Lion’s Dive hotel, Curacao, 1999
Author: Chris

My wife and I spent six nights earlier this month at the Lion’s Dive hotel in Curacao. I’ve tried to summarize the whole experience – hopefully not too graphically, in some places. The LD is located about 3 miles East of Willemstad, on a man-made beach, about ¼ mile from the Princess Hotel, which is much larger. LD, like its counterpart on Bonaire, has a largely European clientele, although there were maybe 35% Americans there, including several nice Midwestern couples we hooked up with for few days.

Logistics & Miscell.:
I used United frequent flyer miles to obtain the tickets: the Washington-Miami leg on UAL, the Miami-Curacao leg on ALM. I’m very familiar with the bad rep ALM has gotten, but this is my third trip in two years using them (first two were to Bonaire), and we have had no problems with luggage or flights. Everything ran smoothly and on time. We did stop in Port au Prince on the way back. Not exactly a vacation mecca, or someplace I’d want to have an extended layover.
The topside weather was a bit rainy the first few days – it’s been that way this fall in the Caribbean. But we also have several beautiful postcard days as well. The clouds actually helped moderate the temps, so I would guess they were in a narrow range of 75 to 85 every day.

Diving:
Having been to Bonaire twice, I thought the diving in Curacao would be similar – and it was. The reef structure, at least in the Eastern half of the island (the portion that’s designated a national park), was about the same profile as Bonaire’s. The visibility was around 75 ft. at most sites, give or take 10. A couple of dives seemed to have more plankton in the water. The temperature was around 81, with moderate currents on most all dives.
I did seven dives in 4 days. Most were reef dives to the East of the Lion’s Dive, about a 15-20 minute boat ride. Typical pattern: moor the boat, descend to 50-80 feet, swim against light currents to east, come back toward boat. The LD would put one or two very unobtrusive DM’s in the water, so we were free to do our own thing. We had an hour to spend in the water, so they were very laid back about timing. All the dives were 1-tankers.
The best was Jan Thiel Bay: healthy corals, good viz, quality sea life. The Car Pile near the Princess Hotel was an interesting dive for a while, but after a while it looks like what it really is: a pile of junky old cars, sunk in a furtive attempt to create an artificial reef. Reminded me of that scene in “Waterworld” where Costner goes diving to explore the remains of civilization before the seas inundate everything (but no copies of National Geographic). The Superior Producer was a superior wreck dive. Just the right depth, around 100’, nice and open so you could look through the holds and the cabin house. Good coral incrustation in most areas, so well-lighted photos will show lots of life.
All in all, pretty healthy reefs, with some dead coral at depth. Fish life was adequate. I didn’t see any real “gee whiz” critters, although saw more spotted drums – and big ones – than in other places like Bonaire and Coz. Lots of big schools of cromis. No big fish.

Accommodations:
I’ve read various reviews here about the Habitat Curacao is the best place for serious divers on Curacao. However, I had to also accommodate my wife’s needs, who is a snorkeler but not a diver. She wanted things like beaches, easy access to downtown (i.e. shopping), and other amenities, which are a little harder to come by given where the HC is located (we rented a car the last day on the island and drove around, including where HC is located. It’s a hike from Willemstad).
I would say the Lion’s Dive provides all of these, as would the Princess, although it’s bigger and more expensive. They’re working on extending the jetty in front of the beach, so there were earthmovers right across the channel from the hotel. But that should be done in time for peak tourist season.
I must say the Seaquarium is wonderful, we went there almost daily – it’s free admission for those who stay at LD, and only about 20 yards away. They have about 25 nurse sharks and 8-10 lemon sharks in various enclosures, which you can feed during certain times of the day. Also an enclosure with about 15 huge loggerhead and hawksbill turtles. And many smaller tanks indoors with various coral reef inhabitants. It was the best Caribbean-focused aquarium I’ve visited (having also been to Monterey’s and Baltimore’s aquariums, which are good in other ways).
Otherwise, the LD was competently run and convenient. When they calculated my bill at the front desk upon departure, they were going to omit the $ I owed the dive shop for my diving. I had to insist that they charge me for that. I guess I wasn’t feeling too much like Scrooge to overlook their error.

Food:
We ate several dinners downtown, including Bistro Le Clochard (good), Fort Nassau (better), and Rijstaffel (interesting and good). However, nothing approaching the quality of the French/continental fare one can get in Washington. Interestingly, my wife thought the food was better in Bonaire (Beefeater’s, Mona Lisa, Green Parrot). Go figure. The breakfast buffet at the LD – gratis, part of the room fee – was adequate, although the coffee, as I’ve found in many Caribbean places, tasted about like the Fat Bastard’s stool sample (if you’ve seen Austin Powers II).

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