Directors Bay is a cove on the Caracasbaai Peninsula, inside Curaçao's National Marine Park, between the Tugboat wreck and Small Wall. A vertical wall runs east from it, and the site is known for small animals such as seahorses and frogfish, which makes it a macro photography dive as much as a reef dive.
Also known as Director's Bay.
Where it is and how deep
12.0640° N, 68.8600° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Most divers turn left (east) and follow the vertical wall towards Small Wall, a stretch that reaches about 15 m. Seahorses, frogfish, eels and flounders live along it, and a large octopus has made its home in the rubble.
Turning right (west) instead leads along the coast to the Tugboat. Air limits rule out swimming back, so divers who take this route arrange transport from the Tugboat end beforehand. South-easterly currents bring a steady flow of nutrients onto this reef.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Curaçao: Diving runs all year; October to February is the rainy season, and May to November brings warmer water and fewer crowds.
Know before you go
- Boats pass the bay, so shore divers must carry an inflated surface marker buoy.
- The swim west to the Tugboat is one-way on air; plan transport back before going in.
Dive videos
DIVE CURACAO 2023: DIRECTORS BAY · DiveVisionPhotos on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can Directors Bay and the Tugboat be done in one dive?+
Yes, by heading west from the bay, but air does not allow the swim back, so transport from the Tugboat end has to be arranged before the dive.
Sources
- Directors Bay Dive Site at Caracasbaai — Dive Curaçao
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap contributors
Photo credits
- Aerial view looking straight down on a small sandy cove with rocky points, a car park and clear turquoise water. by dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Curaçao
Rare black coral among sea fans and bottlebrush corals
Cave & cavern
A shallow air-filled cavern next to Mushroom Forest
Artificial reef
Cars, trucks and a barge stacked down a slope into deep water
Reef
A shallow bay reef with 11 metres of water at most
Eagle rays and seahorses on a fringing reef just off the beach
Reef
Elephant ear sponges and brain corals on a drop-off well offshore
Artificial reef
A wreck and a platform on sand, 15 metres at most
A house reef with a sunken pontoon barge and car wrecks next door
Similar dives elsewhere
An 18th-century anchor buried in the reef that gives the site its name
Turtles and nurse sharks resting on sand at the wall's base
Canyons through the reef, five minutes from the fishermen's dock
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Elkhorn and pillar coral on a bank above a deep reef drop