Welcome to the Curacao Diving Paradise
Curacao is a small island just north of the Venezuelan coast. With its 2 sister islands Aruba and Bonaire and 3 more islands near Puerto Rico, St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Martin, it is the tropical side of The Netherlands with which it forms the Dutch Kingdom.
Curacao has much to offer for the diving tourist. Although it is less well known for its underwater world than Bonaire, it has a lot of similarities. Most of the dive sites can be reached from shore without a boat. Its secluded beaches invite you to a long lazy day at the beach, pleasantly interrupted by one or two dives. And if you have luck, you will be invited for a BBQ on the beach.
To give you an impression of the underwater world I will display at this site a variety of my dive pictures. I have taken all the pictures myself. I started with a Nikonos V camera with an SB105 flashlight, then I went digital with the Sealife DC500 with wide-angle lens and digital flash (The Sealife DC500 Elite set) and now I am taking pictures with the Sea & Sea DX-1G with the YS-110 strobe.
Experience a unique dive on the Mediator wreck
Stimana can be reached by phone (+599 9 4652327), cellular phone (+599 9 5667490) or e-mail (stimana at cura dot net).
Check out
the section about the Mediator on this site to get information about the ship and to get an impression what to expect under water.
Anything can happen!
When we were diving at Boca Sami at our normal depth of around 20 meters (70 feet) I saw something white shimmering beneath me. My buddy and I decided to check it out and we found this sailing boat sitting on the bottom at 42 meters (140 feet) with the "wind" still blowing in its sails.
A few days earlier there had been a sailing contest called "Sami Sail". It is a yearly recurring event. Apparently this year something unexpected happened and one of the boats sank. This didn't make it into the news papers, so we didn't expect to find anything special during this dive. Luckily I had my camera with me, as I do on almost every dive (you never know what happens) so I was able to take this shot. The picture made it into one of the local newspapers under the heading "Underwater Sailing" and in a newspaper in The Netherlands. And, as my buddy pointed out to me later that week, a picture of this boat, the Lagun, taken during a Sami Sail race event some years before, was included in a book about architecture in Curacao.
Two weeks later we decided to check if the boat was still there but it wasn't. Probably it was lifted with the help of the nearby Dive Operator, Eric Wederfoort.
New December 2007
- New folder created under the Mediator with the periodical published by Stimana
- Added the third issue of the Stimana periodical
- Added the fourth issue of the Stimana periodical
New February 2008
- Dive location Playa Hundu added including pictures taken during a dive there
New June 2008
- Added new airlift operation to the Mediator part of the site in the subsection "recent activities".
Hot new site
Pictures of events, historical buildings and the beautiful nature of Curacao
Want to go for a bus dive instead of a boat dive?
For something different, visit the North side
The North side is hardly accessible from shore. But there is an alternative.
Dive with
Dive Charter Curaçao
Dive locations:
In addition to my list of dive sites you can also take a look at the list of dive sites created by Curacao Actief
For your activities while you are not diving:
I can recommend from own experience that making a jeep safari with Curacao Actief is an unforgettable experience. So take a look at their website and book a trip while you are here or, even better, make a reservation while planning your vacation here.