Shore dive the west end, wreck dive the city
Dive sites, places to stay and trips to book, in one place
10 dive sites mapped · 8 hand-picked stays
Stay close to the shore sites. 5 of our 8 picks in Curaçao have a dive site within 1.5 km. Nos Krusero Apartments has the most, with 3 inside 1.5 km: Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki) (234 m), Playa Grandi (Playa Piskado) (664 m) and Watamula (1.0 km).
Every dive site we map and every stay we picked. Pick a dive site to see the stays closest to it.
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Pick your dates in the map to see live prices in Curaçao from the big booking sites.
Picked for divers, sorted by how close they are to the dive sites
Photos show the area. View Deal opens the property's own photos.
apartment
Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki)234 mPlaya Grandi (Playa Piskado)664 mWatamula1.0 km
Simple apartments at Playa Kalki from about 100 USD a night, across the street from a dive shop and the Alice in Wonderland shore entry.
apartment
Playa Grandi (Playa Piskado)114 mAlice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki)801 m
Self-catering apartments in Westpunt with a dive locker, rinse area and 24/7 tank access from a dive shop, and stairs down to the beach.
villa
Playa Grandi (Playa Piskado)689 mAlice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki)1.2 km
Self-catering townhomes and bungalows above the sea in Westpunt, with stairs cut into the coral wall down to its house reef and Alice in Wonderland.
villa
Apartments and bungalows a few steps from Playa Lagun, with an SSI dive center on the property.
hotel
Blue Bay (The Wall and The Garden)322 m
Villas and rooms on a large resort with Blue Bay Dive on the beach and two house reefs, the Wall and the Garden, reached from shore.
hotel
Oceanfront boutique hotel in Pietermaai with a PADI 5 Star dive center on site, walking distance to Willemstad's restaurants.
dive resort
Ocean Encounters runs its dive center on site, with the Stella Maris house reef off the private beach on Mambo Beach, a few minutes from Willemstad.
apartment
The former Bahia Apartments, perched above the Playa Lagun shore dive with Dive Center Lagun on site for fills, rentals and guided shore dives.
No hand-picked stays match those filters. The map above shows everything available.
The closest Curaçao stay to a dive site, Lagun Blou Resort at 81 m, ranks #1 of 58 across all our destinations. See every stay ranked by distance to the reef
Small tug sunk in 5 m a few meters off Tugboat Beach in Caracasbaai, covered in sponges and coral, with seahorses, octopus and frogfish. Can be done as a drift from Directors Bay.
Closest stay: LionsDive Beach Resort 4.4 km
Double reef called the Valley: from the buoy at 9 m, down to the first reef at 15 m, across sand to a second reef at about 18 m. Minimal current, with eagle rays and nurse sharks, and a beach club with showers and lockers.
Closest stay: Lagun Blou Resort 13.7 km
Narrow cove between rocky cliffs with calm, shallow water inside and routes along the inner and outer reef. One of the best spots on the island for turtles, with a small cave nearby.
Closest stay: Lagun Blou Resort 81 m
Fishermen's beach where resident green turtles feed in about 5 m near the pier; hard coral reef slopes from 5 m to sand at about 20 m, with a Neptune statue on the reef. Touching or feeding the turtles is not allowed.
Closest stay: All West Apartments & Diving 114 m
Sandy beach entry at Playa Kalki onto a dive shop's house reef, with Reef Renewal coral nurseries, turtles, eagle rays and octopus. Shallow zone at 5 to 10 m suits new divers; the reef continues past 30 m.
Closest stay: Nos Krusero Apartments 234 m
Two house reefs walked in from Blue Bay beach: the Garden for easy coral dives and the Wall, which drops to about 56 m. Blue Bay Dive runs a shop at the beach.
Closest stay: Blue Bay Curaçao Golf & Beach Resort 322 m
Giant star coral heads eroded into mushroom shapes form a maze of crevices off Santa Cruz, with morays, stingrays, turtles and nurse sharks. Boat only; currents can be strong, and the Blue Room cave is next door.
Closest stay: Lagun Blou Resort 1.8 km
Upright cargo ship that sank in 1977 at the harbor mouth, superstructure at about 21 m and sand at 30 m, with tarpon and jacks. Closed when cruise ships are at the Mega Pier, so go with an operator who checks the schedule.
Closest stay: Scuba Lodge & Ocean Suites 2.2 km
Uninhabited islet about 1.5 to 2 hours by boat each way, with reef dropping to deep blue and more pelagics than the mainland sites. Current is common enough to make most dives drifts.
Dense hard coral fields at the island's western tip, fed by converging currents that can switch direction and turn the dive into a drift. Boat only; shore entry is unsafe.
Closest stay: Nos Krusero Apartments 1.0 km
No dive sites match these filters.
The water here averages 26.7 °C (80 °F) in February and 29.2 °C (85 °F) in October. Curaçao water temperature by month, with the wetsuit for each month
Top-rated on Viator. Each rating is that trip's own, with the month we checked it.
CURious2DIVE
Scubaçao Diving Adventures
Blue Bay Dive & Watersports
Viator
Compare guided dives, courses and boat trips in Curaçao, with reviews and free cancellation on most.
See all on ViatorNo liveaboards operate from Curaçao right now. Divers here stay on land and dive from shore or day boats.
Curaçao mixes easy shore diving with a handful of sites you can only reach by boat. Most divers base either around Willemstad, for the Superior Producer wreck, Tugboat and Blue Bay plus the city, or out west near Westpunt and Lagun, where you rent a car and shore dive Playa Kalki, Playa Grandi and Playa Lagun on your own schedule. Mushroom Forest, Watamula and Klein Curaçao are boat trips with an operator. There is no diver fee, but island operators say a surface marker buoy is required on every shore dive, so pack one.
Nearby: Bonaire
How the Caribbean destinations compare, by stay-to-reef distance and water temperature: Best Caribbean diving
Planning questions answered from these maps: Field notes
Stay close to the shore sites. 5 of our 8 picks in Curaçao have a dive site within 1.5 km. Nos Krusero Apartments has the most, with 3 inside 1.5 km: Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki) (234 m), Playa Grandi (Playa Piskado) (664 m) and Watamula (1.0 km).
We map 10 dive sites in Curaçao, 7 reached from shore and 3 by boat only. 5 are rated beginner, 2 intermediate and 3 advanced.
Year-round; the island sits outside the hurricane belt. January to September brings the calmest seas and clearest water, and corals spawn around the full moons of August to October. Water temperature is 27-29 °C. Visibility: Usually 20 to 30 m; often over 30 m from January to September, 20 to 25 m from October to December.
Yes. Beginner-rated dive sites in Curaçao include Playa Lagun, Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki), Playa Grandi (Playa Piskado), Porto Mari and Tugboat.
Bring a surface marker buoy for shore dives
Island dive operators require a surface marker buoy and reel (or dive flag) on every shore dive, deployed for the whole dive, because fishing and private boats run close to shore. Operators also ban dive gloves and solo diving and enforce a zero contact rule with coral and animals, and they ask for proof of certification plus a refresher if your last dive was more than 18 months ago.
Source: local dive operator
Not from Curaçao right now. Divers here stay on land and dive on day trips.
