Diving in Curaçao

Your first scuba dive, fully private, from the beach on Curaçao's south coast. The Little Green Boat offers one try dive or two on the same day, with at most two beginners per instructor and no certificate needed from 10 years old. Compare the two options below and read how a first dive in Curaçao goes.

Curaçao is one of the Caribbean's best-known islands for shore diving: on the south coast you can walk in from the beach and be over a reef within minutes. That also makes it a good place for a first dive. You don't need a boat, a course or a certificate to try it, just an instructor and a calm morning or afternoon.

What a try dive is

A try dive is a supervised first dive for people who have never dived before. You learn the basics on the shore, breathe from a regulator for the first time in shallow water, and then go down with your instructor right beside you. It doesn't give you a diving certificate, but it shows you whether you'd like to take one, and it gets you under the surface of the reef on your vacation.

With The Little Green Boat, a first dive goes like this:

• A briefing on the shore: how the equipment works, the safety rules and what you will see.
• You walk in from the beach and get used to breathing underwater where you can still stand.
• Then you go down together, slowly. Your instructor sets the pace and depth for your comfort.

The Little Green Boat

Fabien and Caro founded The Little Green Boat and are your instructors. They take only your group: at most two beginners per instructor, never shared with other guests. Bookings are for 2 to 4 divers, from 10 years old, and no diving certificate is needed. Dives are guided in English, French or Spanish.

Both options include your own instructor, full scuba equipment, the briefing and supervision throughout, and water, juice and fresh fruit. Dives start at 09:00 or 13:00, and pickup anywhere on the island is available on request; otherwise you meet your instructor at the dive site.

One dive or two? The options compared

A single private try dive

The single dive takes about 2½ hours from meeting to goodbye. It's the right choice if you simply want to know what breathing underwater feels like, or if you're fitting it into a day with other plans. A video of your dive is included, so you can show everyone at home. See the single private try dive for times and availability.

Two private try dives on the same day

The first dive gets you used to breathing underwater, at your own pace after the briefing on the shore. On the second, you're more relaxed and can take in more of the reef. Both dives together take about half a day from meeting to goodbye, and videos of both dives are included. If you're fairly sure you'll enjoy it, two try dives on the same day give you much more time underwater for one morning or afternoon.

Who each suits

• One dive suits nervous first-timers, families trying it out with children aged 10 and up, and anyone short on time.
• Two dives suit confident swimmers, couples who want a proper reef experience, and anyone thinking about a diving course later.

After your first dive

The video is more than a souvenir: watching your first breaths underwater is a good way to see how relaxed you looked, even if it didn't feel that way. If the dive clicks, the natural next step is a certification course, which lets you dive with a buddy on future trips instead of with an instructor at your side. If it doesn't, you've still seen the reef from the inside, and snorkeling over the same coral will never look quite the same.

A try dive at 09:00 leaves the afternoon free for the beach; a 13:00 start lets you sleep in. Either way, keep the rest of the day easy: a first dive is more tiring than it sounds.

Where you dive

Fabien and Caro choose the site on the day, for the sea and for you, among their beginner sites on the south coast. Depending on conditions, that may be a spot where green sea turtles come to feed, a small wreck in calm, shallow water such as the Tugboat, or a coral nursery.

Coral nurseries are part of the island's reef restoration work: young corals grow on underwater frames, such as the coral trees of Reef Renewal Curaçao, before they are planted out on the reef. Diving over one shows you a side of the reef few visitors see.

The Little Green Boat's dive base is on Caracasbaaiweg, in the Jan Thiel and Spanish Water area of the south coast. This coast is sheltered from the trade winds, so the water is calmer, and the reef starts close to the shore.

Not ready to dive? Compare

If breathing underwater isn't for you yet, there are easier ways into the same water:

• Reef Riders' sea scooter snorkel tour glides you over the reef to the Tugboat wreck as a snorkeler. No diving experience is needed, and it's from 10 years old.
• The Klein Curaçao day trip lets you snorkel with sea turtles in front of the boat, with about seven hours on the island.
• Despite its name, the Blue Room Dive extra on Real World Adventures' half-day and full-day Jeep tours is not a scuba dive: it's a short coastal hike, cliff jumps and a snorkel into the cave.

Our pages on snorkeling tours and Klein Curaçao boat trips compare those in detail. For a day on land after your dive, have a look at our Jeep tours.

Practical tips

• What to bring: swimwear and a towel, reef-safe sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, a change of clothes, and a hair tie if you have long hair.
• Don't plan your dive for the day you fly home. Standard dive-safety advice is to wait at least 12 to 18 hours between diving and flying.
• If you have a medical condition or are pregnant, check with your doctor before any scuba dive and tell your instructor in advance.
• On the way down, equalize your ears early and often, and signal your instructor if anything feels uncomfortable.
• The Little Green Boat gets in touch the day before your dive. If the sea is not safe, they move or cancel the dive.

How booking works

The try dives are booked online on The Little Green Boat's booking page: pick a date, book and pay by card, at least 12 hours ahead. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start, with a full refund, and until then you can also move your dive to another day with room.