Curacao advice wanted

[Steve Simpson]

My wife and I are planning a week long dive vacation in Curacao in early
December. We'd like to hear from some divers who have been there recently.

We have not booked accomodations or a dive package yet (just airfare) and
we'd like some specific advice. We are somewhat price sensitive, after
having been to the Cayman Islands in June, but there are some "nice to
haves" that we would consider when choosing our accomodations and dive
operator.

1) We'd like to be within walking distance of a nice sandy beach.

2) We'd like neat and clean accomodations with air conditioning and no
low flying jets overhead.

3) We tend to smaller dive operators - we avoid the "30 people on a boat"
crowd - but safety and equipment condition is a primary concern. (We
have all of our scuba gear and will be renting only tanks/weights.)

4) Does anyone have any specific experience with "Lion's Dive Hotel",
"Las Palmas Hotel and Vacation Village", "Seascape Dive and Watersports",
or "Underwater Curacao"?

5) My wife is a vegetarian. Any restaurant recommendations?

6) We rented a condo with a kitchen in the Cayman Islands and did some of
our own cooking. We enjoyed the quiet, privacy and space to dry out our
gear. Any recommendations?

7) Any recommendations on budget car rentals?

Thanks for any info.

Steve & Debbie Simpson

Steve Simpson | "Sandra, men are pigs.
ssim...@world.std.com | Say it like a mantra."
Software Engineering Consultant |
http://world.std.com/~ssimpson/ | Overheard at T.D. Waffle

[Alan Ostrowe]

The Lions Dive Hotel seems just what you want. Las Palmas is out of
business.

Lions Dive is clean, airco, cable TV, international telephone. All rooms
face the Caribbean and can be open to the sea breezes. One of the
nicest, although not private beaches on the island is adjacent to the
hotel as is the Seaquarium and dive shop. Lions dive is within walking
distance to Princess Beach Hotel, a really big operation, with a Peter
Hughes diving operations there ---> Princess Dive.

You can take public transportation (bus or taxi) to Punda and Otra Banda
the shopping district. Car rental are variably priced and an enclosed
car (tercel) would be a better choice than a jeep type for security
reasons.

Off the beaten path is Coral Cliffs and Coral Cliffs Dive. Marileis
Feyts is a very personable hostess to her dive operations.

Curacao is a GREAT place with good food and lots of things to do (except
golf).

OOo O
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! "Scuba Doc"