blue!! READ MORE
Seldom Reef, Bullenbaai
Appropriately named, this spectacular site is rarely visited by boat. It is a drift dive and offered only on calm days, which are rare at this point of land. If you are an intermediate or advanced diver craving sites offering more than the average wall dive, you should consider trying to include this site in your itinerary. READ MORE
Are you ready to Dive the Top 10 Sites in Curaçao?
As we have mentioned many times before and regardless ofwhere you choose to stay, the decision should not be to dive either East or West, the decision should be to discover all of Curaçao!
Use the Curaçao Dive Travel Guide (warning: many attempts may be necessary) to truly uncover the magic that lies above and below the waterline.Because there is a depth to our Dutch Caribbean island that you really should immerse yourself in!
Learn more, visitDive Travel Curaçao!
