Curacao | 🏛 Scuba Diving

Curaçao Snorkel: Tugboat Wreck & Director's Bay with Lunch

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Free cancellation

1/5

Duration5h

GroupUp to 10

LanguagesEN · NL +1

PickupAt your hotel

A Sunken Tugboat Covered in Coral Waits Just Offshore in Curaçao

You snorkel two reef sites off Curaçao's southeastern coast: a coral-covered tugboat wreck from the 1970s and Director's Bay, both in a former Shell bunker area now protected as a national park. Gear and lunch are included, and you finish with views of Beekenburg fortress from 1703. The whole trip runs a few hours, and you're back in Willemstad with time left in your day.

Step-by-step itinerary

Arrive at Tugboat beach
Snorkel around the tugboat wreck
Swim under the pier (the Cathedral)
Visit Director’s Bay for snorkeling
Swim back to Tugboat beach
Relax and enjoy a cold drink
View fortress Beekenburg and Quarantine building

The Experience

The tugboat sank in the 1970s and nobody's moved it since — which is exactly why it's become one of the best snorkel sites on the island. You head out from Willemstad to Caracasbay on the southeastern side, where an old Shell bunker bay turned national park now holds some of the clearest water and most crowded reefs you'll find. The boat ride itself is short, and when you drop anchor at Tugboat Beach, the wreck is right there, maybe thirty feet down, completely wrapped in coral and sponges. Schools of glassy sweepers live inside it. Yellow tail snappers circle the outside. It's the kind of spot where you can spend twenty minutes just floating above one spot and watching something new appear every few seconds.

The second stop is Director's Bay, which has its own story — the kind of thing your guide will tell you while you're gearing up. You swim back from there to Tugboat Beach, where the pace slows down. There's a cold drink waiting, a chance to sit on the sand and let your skin dry, and if you look up from your towel, you can see Beekenburg fortress from 1703 sitting on the ridge above you. The Quarantine building is there too, and the whole Spanish Water spreads out behind it. It's the kind of view that makes you realize you're not just in a tourist spot — you're in a place with actual history, and people who live here actually know it.

Snorkel gear is included, so you don't show up without fins and a mask and have to rent them at inflated prices. Lunch is part of the day too, which means you're not hunting for food between dives or eating something mediocre from a food truck. The whole thing moves at a pace that works whether you're a confident swimmer or someone who's never done this before — the reef doesn't care about your experience level, and neither does the boat crew. Groups stay small enough that you're not elbowing strangers for space at the wreck.

What’s included

Your day includes snorkel gear (mask, fins, snorkel), lunch, boat transport to Tugboat Beach and Director's Bay, and time to rest and take in the views of Beekenburg fortress and Spanish Water before heading back to Willemstad.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Scubaçao Diving Adventures

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Curaçao's reef without arranging your own boat, gear, or figuring out which beach to start from — the crew knows exactly where the wreck is and what's living in it, which saves you the trial-and-error part of snorkeling on your own.