Go West Diving | Westpunt
5* PADI Dive Center in Westpunt
Playa Kalki beach in Westpunt is home to one of the best dive centers on Curacao: Go West Diving. The reef at Playa Kalki is called “Alice in Wonderland” and is famous for it’s underwater Chichi and saxophone. At Go West Diving you can either rent diving gear and book a boat trip to dive sites like the Blue Room or the Mushroom Forest or you can only rent the equipment you need and go diving on your own (with your buddy of course :)). If you decide to go diving on your own this is called “Shore-Diving”, which means at your own pace and at your preferred time.
The West of Curacao
Westpunt is located, as the name already indicates, in the very West of Curacao. It’s a small town with only one through street which is why the crossroads to Playa Kalki and Go West Diving is easily overlooked. And whoosh, you’ve already been trough the village. Too bad, because in addition to the dive center there are numerous good restaurants and fantastic beaches on the way. Additionaly to the already mentioned Playa Kalki with its new Beach Club the Playa Grandi or the Playa Piskado with guaranteed sea turtles are definitely worth mentioning.
Small or big parking?
If you haven’t missed your exit, it’s only a few feet from the main street towards the ocean. Shortly afterwards, there is a small parking lot on the left side, with space for 20-30 vehicles, with signs for Playa Kalki and, of course, for Go West Diving. You’ve come to the right place! If this parking lot is already full: Since 2023, there is a new, huge parking lot a few feet further on the right side of the road. Our tip: First drive to the small parking lot and drive towards the stairs that lead to Playa Kalki and the dive center, unload your car there and then park the car on the big parking lot, if the small one is full.
Should I turn left or right?
At the end of the small parking lot there are stairs leading down to Go West Diving and the magnificent Playa Kalki. At the sight of the Caribbean Sea and the dream beach, it’s hard to turn left and go to the dive center and not the beach. Instead, with every step you take down the stairs, you are magnetically drawn to the right to the white coral beach with its appealing terrace, the fantastic view and the chill-out areas. But now it’s time to dive! So turn left!
Diving school, diving station, diving center?
At the dive center you are greeted by wooden benches under a caribbean palapa with direct sea view. That’s exactly the way you’d like to end your dive and record the details in your logbook, right? There is probably a cat lying somewhere nearby not being bothered by you and your activities at all. Simply a nice, cozy atmosphere.
Spoiler alert: This is where we started to fall in love with Curacao: On one of our first nights ever on the island, following a private invitation to have a lion fish barbecue at Go West Diving. We had freshly caught and afterwards grilled lion fish and beer from a cooler. This is what the Caribbean is supposed to be like! Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures of this evening under the palapas but only our great memories.
Equpiment and facilities
If you dive deeper into the dive center, you’ll find everything you are looking for in a modern and top dive center: Modern and perfectly maintained equipment for rent, a shop that offers merchandising and everything essential for diving and snorkeling and most importantly nice and helpful staff. The staff will help you with any problem or difficulty you have (=> see our video). Additinaly there are small pools where you can wash your equipment and clothing (wetsuit, fins, etc.). Naturally there is a freshwater shower! There are even lockers for your personal items! Go West Diving has everything you need and more!
Save diving!!!
At Go West Diving your safety comes always first. You won’t be able to just go underwater without being “checked”! Besides the paperwork, you must have a buddy or you won’t be allowed to dive or rent any equiment! We completly support that! Nobody will put money before your well-being there! Safety first!
PADI 5* diving school
The dive center Go West Diving is also a PADI 5* diving school. If you’d like to train as a PADI Open Water Diver during your vacation, you’ve come to the right place. You can rely on high quality equipment as well as high quality training here. As we are already certified divers, we won’t be taking and thus testing the diving instruction ourselves anymore. I’m sure you can understand that. However, we watched and listened to briefings and noticed how the instructors and dive masters talk and act after a dive. Everything is very professional here!
Beginner or advanced?
You’ll always be right here! No matter whether you are a scuba diving newbie or an old hand. The Chichi which you can find at about 23 feet (7 meters) underwwater, is probably not such a highlight for professional scuba divers, who seek the depths and the thrill and the biggest of all manta rays. For the average diver on the other hand the Chichi and the saxophone are, together with the beautiful underwater life, a real adventure at only 23-33 feet (7-10 meters).
You can always go deeper!
What awaits you there? We can’t tell you, because as PADI Open Water divers we aren’t exploring the sea at 98-131 feet (30-40 meters) deep. However, our diving partner Bryan Horne knows even the deepest places and secrets of Alice in Wonderland. His website divecuracao.info is one of the biggest sources of information about diving on Curacao. Take a look:
The All-West apartments
You where probably driving down the coastal road from Lagun to Wespunt on your way to Playa Kalki. If so, you might have noticed a big, yellow building with a big parking lot, numerous pick-up trucks and a church on the opposite side of the road. These are the (self-catering) All-West apartments, which belong to the dive center Go West Diving.
The apartments are specifically meant for divers. The apartment offers a dry place for your diving equipment and there are full (oxygen) tanks provided for you. You don’t need to pick up the oxygen tanks at the dive center. You can book an all-round carefree diving package here.
Moreover, you can rent one of the previously mentioned pick-up trucks for a comparabely low price. Especially as a diver, you are going to need a car on Curacao. Your diving experience on Curacao will be best with your own buddy, your own car and a professional and trustworthy dive center behind you (keyword: Nitrox and Shore Diving).
Direct beach access at All-West
From the All-West apartments you can access the beach Playa Grandi over some stairs. No matter, whether you just want to relax at the beach or you want to go on a dive directly from your apartment. That’s definetely luxirious diving. We aren’t able to say anything about the apartment yet, because (sadly) we have never stayed there before. We’ll need to catch up on that and make a room-tour for you.
Conclusion
We have been underwater with our own and with the rental equipment of Go West Diving many times. I also have an “All West” cap, which I bought in the dive center store and which has been traveling with me to various places around the world ever since I bought it. It fits perfectly and looks just as good :). Everything you can find at Go West diving makes sense and leaves you with a good feeling. That’s waht diving is supposed to be like.
You can find the website of Go West Diving and All-West apartments here: www.gowestdiving.com
If you’re interested in an underwater video, watch out the movie from our partner divecuracao.info / naturepics:
Do you know the answer? We collected 100+ entertaining questions about Curacao. Have fun!
Quiz Question
Which tree on Curacao is former known as Spanish lime?Answer
The Kenepa tree is also known as the Spanish lime.
It actually bears lime-like, green fruits that look like citrus fruits but aren’t. Nevertheless, the stone fruits with the hard kernel can be eaten. They taste sweet and sour.
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Enough of being under water? How about a little relaxation on the snow-white beaches of Curacao? Or a few tips for a trip? Feel free to browse our lifestyle, shopping or nature sections. In the secrets category, we’ll tell you what you may not yet know about the heart of the Caribbean.
Go West Diving | Westpunt
5* PADI Dive Center in Westpunt
Playa Kalki beach in Westpunt is home to one of the best dive centers on Curacao: Go West Diving. The reef at Playa Kalki is called “Alice in Wonderland” and is famous for it’s underwater Chichi and saxophone. At Go West Diving you can either rent diving gear and book a boat trip to dive sites like the Blue Room or the Mushroom Forest or you can only rent the equipment you need and go diving on your own (with your buddy of course :)). If you decide to go diving on your own this is called “Shore-Diving”, which means at your own pace and at your preferred time.
The West of Curacao
Westpunt is located, as the name already indicates, in the very West of Curacao. It’s a small town with only one through street which is why the crossroads to Playa Kalki and Go West Diving is easily overlooked. And whoosh, you’ve already been trough the village. Too bad, because in addition to the dive center there are numerous good restaurants and fantastic beaches on the way. Additionaly to the already mentioned Playa Kalki with its new Beach Club the Playa Grandi or the Playa Piskado with guaranteed sea turtles are definitely worth mentioning.
Small or big parking?
If you haven’t missed your exit, it’s only a few feet from the main street towards the ocean. Shortly afterwards, there is a small parking lot on the left side, with space for 20-30 vehicles, with signs for Playa Kalki and, of course, for Go West Diving. You’ve come to the right place! If this parking lot is already full: Since 2023, there is a new, huge parking lot a few feet further on the right side of the road. Our tip: First drive to the small parking lot and drive towards the stairs that lead to Playa Kalki and the dive center, unload your car there and then park the car on the big parking lot, if the small one is full.
Should I turn left or right?
At the end of the small parking lot there are stairs leading down to Go West Diving and the magnificent Playa Kalki. At the sight of the Caribbean Sea and the dream beach, it’s hard to turn left and go to the dive center and not the beach. Instead, with every step you take down the stairs, you are magnetically drawn to the right to the white coral beach with its appealing terrace, the fantastic view and the chill-out areas. But now it’s time to dive! So turn left!
Diving school, diving station, diving center?
At the dive center you are greeted by wooden benches under a caribbean palapa with direct sea view. That’s exactly the way you’d like to end your dive and record the details in your logbook, right? There is probably a cat lying somewhere nearby not being bothered by you and your activities at all. Simply a nice, cozy atmosphere.
Spoiler alert: This is where we started to fall in love with Curacao: On one of our first nights ever on the island, following a private invitation to have a lion fish barbecue at Go West Diving. We had freshly caught and afterwards grilled lion fish and beer from a cooler. This is what the Caribbean is supposed to be like! Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures of this evening under the palapas but only our great memories.
Equpiment and facilities
If you dive deeper into the dive center, you’ll find everything you are looking for in a modern and top dive center: Modern and perfectly maintained equipment for rent, a shop that offers merchandising and everything essential for diving and snorkeling and most importantly nice and helpful staff. The staff will help you with any problem or difficulty you have (=> see our video). Additinaly there are small pools where you can wash your equipment and clothing (wetsuit, fins, etc.). Naturally there is a freshwater shower! There are even lockers for your personal items! Go West Diving has everything you need and more!
Save diving!!!
At Go West Diving your safety comes always first. You won’t be able to just go underwater without being “checked”! Besides the paperwork, you must have a buddy or you won’t be allowed to dive or rent any equiment! We completly support that! Nobody will put money before your well-being there! Safety first!
PADI 5* diving school
The dive center Go West Diving is also a PADI 5* diving school. If you’d like to train as a PADI Open Water Diver during your vacation, you’ve come to the right place. You can rely on high quality equipment as well as high quality training here. As we are already certified divers, we won’t be taking and thus testing the diving instruction ourselves anymore. I’m sure you can understand that. However, we watched and listened to briefings and noticed how the instructors and dive masters talk and act after a dive. Everything is very professional here!
Beginner or advanced?
You’ll always be right here! No matter whether you are a scuba diving newbie or an old hand. The Chichi which you can find at about 23 feet (7 meters) underwwater, is probably not such a highlight for professional scuba divers, who seek the depths and the thrill and the biggest of all manta rays. For the average diver on the other hand the Chichi and the saxophone are, together with the beautiful underwater life, a real adventure at only 23-33 feet (7-10 meters).
You can always go deeper!
What awaits you there? We can’t tell you, because as PADI Open Water divers we aren’t exploring the sea at 98-131 feet (30-40 meters) deep. However, our diving partner Bryan Horne knows even the deepest places and secrets of Alice in Wonderland. His website divecuracao.info is one of the biggest sources of information about diving on Curacao. Take a look:
The All-West apartments
You where probably driving down the coastal road from Lagun to Wespunt on your way to Playa Kalki. If so, you might have noticed a big, yellow building with a big parking lot, numerous pick-up trucks and a church on the opposite side of the road. These are the (self-catering) All-West apartments, which belong to the dive center Go West Diving.
The apartments are specifically meant for divers. The apartment offers a dry place for your diving equipment and there are full (oxygen) tanks provided for you. You don’t need to pick up the oxygen tanks at the dive center. You can book an all-round carefree diving package here.
Moreover, you can rent one of the previously mentioned pick-up trucks for a comparabely low price. Especially as a diver, you are going to need a car on Curacao. Your diving experience on Curacao will be best with your own buddy, your own car and a professional and trustworthy dive center behind you (keyword: Nitrox and Shore Diving).
Direct beach access at All-West
From the All-West apartments you can access the beach Playa Grandi over some stairs. No matter, whether you just want to relax at the beach or you want to go on a dive directly from your apartment. That’s definetely luxirious diving. We aren’t able to say anything about the apartment yet, because (sadly) we have never stayed there before. We’ll need to catch up on that and make a room-tour for you.
Conclusion
We have been underwater with our own and with the rental equipment of Go West Diving many times. I also have an “All West” cap, which I bought in the dive center store and which has been traveling with me to various places around the world ever since I bought it. It fits perfectly and looks just as good :). Everything you can find at Go West diving makes sense and leaves you with a good feeling. That’s waht diving is supposed to be like.
You can find the website of Go West Diving and All-West apartments here: www.gowestdiving.com
If you’re interested in an underwater video, watch out the movie from our partner divecuracao.info / naturepics:
Recommended articles you might be interested in:
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Quiz Question
Which tree on Curacao is former known as Spanish lime?Answer
The Kenepa tree is also known as the Spanish lime.
It actually bears lime-like, green fruits that look like citrus fruits but aren’t. Nevertheless, the stone fruits with the hard kernel can be eaten. They taste sweet and sour.
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