Michael L's Dive Log

11/24/2009 Went here twice over last week, as the beach was that nice to relax on. Slightly busier due to being closer to town than other north beaches, as well as tour bus stop. Good parking, ended up not having to pay entry fee/chair fee. Chairs are uncomfortable (hard plastic). No shade available if you get there late (after ~10), and you want shade. Decent food /drink options. Easier to buy cooler and stop off for beer/Ice snacks in the morning o the way out. Good snorkeling, wide expanses of things to look at. Diving was good (better farther north), cheap, easy to walk in (little coral to walk over).

11/25/2009 Sunset City is closed as of Summer 2009. Place was cleaned out/deserted/pilfered though, dive shop closed. No one at the beach on a Wednesday afternoon. Looked like a nice beach, probably crowded with locals on weekend. Did not dive. To get to beach, look for driveway to the right of the former office and take down to park right at the beach.

11/24/2009 - what a site! One of the best dives ever. The lift is broken, so you must lug your gear down 15 steps to get to the dive shop, then down 5 more to get to the dock. But - once there the beauty of the site unfolds. Best diving of the week. Went with Oceans Encounters up to Watamula (~1/2 mile north) on a 1 tank dive ($55 US). 2 dives here - to the left & right - with both offering something a little different. Beach chairs $12 if you are not staying there. Beach is not great (good for Curacao though), but not too many people there. Good snorkeling and you can see quite a bit in the shallows if you take the time and look around. No security issues, left gear in the storage room and gave wallet to dive store to hold while we were out. Need to dive with flag/sausage due to dive boat traffic. Would stay here if I come back due to 45 minute drive from Hilton. Be sure to stop off at Sol Food for lunch/dinner (open F-Sun only) & Jancinnes (around the corner from the beach turnoff)

11/27/2009 Spent 2 days of our week here. Bathrooms being rebuilt, so you get a plywood 'outhouse' for the time being. Live music Sat @ 3 - adds to the vibe. Food/drink options good here and plenty of chairs shade. Very vigilant about paying for entry/chairs - woman walks around every so often collecting fees. Beach was one of the best, a little rough walking in over the coral, and live coral 12-15 ft from shore (booties recommended), but this made for some excellent snorkeling and diving. You can snorkel out to the reef and actually get a feeling for what the divers are seeing, without being 1/2 mile from shore. All around a great beach and dive location. Again, no safety concerns.

11/25/2009 See wet suit city post - Hotel/dive store closed, place deserted.