Entre Les Murs

Curaçao, Above and Below Sea Level

Janet and I took a week off and went to the Caribbean, to Curaçao.  We spent four of the days diving, and the rest exploring the island.

The diving was excellent.  The waters are warm, so we were perfectly comfortable in 3mm shorty wet suits.  Diving is worth the trouble, even when the water is cold, but being warm makes it so much easier and more enjoyable.  The dive shop was very efficient and careful.  This also makes a huge difference.  When you're doing something that has tremendous potential perils, and where your safety depends on those who are supporting you (as well as your buddy), it's a comfort to be in a country that owes much of its heritage to the no-nonsense Dutch.

Down below were very healthy reefs.  There were plenty of soft corals and sponges, and of course an endless variety of fish.  We saw one young sea turtle and a few small barracuda, but no really large fauna.  The most outsize creatures we came across were porcupine fish, at least a foot and a half long.  They have an "E.T."-like face.  Most of the pictures on the web show them spotted and spiny, although ours wasn't greatly either.  There were also a few small moray eels (and one big one), and something I definitely hadn't seen before: a fireworm.


When we weren't diving (or sleeping) we poked around the island.  Getting from one end of the island to the other takes about an hour.  We rented a car and drove to an ostrich farm one day, and the next day to the west end of the island, Westpunt.


For more pictures, click here.

posted 17.11.08