Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Diving/Sunscape Curacao in
Curaçao

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Ocean Encounters Diving/Sunscape Curacao: "Good operator but marginal resort", Mar, 2019, by Vanessa Clark, NY, US ( 1 report with 3 Helpful votes). Report 10874 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Ocean Encounters was good operator and typical for the Caribbean. While you can't dive your profile, the dive leaders don't check anyone's air consumption. This didn't bother me, but for the significant number of beginners, I would have thought it would be a good safety protocol. The only complaint I had is one of their dive leaders never signaled for the group to turn around. No tank banging or checking that everyone had turned. With the low (~25') visibility on some days due to the current and wind, I wasn't pleased. I did my PADI Rescue Diver certification and was very happy with the instructor. Diving was good. Typical Caribbean small to medium animal diving. I'd go here instead of Bonaire. Animals and reef virtually identical but much much healthier. I know the attraction of Bonaire (have been there 4 times), but I have found it to be going downhill with the armies of divers kicking the reef and the lionfish. I did a snorkel trip to the Tugboat one afternoon. Best snorkel experience I've ever had and honestly rivaled many dives I've done. It's a must-do if you have non-divers with you!!! Sunscape was a big miss as a resort. Getting old and tired. Food was marginal to bad (and I'm NOT a foodie). Staff wasn't well trained for an all-inclusive. I also felt the resort was understaffed. On our last afternoon, the air conditioning went out for the entire resort (except the office areas of course). We were given multiple stories over the course of the evening but promised it would be fixed by 10 pm. It wasn't fixed until 11 am the next day - so about 20 hours without AC. We weren't able to open our sliding door until 2 am with the music at Mambo Beach stopped (see below). Xavier at the front desk was professional and courteous about the situation. He gave us a full refund for two people for the one night and seemed to be doing the same for anyone who asked. The red flag, however, is that Xavier told me the issue was with the main chiller which is "very old". I certainly understand that things break and need repair. But the entire resort out of AC for almost 24 hours due to a system that is "very old"? Another major issue was with staying next to Mambo Beach. We were in the main tower on the east side of the resort on the Mambo Beach side. There was one small resort between us and the main Mambo Beach shopping and bar area. There is a club right on the water with an outdoor concert area. On Saturday and Sunday nights, they had loud performances until 2 am. And I mean LOUD. I couldn't believe it. Have never seen anything like it in all my travels. Even my 21 year-old who parties at college was upset. What town allows a venue to produce this level of noise right in the middle of high end resorts? There were similar events (although not quite as loud) on Tuesday and Friday nights. We heard many people complaining about the noise. I highly advise finding a resort far from Mambo Beach.
Websites	Ocean Encounters Diving
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Galapagos, Grand Cayman, Bonaire, Belize, Roatan
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	25-50 Ft/ 8-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Yes.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	No special setup on boats or dive shop for photographers.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Sue Ann Bivans in FL, US at Aug 28, 2019 10:01 EST

This is just what I needed to read. Thank you for the great review.

By Sue Ann Bivans in FL, US at Dec 17, 2021 08:35 EST

Thank you for the report about the resort. We stayed there 970 dives ago so thought about returning. I had for gotten about the noise level so thank you so much!!!

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Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Diving/Sunscape Curacao in Curaçao

Ocean Encounters Diving/Sunscape Curacao: "Good operator but marginal resort", Mar, 2019,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Ocean Encounters Diving/Sunscape Curacao in
Curaçao