All guest rooms are just steps away from the beach and surrounded by the lush Caribbean gardens. The buildings all have two or three stories, and there are four styles of hotel accommodation: standard run-of-house rooms, ocean view rooms, ocean front rooms, and ocean front cabana rooms. All rooms have one king-sized bed or two double beds, accommodating up to two adults and two children. Standard rooms have views of either the garden, pool, or street and have a shared terrace or balcony. The ocean view rooms have partial ocean views from a shared terrace or balcony. The oceanfront rooms have a stunning view of the ocean as well as a private terrace or balcony. Oceanfront cabana rooms are located directly on the beach and open up into the sand from the shared terrace.
In addition to the traditional hotel style rooms, the resort offers apartments, suites, and a penthouse. The twenty-four apartments have two bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as a kitchen. One of the bedrooms is a master bedroom with a king-sized bed and private bathroom. The other bedroom has a double bed, a possible single bed, and a bathroom. The living room has a sofa bed as well. The private balconies overlook the pool, and the apartment accommodates up to six people. The apartments have air conditioning, cable TV, direct phone line, and free internet connection.
There are also ten suites: four of which are luxury one-bedroom suites and six are luxury two-bedroom suites. Each suite has a private balcony that overlooks the ocean and is ideal for a romantic getaway. There is also one penthouse that has a direct view of the ocean. There is a master bedroom with a super king bed, bathroom with rain shower and private gym, AC, living room, dining table for six, cable TV, and a free internet connection. The penthouse also has a private balcony that opens up onto the beach.
There are four restaurants that will satisfy any visitor's tastes as well as a 50-meter pool and well-equipped gym. There are over seventy dive sites in Curacao’s surrounding waters, many of which are located near the resort. Dive sites include shore diving at Dive City, drift diving at Water Factory, or open water diving at Pierbaai.
Why dive Curacao? The island is reknown for its clear sea – when it comes to scuba diving you want to make sure you encounter an abundance of marine critters. If you dive on Curaçao, you will not have to worry about this. The Caribbean Sea is known for its clear water and because of this incredible visibility (vis in scuba lingo), divers will find the corals filled with schools of fish. And dive sites? There are more than seventy dive sites to be found. These locations are spread all around the island, and from Porte Marie to Jan Thiel Bay, the possibilities are endless. This variety of options ensures that you can enjoy the pristine sea without other divers around. And healthy corals. Divers find a lot of coral around Curaçao – one reason that diving around Curaçao is so popular. The coral reefs are healthy and thriving, and one attraction for divers is the coral spawning events that occur on full moon nights.
Packages include seven night’s accommodation in a standard run-of-house room, five-day boat diving package, unlimited shore diving, a breakfast package at Hemingway Beach Bar and Restaurant, round trip airport transfers, and a 1% donation for Curacao coral restoration. Room upgrades are available upon request. Rates at LionsDive are seasonal with high season January through March and low season April through December.
Ocean Encounters is a PADI 5 Star facility. The dive shop has a staff of 25 professionals who organize trips to over 30 different dive sites on their fleet of 4 dive-purpose boats. EAN nitrox is available but the dive shop does not support tech diving or rebreathers.
Photographs courtesy of Dive Curacao.