Well the inevitable last day in this Dutch Caribbean paradise finally arrived. We had an action packed morning followed by a relaxing afternoon and romantic evening to tie the bow on our week long holiday. We made it up toward Westpunt bright and early in the morning to get in our last dive, for real this time. We arrived to the dive shop a little before they opened so we took our time getting ready and admired Playa Kalki’s slice of paradise. Jared, whom we met the night before, kindly pointed us in the direction of the seahorse and quickly briefed us on Alice in Wonderland. As we descended we immediately spotted the small black seahorse, YAY! We had to have been there for at least 10 minutes just taking photos of him before moving on to the reef. Noobies.
It’s very difficult to say what our favorite dive or site was. There were different things about each one that made it rock in a different way. That said Alice in Wonderland was definitely one of our top picks, and not because of the obvious excitement of seeing our first seahorse. The dive itself was so peaceful, a truly serene experience. We took our time and did a real “Kyle Style” lazy dive. The structure of the reef and vast amount of life that inhabited in and all around it was incredibly enthralling. I was lost in wonderment the entire dive. We weren’t looking into crevices or trying to find anything in particular. Instead we gently coasted along, captivated by the living breathing panorama that wrapped around us. We had intended to record a video of the dive but were so lost in a Zen moment that we both completely forgot. Pretty sure I even got a little Namaste nod from a Spotted Trunkfish at one point.
After our meditative dive we packed up our gear for the last time and went into town to do a little shopping. We almost made it through the entire week without stepping foot into a souvenir shop. However there was a small list of goodies I wanted to bring home to Cali so we finally gave in. We briefly toured the floating market (a collection of boats from Venezuela that line the harbor selling produce) and old market (similar to the Oahu stadium flee market). Neither of them were particularly impressive but we had to see them at least once. We then dipped into a few side streets on a scavenger hunt for keepsakes. It was starting to heat up and we were both longing to lie out at the beach so we quickly grabbed what we were looking for and booked it out of there. We didn’t make it over to the Otrobanada side, but will no doubt be returning to Curacao soon and will have to do it next time.
Since it was our last day we decided to have a final “fat kid” lunch. We wanted to get Dutch pancakes but the bakery was all out. So we settled for a cherry and cream filled dessert pastry dusted with powdered sugar instead. Dessert for lunch: because we’re adults on vacation and no one can tell us not to.
We returned our rental car and spent the rest of the afternoon laying ocean side at the hotel. We packed a little cooler with soda, rum, gouda, and crackers and had a nice self-made cocktail hour (or a few hours) on the beach. When the sun began to hang a little lower we walked up to our look out spot perched above the resort. We sat there gazing west and continued our happy hour until the Curacao sun gradually set on our last day. We capped off the night with dinner on the terrace of Gouverneur de Rouville Restaurant & Café. It’s a gorgeous building that is rich in history and sits facing the story book buildings on the other side of the harbor. Dinner was phenomenal, partially due to the remarkable view and overall atmosphere. After dinner we went for a leisurely stroll along the floating Queen Emma Bridge. We could not have asked for a sweeter ending to our peaceful island getaway.
We look back now and find it amusing that we embarked on this journey only wanting to dive 2-3 days with above land adventures in mind for the remaining time. Once we descended into the aquamarine waters and feasted our eyes on Curacao’s captivating underwater world for the first time that all changed. We wound up diving every day and still wish we had done more. A running list of future must-do dives has already begun to form and will continue to grow until our next voyage. We know without a doubt this will not be our last visit to Curacao and are anxiously awaiting the time when we can return to this richly blessed island.
This experience has definitely changed us in more ways than one. We did some world class diving that sparked an insatiable scuba appetite, met several remarkable people that enhanced our perspective on life, and became even closer as we experienced it all together. We detached from the world of continuous internet access and television and connected to the Earth and each other. We relished in the conversations that sometimes lasted for hours, uninterrupted by a text message or phone call. When we return home we will strive to carry some of these elements over into our daily lives in an effort to live a simpler, more organic life.
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| Dock leading to Alice in Wonderland |
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| @ "The Goveneur" |
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