On October 30, 2011 the day has come that my buddy and I were able to celebrate his thousandth dive. It took some planning because on October 11 his dive counter showed 994 when he started a Search and Recovery specialty which would take 4 dives and he had 2 dives planned for a coral spawning study. I had to work. He completed his specialty but he decided to skip the second of the two coral spawning dives so the counter stopped at 999 on October 17. It took almost 2 weeks before we were able to plan the celebration dive together. We went to Porto Marie for this dive.

For some time I had heard about a Seahorse at Vaersenbay but I was never able to take a closer look. This Saturday I went with a student for her third dive in the Open Water course. I knew exactly where the seahorse was located but it still took some time to actually see it. It is a small seahorse and it is attached to some soft coral but on the inside of a small bush. So it is not easily visible; I went back later that day with my camera and it took me quite some effort to take a good picture of it.
The seahorse is in shallow water (about 10 feet) in front of the beach.
In the neighborhood is also a kind of underwater oasis. The surroundings are all sand but there is a small stone base on the sand with a lot of coral on it. This oasis attracts a lot of fish. It is a perfect spot for snorkelers because is can be easily seen from the surface and it is within reach if you dare to dive down. For divers it is a perfect spot to take a safety stop at the end of a dive.

More pictures can be found in the Photography section under Pictures per dive site.

Trunkdivers has relocated its dive shop from Landhuis Daniel to the newly renovated Vaersenbay / Kokomo Beach. Trunkdivers is a PDIC training facility; all courses and specialties are available up to and including dive instructor. Dive equipment is available for rent. Guided dives at the house reef and all other shore dive sites in Curaçao are offered.

The house reef consists of a healthy reef to the right as well as to the left. Interesting objects are the large Pontoon, the Car pile and (although outside recreational dive limits) the wreck of a small tugboat.
For non-divers there is a nice beach. Snorkeling is also nice along the cliff to the left and right.

Trunkdivers is the home of the two authors of the Curaçao Diving Guide and two of the editors of the Curacao Dive Magazine. So there is a lot of diving knowledge available. Trunkdivers has recently passed the audit for the Curaçao Tourist Board dive operator certification.

Check all the links in this article for more details. For pricing of dive courses and other dive information check the web site of Trunkdivers.

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When I found out that I was approaching my one thousandth dive I started planning to do that dive with my regular buddy, Rob. On Wednesday, June 8, 2011, the day had come. By doing a two-tank dive the second dive would be my one thousandth. So we left home rather early (8:30 AM) in the direction of Westpunt. That is one of my favorite dive spots at that side of the island of Curaçao. The characteristics under water are almost similar to Alice in Wonderland (Playa Kalki), it is safer to park your car there and the entry into the water is close to where you gear up.