US vs THEM
Scuba diving is
extremely popular in Curaçao. The waters are considered one of the best
Caribbean dive sites and “elite” divers have descended on this very beautiful Sandals
Royal Curaçao resort. “Elite” divers have gone beyond our paltry PADI Open Water certification and have achieved at least 'Advanced' certification. This difference in levels of certification has
never been an issue previously at any of the other Sandals resorts we have visited.
This is our 5th trip to Sandals, a luxurious, all-inclusive adult
couple chain of Caribbean resorts headquartered in Jamaica.
JOCKS vs NERDS
But here in Curaçao the
“elite” divers are automatically signed up for every dive available and “we
nerds” scramble for the few extra spaces on the dive boat, or hope some of the
advanced divers decide not to go out that day.
 |
| Nerd |
Plus, we need to show
up two days ahead of time AT 8:00 am (and no later) to sign up for a dive. We
have gone out twice already, but it was a lot of handwringing and last-minute
departures after we were first told the dive boat was filled.
So, to ensure we got on
a Tuesday dive we got up early this Sunday morning bleary-eyed and hungover
from a two-martini night and hiked the half mile from our cottage at one end of
the resort to the other extreme end where the dive shop is located.
The whole experience
has been less than ideal, but the crew are learning and making accommodations.
GROWING PAINS
Sandals Royal Curaçao only
opened last year and the diving at Sandals is a very alluring part of a stay at
the resorts. Rather than excluding some people (us) they have started using a
second dive boat. There were 32 divers on the two boats for Saturday’s dive.
Seeing this tweak in the service at Sandals again shows how the Sandals family
of resorts listens to their guests. It is worth the price.
 |
| Sandals Curacao |
Thanks for reading.
Love Janet and greg
© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj
No comments:
Post a Comment