Black Sand Beach at Santa Cruz
Black Sand Beach, also known as Boca Santu Pretu & Playa Chikitu, is located inside the historic Santa Cruz Plantation where you can explore the 120 foot shipwreck of the Catherine while snorkeling or scuba diving.
Visit this truly “one of a kind” beach because Black Sand Beach is secluded and does not have white sand as most of the other beaches in Curaçao and thus the name Santu Pretu. (Literally translated, Santu Pretu means Black Sand.) Since the road to Boka Santu Pretu is closed, the beach is generally deserted.
Diving and Snorkeling the Black Sand Wreck
Lying upside down in 20 feet of water and surrounded by colonies of Garden eels, you will find the Black Sand Wreck nicely encrusted brain corals and sponges. The wreck is split in 2 and lies upside down with small areas that can be explored. Proceed across the sandy plateau after the wreck to finish the dive on the northern part of Mushroom Forest.
While in this area, we highly recommend a visit to the The Blue Room to snorkel or off gas before your next dive. Truly, the Blue Room is an essential experience and a must do activity when visiting Curaçao!
Dive Site Recommendations
- Dive Type: Boat / Shore
- Snorkel Site: Yes
- Experience Level: Open Water (Min)
- Depth: 20-120ft (6-36m)
Special Notes
Due to recreational & commercial boat traffic, an inflated surface marker buoy is mandatory when shore diving. Consult a GO WEST Diving for additional details, recommendations and to book a dive or snorkel trip.
Location of Black Sand Beach
Diving in Curaçao
We like to think there is no place in the world offering such great shore dives, boat dives or opportunities to enjoy the beauty of sea’s nature while snorkeling. But honestly, as you could imagine, we are a little biased.
So, we have compiled the Top 10 Reasons to Dive Curaçao from an international list of travel writers, bloggers and media outlets to help us out and provide you with a fantastic overview of our beautiful island, located in the heart of the Dutch Caribbean.
The Best Dive Sites on the Westside of Curaçao
The “Top Dive Sites of Eastern Curaçao” that are littered with wall dives, wreck dives, shore dives, and lush coral gardens. More importantly though, these sites have quickly become not only Curaçao icons, but also some of most sought after dives in the Caribbean. BUT there is another side to Curaçao that deserves exploring too. It is the West side, known to locals as “Banda Abou”.
So let’s dive into the Top 10 Dive Sites in Curaçao to give you a complete perspective on the world class diving that awaits you!
