{"id":9169,"date":"2024-04-04T20:56:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T18:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relaxedcuracao.com\/en\/?p=9169"},"modified":"2024-06-13T06:05:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T04:05:09","slug":"tugboat-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relaxedcuracao.com\/en\/beaches\/tugboat-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Tugboat Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"View<\/span><\/div>

T<\/span>ugboat Beach should rather be in our Snorkeling & Diving<\/a> section, because that’s exactly what makes it so attractive for visitors. But it is called Tugboat Beach <\/strong>and is one of over 35 beaches in Curacao.<\/p>\n

Towed under water<\/h3>\n

Tugboat is precisely the type of boat that gave the beach its name. A tugboat sank here over 30 years ago. The wreckis about 50 meters from the shore, behind the 3 square steel buoys, at a depth of 5 meters. It\u2019s now completely overgrown with coral. Finally, snorkelers have the opportunity to see something like this. Normally, wreck diving means a boat dive with a depth of 20+ meters. This makes it difficult even for Open Water Divers with the permitted maximum diving depth of 18 meters.<\/p>\n

For our newly certified Open Water Diver kids, the Tugboat was of course a must-see. It took us about an hour to get there, crossing the island from the southwest to the southeast to Caracas Bay.<\/p>\n

\"Caracas

View over Caracas Bay<\/p><\/div>\n

Depressing first impression<\/h3>\n

We weren’t prepared for what we saw when wie got there. As we approached a huge oil drilling ship that looked like it was moored right on Tugboat Beach, we weren’t sure if we were in the right place. The steel sea monster cast dark shadows and was a pretty intimidating sight. Someone compared it to a Mad Max scenario in a comment on the website. \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n

The person wasn’t entirely wrong. I wish I had sound recordings from 2017. The machine noise at the parking lot was so loud that we couldn’t have a normal conversation. There were no intact sanitary facilities on the beach and the bar didn’t look anything like it does today – although it used to be beautifully colorful from the outside.<\/p>\n

Back then, we still had to cross thick steel cables to get into the water in the bay. These were sometimes above and below the water, which added to the thrill.<\/p>\n

\"The

Hurdle swim over ropes and cables<\/p><\/div>\n

Wreck diving for beginners<\/h3>\n

I vaguely remember someone on site giving us a quick rundown of the dive site. It was more like:<\/p>\n

\n

“Behind the steel buoys is the steep reef wall. First dive to the left against the current and on the way back, you can go to the tugboat.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s a good idea to spend the obligatory safety stop at the shipwreck. Nothing could go wrong, right?<\/p>\n

\"View

Reference points on the way to the wreck<\/p><\/div>\n

Great dive on the tugboat<\/h3>\n

Four of us went underwater as a diving family – which each of us adults having a child as a buddy. We dived a beautiful staircase profile along the specified route in picture-book style. We were armed with a simple underwater camera. One of our highlights was a huge French angelfish that swam right past the lens.<\/p>\n

\"French

French angelfish<\/p><\/div>\n

Our younger daughter was really excited about a baby boxfish that she had discovered. When we checked the picture, it turned out to be a Caribbean sharp-nose pufferfish, which grows to a maximum size of 7 cm. Our candidate here was slightly smaller, but it was a pufferfish and not a boxfish. Pufferfish are poisonous, but only if you want to eat them. But we weren’t planning to anyway.<\/p>\n

It was this same small pufferfish species that caused concern in May 2023. Our diving partner Bryan<\/a> reported a\u00a0\u00a0mass mortality of this fish species<\/a>, with dead fish washing up on the shores of Curacao and Bonaire. Upon closer examination, no specific cause of death could be found. It seems likely that the fish population grew too fast in the months before, which left them short of food or more susceptible to disease.<\/p>\n

\"A

Center right: sharp-nose pufferfish<\/p><\/div>\n

If you can’t see the forest for the trees…<\/h3>\n

…then you’ll miss the tugboat on the way back from your dive – just like we did. \ud83d\ude48<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the visibility wasn’t as good 50 minutes later and the bay was in the shade. This made it difficult to see the wreck underwater and head for it. After an unsuccessful search, we decided to surface and lo and behold, there were several snorkelers in one spot not far from us.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we could only see the wreck from above. We couldn’t get down in full diving gear and with an empty tank on our backs – too much lift. So, we had to paddle back the rest of the way at the surface. It was a shame because the motto of the dive was “Wreck diving for beginners”. Well, beginners that is. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

This wouldn’t have happened with a guide<\/h3>\n

If you want to be on the safe side at the tugboat, you can talk to our partner Bryan from Dive Travel Curacao. He has information about the dive site<\/a> on his website and has also uploaded a video of the underwater world at Tugboat Beach to YouTube:<\/p>\n<\/div>