Curaçao, the area around Tarpon Bridge

Curaçao · Curaçao · Reef · Cave & cavern

Tarpon Bridge

A natural rock bridge, 6 metres high, at 20 metres

Area photo: LASZLO ILYES · CC BY 2.0

A boat dive around the corner from East Point, built on two pieces of rock architecture: a large cavern at 16 metres and, at 20 metres, a natural underwater bridge standing about 6 metres high. It can only be dived when the sea is very calm, which makes it an opportunistic stop rather than a scheduled one.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Tarpon Bridge: typical dive 16–20 m (52–66 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit16 m20 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

12.0554° N, 68.7442° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Tarpon Bridge lies just around the corner from East Point and can only be dived by boat, and only when the sea is very calm. That single condition shapes everything about the site: it is not a dive you book, it is one an operator offers on the morning the swell drops, and groups who get it usually get it at short notice.

The dive is built around two features. At 16 metres there is a large cavern; at 20 metres, the formation the site is named for — a natural underwater bridge standing about 6 metres high. Only four metres of depth separate the two, so one dive covers both without much of a profile change. Nothing is published about the route between them, so take it as the guide sets it up on the day, and expect the plan to be shaped by the conditions that allowed the dive at all.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Tarpon Bridge
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodPrime

Season follows Curaçao: Curaçao lies south of the hurricane belt, so it stays diveable year-round; trade winds add light chop June–November.

Know before you go

  • The site is only diveable by boat when the sea is very calm; on an exposed corner of coast, conditions can change during the dive.

Questions divers ask

When can you dive Tarpon Bridge?+

Only when the sea is very calm. The site sits around the corner from East Point and can be reached by boat alone, so operators run it on the days conditions allow.

How deep is the Tarpon Bridge formation?+

The bridge itself is at 20 metres and stands about 6 metres high. A large cavern sits shallower on the same dive, at 16 metres.

Sources

  1. Tarpon Bridge — Scubago
  2. Punt Canon — Scubago

More dive sites in Curaçao

Cave & cavern

A shallow air-filled cavern next to Mushroom Forest

to 5 mbeginner

A shallow bay reef with 11 metres of water at most

to 11 mbeginner

Artificial reef

A wreck and a platform on sand, 15 metres at most

to 15 mbeginner

Star coral grown over centuries into mushroom-shaped heads

10–30 mintermediate

Sand-beach entry onto a reef that slopes past 30 m

5–30 mintermediate

A cliff-walled cove with an inner and an outer reef

to 30 mintermediate

Two parallel reef lines with a valley between them

to 30 mintermediate

A 50 m freighter upright at the harbour mouth, dived from shore

22–30 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

Reef

Lighthouse Reef

Cayman Brac · Cayman Islands

An inner reef cut by multiple swim-throughs

6–15 mintermediate

Reef

Forest

Bonaire · Caribbean Netherlands

Black coral colonies and a cave at 23 metres

8–30 m · max 50 mintermediate

Reef

Painted Walls

RMS Rhone & Salt Island · British Virgin Islands

Sponge-painted canyons and an archway into a shallow pool

to 12 mbeginner

Reef

Palancar Caves

Cozumel · Mexico

A multi-level drift through tunnels in the deeper Palancar reef

18–30 mintermediate