Directors Bay is located on the South East side of the island, close to Jan Thiel. With its beach full of coral stones and clear blue/turquoise water, already from the top of the parking space, you know you are in for a treat. As you stand a couple meters above the ocean, on the left you can see a bright big triangular shape going out from shore. This is a shallow (sandy) part where you will dive next to on your dive. To enter the beach, you must go down the stairs.
Metal poles to protect you from sharks
From the beach you can see a row of metal poles sticking out of the water. Many people think these are from an old dock. Actually, these are the remains of an old fence. Back in the days when Shell was still the owner of the refinery, the director had a fence build in for his wife so she could snorkel in this amazing bay without having to fear for sharks. These days, unfortunately, sharks are rarely seen.
“Directors Bay is one of my favorite diving spots”.
When you step off the beach into the water you can directly see the drop off. Directors bay has one of the shortest swim outs of the island. Not even 10 meters from the beach is the steep drop off that takes you 40+ meters deep. This is also one of the reasons a lot of freediving is happening only a couple meters from the beach.
You can dive towards the right side. This is normally a drift dive that lets you end up at the famous Tugboat. For now, I want to tell you more about the dive to the left.
What can you see during the dive?
Directly on the drop off you are often welcomed by some colorful seahorses. Often one, but sometimes also more. They come and go as they please. Often no longer there than a couple of weeks. Sometimes you also find some amazing frogfish right there, at the beginning of the dive. Both can also be found further out through the dive. Keep your eyes open.😉
As you follow the slope to the left, you will find the remains of the fence under water. This is directly your point of interest for finding your way back to the beach.
When you swim further you will find alternately strips of coral going into the deep with sandy bottom in between. Keep your eyes open for Barracuda’s, Lionfish and Scorpionfish.
About 10 to 15 minutes into the dive the reef will get steep next to you just like a wall. This beautiful wall of about 15 meters of length is full of sponges and fans. The wall starts at a depth of 5 meters and reaches to about 20 meters deep, where it will go deeper as a slope. This area is I think the most beautiful part of the dive. Not only are there often huge schools of fish in front of the wall, but on top of the wall it is full of life. The corals on top give shelter to thousands of tiny fish. Once I even found a small Pipefish here!
“What an amazing dive, with so many fish!”
After the wall you get to a gorgeous stretch of corals, plants (gorgonians) and sponges that go all the way around the corner of the triangle. On this part we have almost seen it all. From Sea Turtles, to different kind of Rays, Tuna’s and big schools of Bigeye Trevallies, Octopus, different Angelfish and many more.
Tip: The current on the tip of the triangle can sometimes be strong in either direction. Keep an eye on the plants (gorgonians) and sea fans to help you read the current.
Be careful with parking & valuables
Important to know is that the parking lot of Director’s Bay is not the safest place to park. Since it is a remote location, there is a risk of people smashing your window to look for valuables in your car. Due to this reason we recommend to not take anything with you what looks valuable and keep your car windows open while diving.
Do the dive yourself or ask Jan Thiel Diving for a guided dive, they will show the best spots!
Did you like this blog? See also the top 5 best shore dives on Curacao!