Hello from Curacao

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Curacao

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Aug 6, 2013
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Hello! Have been lurking around here for some time now. You all seem like a friendly bunch of pool water lovers!
I live on the beautiful island of Curacao, which is right of the coast of Venezuela, near the equator and has been part of the Netherlands for a long time. Family consists of the hubby and me, our two kids, dogs and a cat. And my brother, his girlfriend and their 10 month old baby live with us too.

It has been decided by the majority of the family, we need a pool! We are currently still deciding on what type of pool. As we are near the equator, it's always warm, it is very dry here so no groundwater issues, you need a pick-axe to get even a plant in. This is probably better suited in another thread, though I couldn't really figure out where, for us is lots of factors to consider. To get you started, feel free to add / steer me in the right direction;

* Having a pool installed will not reflect in the homes equity, in the neighborhood we live in a pool is not desirable. Only for us.
* It will most likely be a DIY
* Liner kits are not available locally and everything will have to be shipped in.
* There are pool companies who do gunite, they are highly overpriced though. They don't sub out, they are jack of all trades. Offer maybe 1 year warranty on the shell.
* There are (since march) two dealers of fiberglass. IGUI (any experience anyone) and SanJuan
* You don't need any permits, can DIY all you want
* Oh yeah, tight budget

Other factors,
Being on an island water and electricity cost are killing. Any light will have to be LED or i'll only see $$ when the pool is lit up. We have a deep well and will use said water for the pool. Intend to use BBB method and ship in recommended test kit. In this climate, average day temp 28 Celsius, seawater / temp 27 Celsius, doesn't really cool off at night I guess we'll always be a at high risk for algae so I don't want to make it harder for us then it needs to be.

Right now leaning towards ordering a pool in a box kit and building a frame of wood and block. Sorta like here; wood-and-block-pool-t16712.html

Thanks for having me
 
I love Curacao! I worked on Cruise ships in the 90's and was there every Saturday for 9 months! Even went to your local water park with the rest of the crew when we stayed for a wet dock! I can't imagine not having a pool there!
 
Hi! Thanks for the welcome everyone!

@Vanessa; How great you got to enjoy here so often! We though, never got to see the water park. Must have been torn down somewhere before '06.

Butterfly! We sure have looked into solar! Since last year it is finally allowed by the local government, prices are still very high, its a new market with only two serious suppliers. We decided to wait it out for a little see where the market goes and if the prices drop a little in the coming years, and put in the pool first, my kids are 11 and 8 so now would be perfect for them.

My yard is still much of a construction site as we are still doing the house up and my hubby and I have a (small scale) landscaping company. Will snap you a shot later!
 
Ah yeah!

Got a quote from the SanJuan Fiberglass guy, it was even higher than I expected. It's over 1.5 * the cost of gunite :shock: And the gunite is all inclusive whereas the fiberglass is only the shell. No excavating, backfilling, no placing and no coping. Transportation is at least partially to blame for that I guess
 
Curacao said:
Ah yeah!

Got a quote from the SanJuan Fiberglass guy, it was even higher than I expected. It's over 1.5 * the cost of gunite :shock: And the gunite is all inclusive whereas the fiberglass is only the shell. No excavating, backfilling, no placing and no coping. Transportation is at least partially to blame for that I guess
Click to expand...

I have recently moved to Curacao and I am also looking to install a pool. Did you find anybody?
 
AndyWi said:
I have recently moved to Curacao and I am also looking to install a pool. Did you find anybody?
Click to expand...


I found a lot of someone's. Lots of wannabes and some actual pool builders.

Have decided though when I am ready to install to go for the Intelliflo as our electricity rates are even higher than Hawaii. Hawaii is at $0.28 we are between $0.38 and $0.48. (Depends on your usage, the more I use the higher the rates get. First 250 kWh is $0.38, between 250 and 350 kWh the rate is $0.43 and all kWh over 350 it's $0.48 a kWh.) Obviously I am in the highest scale. So I guess the Intelliflo will be worth the extra bucks.

Also because of pump time and the fact that we are in constant heat, humidity and full sun makes me lean more towards fiberglass as it is a non-porous surface. I could run the pump on a 6 hrs cycle and less chemicals as it is more difficult for the algae to adhere. And heck it's hot enough, don't want to spend all my time cleaning, want to enjoy the pool too!

That however leaves me with an inconvenience, there is only 2 fiberglass brands available, IGUI and SanJuan. Should be a no brainer, the SanJuan should definitely be the better choice. IGUi is relatively new I think, there is not much to find. The shells are made in Brazil and they have only a few models available here or anywhere. top of that I am not in love with the workmanship as they don't put a coping but the edge of the shell sort of 'rests' on the concrete deck. Check Iguicuracao on Facebook, if you see the pictures you'll know what i mean. They are priced very competitive though. Sanjuan is new to the island, when we spoke and they made a bid they didn't install yet on Curacao, however they do on our neighboring islands Bonaire and Aruba. So in order to see their work first hand I'd have to fly out there or wait till someone here bites the bullet. They have a warehouse in Miami so the shell of my choice could be here soon. The pictures look great though! And very expensive :shock:

And then there the part of me that still leans to doing DIY Vinyl like mentioned in my first post. All depends on how long my family has the patience to wait. Definitely have to save up some more if I want to go with SanJuan.

So yeah, for what I want with the pool I have more or less ruled out concrete. I enjoy reading all the gunite threads on here! Think I read most of 2013 threads… Obvious how I spend my evenings on the pool-less porch…. I love reading them all, I learn a lot, I'm totally in love with all the natural stone / masons work, but as it all has to be imported I have to say it's not for me…

Long story short, it could still go either way…

Did I mention importing my own Trilogy and doing a DIY? :hammer:

Happy new year everyone!
 
I checked out IGUI and I see what you mean: that is a very large lip on the pool. It would however seem to make for a pretty strong shell since most of the strength is in the lip of the pool shell. They do have a few examples of cantilever installs of the IGUI so it is doable but you would need a pretty big coping. If you are considering a DIY I do not know why you wouldn't consider a fiberglass DIY. I installed my own fiberglass pool and honestly I think a fiberglass DIY would be easier than a vinyl DIY. The dig is much more forgiving on a fiberglass install. Whatever you decide good luck and give us lots of pictures!
 

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Hi Keith, thanks for checking up on the IUGi. It's not only the big lip that worries me, I have no clue how the shell / color holds up in our weather. They give a 15 yr structural warranty but only 3 yr on the surface. I'd like it to still be pretty when the 3 years have passed. All their pool have a standard 1.4M (4.5 ft) depth. Up side though, as a launching promotion the install 'free of charge'. All together, I am not really in love with the product, yet. They have some sort of weird pump and filter thats included in the pool bid, but it sort of looks like an intex filter, ea it has a debris bag that you can rinse or machine wash.

As mentioned before, looking into importing my own Trilogy shell, like the Picasso model, still having trouble getting the import rates from customs, and not a clue on shipping. Whatever I choose needs to be shipped from Miami. I like the idea of a fiberglass install way better than I do a vinyl.
 
I found my install to be pretty straightforward. Dig a hole, level it out, drop in pool, plumb, backfill very carefully. I used sand backfill but have heard that gravel is virtually foolproof. If IGUI is offering all of that stuff with the shell then there is a cost associated with it. Perhaps you could tell them you only want the shell and delivery and see what the best price they can come up with for just that. And the coloration is gelcoated right into the pool shell so fading take quite a bit of time and I would guess it would fade fairly consistently over the whole shell so it might not be that noticeable but I cannot say with any experience since mine is white. I can say my sister has a blue fiberglass pool going on six years now (Viking brand) in constant sun with no fading.
 
@ Melt, we have most definitely considered to put up an AGP. I bought one of a second hand website (like Craigslist) for $150 the summer before last. It was a standard Intex easy set with one of the inflatable rings at the top. It was a disaster to keep clean and full, the kids jumped in over the edge thus letting water go out etcetera. Didn't take much time before I had to put multiple patches on the ring. Topped it back up with water, put chlorine, regular bleach and kept cycling the standard cartridge filter :shock: Obviously didn't go so well. Later on this forum i learned it wasn't entirely my fault but the Intex' are always under pumped / filtered and you are more or less set up to fail from the get go. When deciding to put up a new Intex' it would most def be one of the Ultra-Frame kind, eliminating the inflatable ring and hoping it wouldn't be all rusted in a few months. They sell this model: Intex 18ft x 52in Ultra-Frame Pool Package with 1,600 gph Sand Filter Pump. And only Intex is available. and only round. No such thing as Sharkline or Vogue or any other brand.

When deciding to put up an AGP it will only be to save up more and let the hubby and kids have a pool in the mean time. And gives me the opportunity to practise BBB :D
 
Hi curacao and AndyWi,
I have just discovered this forum. we are a german family (from bavaria) with two kids. last year we bought a house on this beautiful island. the house needs a lot of work and still has no pool. the next two weeks we'll stay on the island and check some poolbuilders. friends of us (also on cur) have built a salt water pool (instead of chemicals) -> wonderful! I think we will build a concret pool. do you know a poolbuilder you could recommend? best regards luckyjo
 
I know this is an old thread. Did you decide on anything? We buried an AGP and it's something you could sub out pretty easily. We bought a Radiant, which can be purchased online. I started a build thread recently & it's in my thread.

And I'm so jealous you live there. How amazing!
 
Hi,

justed joined as I have just build my own pool in Curacao.
Before I decided what I wanted I checked local builders and tried to figure out what is best.
Not sure why but prices for pools are outrageous.

I checked concrete ones , vinyl and the fiberglass ones, got pros and cons.
Fiberglass is not available with diving depth so that was not an option.

Concrete and Vinyl have pros and cons, Concrete is supposed to be stronger but I have seen that there are also maintenance (repaint) issues.
I decided to buy a vinyl one, ordered in the US and had it shipped.
Total costs were way lower than was offered for materials for a vinyl pool locally (that would be materials and install offered by a company).

Just finished it, got the water in and now am working on the balance of the water chemical.
I got a saltwater unit as that seems the best way (less chlorine).

Building is a challenge as this is new for me (reasonable handy with DIY projects).
Support from the supplier was pretty good once we established contact.
As it is new you don't have the margins available you can work with. So that takes extra time.
Digging proved to be the biggest issue, you need to have the right dimensions and the ground may be difficult (rocky).
Learned a lot and guess a next build would be faster as the guesswork took time ;)

What I did not really see upfront was the concrete that is required as a collar around the panels. This was a 1500$ extra cost. But got a truck in and it was done quickly.

Liner install was a breeze, it fits very good. Only thing was the vacuum pumping that was suggested , due to a cozy cove that was not possible (they suggested double sided tape but I don't think that would hold during filling).

Water temperature is 31 Celcius.
Got LED light (as for mentioned costs) and that works great too.

Very happy with the pool.

John
 
Hmm, replied earlier but don't see it.

Just finished my DIY pol in Curacao.
Inground , vinyl.

Ordered everything from US, margins by local suppliers are outrageous (just a couple of clicks in a screen to order).
Yes, you also should know what you need etc, but adding 50% of the costs (incl S&H to Curacao) to the bill is a bit odd.

So , did my homework and got it done.
Enjoying my saltwater pool , LED light etc.
Takes time as it is nw and you need to get information.
But certainly possible to do.

Ok, first will see whether this post sticks, then may add more later on.

John
 
Hi

Very nice to see members that live close to aruba,and know the struggle with water and electricity cost.

Hopefully in the future i can upgrade to a more permanent above ground pool.

Extra: JohnnyBe how was it doing a DYI pool??, easier doing vinyl liner or a gunite pool??
 

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