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There's a special site on the West End of Curacao called Duane's Release. The story behind the name is about a diver named Duane Hendrix who loved Curacao, touched many lives, but died an untimely death.
He'd been coming to Sunset Waters and diving with Sunset Divers for years.
Duane wanted his ashes spread over the waters he loved to dive. So the people at the shop listened to the request and did one better: They found a unique unnamed site and put in a mooring ball. Then they took Duane's family out to the site, christened it and made it sacred by spreading Duane's ashes over it. Then they all went on a dive.
I recently dived Duane's Release, which is about a 10-minute boat ride from the dock, and the site is quintessentially West End Curacao. It's sandwiched between perennial favorites Radio City and Boca Holu, and has characteristics of both. Lush growth covers a gentle slope thick with sea rods, oversized orange elephant-ear sponges, star corals and gorgonians. The folds of the reef are filled with macro critters. We encountered octopus, arrow crabs, loads of Peterson shrimp in their corkscrew anemones, and several eels. Duane would've been thrilled to dive here over and over again. Fittingly, the site was prolific with angelfish. There was a slight current, so we drifted along as if carried by an unseen hand.
When you're in Curacao, be sure to explore this dive site as a tribute to a man whose short life impacted so many.
