By Janice Mucalov

“My plan is to start you with the sharks, then the stingrays, then the turtles,” explains our dive guide Aline van Kampen.

No, we’re not going to be fed to the sharks – we’re going to feed them. Right now at the Curaçao Sea Aquarium, this option doesn’t sound any more enticing.

Near Aruba in the Caribbean, the Dutch-influenced island of Curaçao is gaining a reputation for its superb snorkeling and scuba diving.

Built directly by the sea on a coral reef, the large aquarium is one of Curaçao’s finest attractions – and a place where you can safely interact with undersea critters, like swimming with dolphins and snorkeling with sea lions. As for feeding the sharks, the brochure for the aquarium’s Animal Encounters program assures you that this is where “your worst fear will become your most treasured memory.”
While snorkeling is an option, my companion (who is not a diver) and I choose the dive experience ($54 a person). Both divers and non-divers from age 12 and up can participate in this hand-feeding activity. We’re first given a 30-minute dive introduction and fish briefing. Then outfitted in scuba gear, with cans of sardines hanging from our vests, we sink down 12 feet to the sand and coral bottom.

Caressed by Sting Rays
As it turns out, it’s not the sharks you should worry about, but the stingrays.
“They won’t sting you,” Van Kampen had reassured us.

But knowing a person means food, they virtually swarm you as you enter the water. Two beautiful white creatures knock me over with their  wing-like fins. But I recover my balance, and the stingrays swim off as I start following Van Kampen to the shark area.

A wire mesh fence with a plexiglass wall separates you from the sharks. As instructed, we push our sardines through four-inch holes in the plexiglass. Immediately, several lemon and nurse sharks charge toward us and squish their faces against the holes.

Emboldened by now from my stingray escapade (and knowing I’m safe behind the plexiglass) I feel comfortable returning their stare. With my face against the plexiglass, I peer  inside the open jaws of lemon sharks. Nurse sharks suck up bait, and you can hear a funny whooshing sound as they inhale their food.

By now, I’m thoroughly enjoying communing with Curaçao’s marine life. We move on to stroke the soft underbellies of the stingrays as they nuzzle the fish from our hands. And we admire the giant turtles, as well as gentle “Herbie,” a goliath grouper fish 5 feet in length who loves to have his photo taken with swimmers.

Lodge
After visiting the aquarium, you’ll be keen for more underwater adventures such as the boat dive to the “Mushroom Forest.”

Considered a “World’s Best Dive” by Sport Diver magazine, the site is named for the star coral that have grown into tall mushroom-shaped domes. In between these giant coral clumps, you swim with squid, multi-hued parrotfish and schools of silvery barracuda.

What else to do in Curaçao?
Beaching, of course. Many of Curaçao’s beaches are a mixture of white sand and coral, so wearing water shoes is advisable. Near the island’s capital of Willemstad, beach clubs with seafront restaurants and palapas and lounge chairs for rent are popular. But with a car, you can also discover quiet, out-of-the-way places to soak up the sun.

Then there’s colonial Willemstad itself. A replica of downtown Amsterdam, all its roofs sport red tiles, and the shops and buildings are painted the colors of a rainbow. Stroll about the central harbor area and you see Fort Amsterdam, built in 1634.

Floating Market
Further along, you come across the floating market, where supply boats from Venezuela arrive daily to stock vendors’ stalls with fresh fish, fruits and vegetables.

At the covered old market, renovated to house local cuisine shops, you can try okra soup (made with okra, pork tail and salted fish), goat curry and funchi (a corn flour biscuit). The small Kura Hulanda Museum, which depicts the history of slavery on the island, is also worth a visit.

Reasonable Prices
Prices are currently reasonable (and cheaper than neighboring Aruba) –  dinners average $15; a guided Willemstad walking tour costs $15; and a café latte and toasted ham-and-cheese sandwich at the airport is a just $5. Now, before Curacao is really “discovered,” is a good time to visit.