Directors Bay

The dive was great...easy steps to the beach and good markers to guide your way. We rented tanks with Hans at Curious2Dive and he showed us the lay-out of the dive which was very helpful! Lovely dive…just make sure you don't take any valuables and leave the car unlocked and windows down, as the location is remote and has been known for smash and grabs.

Great dive, coral formations on the wall to the left were amazing. Countless fish. Huge schools of feeders, reef fish and did see a nice peacock flounder in the sand. No trouble with vandalism for us. We dove midday on a Thursday. Just left sandals and two towels in the car and all windows down and unlocked per local advice. Was told by locals to stay away after 4:00pm or so. Beautiful spot. One of the best on the island for sure.

Director's Bay is an awesome dive site with great walls heading in both directions, very little surge or current and very easy entry/exit points.

I wish I had read the review regarding break-ins below before finding this beach on our own adventure, yesterday evening. It was late in the day, so we decided to come back here today to snorkel. We don't scuba, but had the most amazing snorkel experience here today. The drop-off is hardly 20 feet off the beach to the right, and it is shear drop with amazing clarity and abundant sea-life. Saw lots of Barracuda on the right side of the beach. And a big school of baby Barracuda on the left. After taking a breather, my wife wanted to go back - can hardly blame her. However, I had a bad feeling in my gut as 5 of the 7 cars left around 12 noon. On the second snorkeling trip, I turned the corner and came up to glance at my car. I saw a guy in green shirt and white cap walking close towards the passenger side to inspect the contents inside the car. I hollered at him. He went towards the back and ... I ended up being the not-so-proud owner of the rental car with the broken rear window and yellow markings on the tires. I am looking forward to my meeting with the Budget Assholes. I would suggest to them to paint a big 'X' in red paint on the car for easy identification by thugs. However, I refuse to accept the fault in this case to be mine. I am contributing to the tourism revenue to this island, and I feel if there have been vandalism cases here, a camera needs to be installed to provide security. There is just one way to get in and out of this area. All that is needed is a single camera. The police were very helpful, and everyone appeared to be genuinely concerned. The detective took finger prints off the car, etc. I will wait to return to Curacao when it is a commonwealth and they can apply the resources to safeguard one of their more valuable assets - the tourism industry.

Had an amazing dive here! Easy shore entry between the pylons/pillars with a sandy bottom. Also makes it really easy finding your way back to the beach, just look for the pillars under water. Head to the left to reach the vertical wall (10-15min slow swim); a truly amazing sight! Fantastic visibility, awesome sea-life and abundant corals and sponges. Saw tons of fish, spotted a large stingray resting in the open, many parrot fish, Angel fish, Jacks and some larger predator fish coming up from the deep. One of the best sites in Curacao. NB: don't take any valuables and leave the car windows open and the doors unlocked. Our car was broken into and a beach bag was stolen... partly our own fault, we shouldn't have left it in the car. Also spotted lots of broken glass in the parking lot from previous car windows that were broken. This shouldn't discourage you from diving here, heed our advice and this will be the BEST shore dive you'll do on Curacao!

This site can be difficult to find and there are a few spots where the road is a little rough (dirt), but it is worth it! Follow the map closely and take the asphalt road up the hill from the Tugboat site to the 'end of the road.' If you get out and can see the pilings in the water, you're there. Shore entry is a piece of cake and the pilings are a nice marker to know where to enter/exit. Our first time to the site, we dove to the right, but when we got there my wife only had a tank w/ 1400psi so we didn't get far enough to see how good it was. We went back a few days later and went to the left and it was great! Nice wall! This was one of the best shore dives we did in Curacao. You might want to do 2 dives at this site (both directions), but if you only do 1, be sure to go to the left!

Entry is easy, and I've never seen more than one other car there. Theft of valuables from cars is a MAJOR problem at this site, though, so beware. The dive itself is the best I've done in Curacao (of about 150 I've done there). If you head off to the right as you enter it's not that impressive, but if you head to the left it's spectacular - standard beautiful sloping reef at first, and after about fifteen minutes' kick you'll find yourself on a beautiful vertical wall that bottoms out at about 95 feet, absolutely covered in invertebrates. Swim up to the top of the wall and you'll find a wide, flat shelf with some of the best shallow reef I've ever seen in the Caribbean - fish everywhere, and incredibly dense and healthy coral cover. I was down there doing research on reef fish last year, and we'd do about three dives a day up and down the island. Director's Bay is where we dove on our days off, if that tells you anything.

This site was previously the private beach of the Shell Oil Director in Curacao, and is where the Dutch Queen evidently was allowed to go in the water a few years back. This area was previously fenced off to protect the human VIP's from the sea life. The poles still stand but the fencing is down. Found a seahorse, mantis shrimp, and many peacock flounder in these shallows. The deeper section is a great wall dive, with the wall almost vertical. Visibility is great until you get right where the bay opens to open water, and this gives you the notice to turn around and work your way back. There's an admission fee to this area (3 guiders if I remember right), so security worries are minimized. We had this site to ourselves when we dove it in May 2004. The dive provider at Jan Thiel beach, Scuba Do, was who our trip was performed through. Site is seldom dived and as such is a great spot away from the crowds. Entry has stairs from parking area to beach, with coral rubble in the shallows.