Bonaire Trip Report & First Photos - Sand Dollar & BDA

[Randallr]

I just returned from a week in Bonaire, diving with a fine group of men and women through Aquatrax in New York, with whom I linked up via New York Sea Gypsies. The tour leader was David Tilzer, and I can't say enough good things about him and the friends and motley divers who made up our crew of 9. They were low-key, low-pressure, giving, and considerate. Ever since my first trip to Bonaire three years ago, where I was a solo boat diver, I'd wanted to go back with other people to try the vaunted shore diving. This was a great, small group with which to do that.

We stayed at Sand Dollar, in one of the rental condos. I was in a two-bedroom, with me (paying extra) in the single room with bath, and two other gents sharing the double and the other bath. The unit was well-appointed, the kitchen had everything we needed (including a dishwasher). The screened porch allowed a great cross-breeze. The included wifi worked very well. There were plenty of outlets for charging our many batteries. My only complaints: There was no hot water at all after the first day; and the unit was cleaned only three times during the week - and three divers can mess a place up a lot quicker than that. Also notable: The on-premises restaurant, a Peruvian place, is quite good, with a lot of variety, including excellent ceviche.

We dove with Bonaire Dive & Adventure, established many years ago by Andre Nahr. It's a small operation, certainly not luxe but nicely run. We did a one-tank boat dive each morning, mostly off Klein Bonaire, and then were left on our own to do our thing. Most of us would follow the boat dive with a dive on the house reef, Bari's Reef. Then after lunch a subset of us would do a shore dive somewhere on the island. And as often as not, several of us would do another dive on Bari's Reef, either twilight or night. The facilities and tanks were available 24/7, under lock and key. Nitrox was included. Because the resort is small, it was very easy and comfortable to dive, dive, dive. The boat divemasters, Sam and Percy, were excellent guides and handlers. Only complaint: Andre gave a nearly TWO-HOUR briefing the first morning on BDA's dive operations, Bonaire, Bonaire restaurants, etc. It was, ahem, more than was necessary. But all in all, we were in calm, safe, considerate, expert hands.

Now the downside: After two trips to Bonaire in three years, I just gotta say, I find the diving underwhelming. The reefs are in good shape, there are far fewer lionfish than in 2011 thanks to a successful eradication program, etc., etc. - but the diving just isn't that interesting. Among our nine divers in a week, I think we saw one small turtle, one octopus, no sharks, one crab, hardly any gray angelfish... Basically, Bonaire is like diving in an aquarium of small reef fish. That's okay, but I was hoping for more marine diversity, more invertebrates, more macro opportunities. And, well, there wasn't much. I loved the shore diving; it's an exciting and interesting way to visit the undersea environment. But compared with, say, Saba, or Cozumel, or even the Boynton Beach area in Florida, Bonaire for me has lacked the topographical interest and diversity I love.

I know what I'm saying is heresy, so I'd be really interested in others' thoughts and reactions. No need to be kind to me - tell me what to do the next time I go.

For me, this trip was all about photography. I've been diving with an Olympus XZ-1 for about two years now, and recently added a second strobe, a Sea & Sea YS-D1 to buttress my Olympus UFL-1, which I'm now using for fill. The Bonaire trip was the first time I was shooting with the strobes entirely in manual. There was a fair amount of trial and error, and a lot of ugly results. But I ended up with a handful of shots I really like, and I'm still spending some Lightroom time working on others. I'm interested in any critiques you may care to share.

 

[diverjen]

Thanks for your report and photos! I am excited for our upcoming trip, my husband is also trying out his new camera setups for this one. We are pretty new divers still, but did one week before diving on Bonaire at Sand Dollar and BDA and really enjoyed it. We are at Bamboo Bali this time but still diving with BDA (Hubby wanted something a bit more romantic for our 10 year anniversary).

Just meandering thoughts on the whole Bonaire diving thoughts....
I think that obviously Bonaire is not for everyone and probably not a one stop diving destination for anybody. We are reef and fish people and like easy, shallow diving, and lots of it. It's also pretty economical (if you look at total cost per dive and you want a lot of dives) compared to pretty much anywhere but Coz for us anyhow. We do miss the turtles and rays we have seen elsewhere. We are hoping to do a "big" dive trip next time, but we really enjoy being on our own schedule and not having to deal with other people or their schedules. That's why I think Bonaire was so great for us before and hopefully will be great this time. I think this is obviously not a "big animal" destination and not a challenging dive destination ( which definitely has it perks in terms of encounters). I guess from what I have heard that in the Caribbean Little Cayman, T&C (especially Liveaboard), Belize (especially Liveaboard) are all going to get you more quality/variety in your dives, but also per dive are much more expensive. I feel like Coz and Bonaire are totally different from each other in terms of type of diving/vacation even though for us the budget would be about the same. I guess everyone just has to look at their expectations and budget and decide what they want in the next dive trip, etc.

 

[cdnfireman]

agree that maybe its not a " big animal" dive location.....buuuuut.....I was there last week and logged 19 dives and I saw every animal I think but frogfish and sea horse.....so....suppose its what your looking for......https://www.facebook.com/gregg.bedford/media_set?set=a.10153993346550414.1073741861.883530413&type=3

 

[Doctorfish]

Not sure I agree with Randallr. We find Bonaire to have a lot of small creatures and lots of macro opportunities.
Some sites, like Salt Pier and Something Special seem to have a macro creature in every hole.
At night, on Bari Reef, we consistently see free swimming eels, crabs, octopus and more.

If you want large, go elsewhere because you will be disappointed

 

[wwguy]

Great trip report and photos. Thanks for sharing!

I agree that the diving can be "predictable" compared to some other dive destinations, but that also means predictable winds, seas, and biodiversity. I'm sorry to read of your disappointment in variety of marine life. Your experience was quite different than our typical trips. On our last visit in January we observed hawksbill and green turtles at several sites, including repeat sightings on multiple dives at Bari Reef, The Cliff, and Petri's Pillar. We also saw a couple of octopus, several curious schools of squid, several stingrays, several eagle rays, schools of large tarpon, great barracuda, a large free-swimming green moray eel, and some passing dolphins. Last year we were also fortunate to enjoy an interactive encounter with a manta ray. It's also very exciting to see the return of giant sea fans, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral after they disappeared for several years due heavy storm damage. But I think the perennial favorite for us is discovering the tiny camouflaged creatures on our own. Over the years we've discovered many differently colored and sized frogfish and seahorses on our own. Every one of them has a special treasured place in our memory.

For us the whole "diving freedom" thing is the primary reason we return to Bonaire year after year. There's nowhere else in the Caribbean, and perhaps in the world, where we can enjoy so many dive sites at our own pace and schedule without need for dive guides or boats. I've enjoyed 150 hours of Bonaire bottom time since I was last on a dive boat there. At $160/week for unlimited nitrox the price of diving is affordable too. Combined with cooking our own meals, this allows us to budget for more time on the island. Two or three weeks is plenty of time to slow our diving pace and look around a little more carefully both above and below water. At 75 minutes per dive, 2 or occasionally 3 dives a day is plenty for us.

I don't know you or your diving style, other than what you've shared here, so I'm hard-pressed to offer suggestions how you might enjoy Bonaire differently. It might be that Bonaire just isn't the ideal dive destination for your personal preferences. But I like that you're already thinking about returning!

:uwphotographer:

 

[diverjen]

I guess we must have been lucky to see all kinds of small stuff (frogfish included!) during our 5 days of diving there. Next time we will try for seahorses! I found that doing the dive with the naturalist really helped me a lot to spot macro things, since you kind of know the behaviors, you have better intuition about where to look for certain things. Oh and we definitely saw turtles there (everything after Akumal just kinda makes turtles elsewhere a let down), just not rays - next time perhaps...

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Very nice report with just the necessary information and no BS. From this review (as well as a few other ones) it is a nice place for the quantity of dives possible and the freedom to dive anytime anywhere. As for the actual experience under the water, there seem to be better options out there. It was the third destination on my "dives to do list" but after this review it is now the fourth.

1) Utila (this weekend)
2) Saba (End of the year)
3) Cozumel (early next year) -
4) Bonaire

What lens were you using for your macro shots? Nice pics.

 

[drrich2]

Critical reviews are good; they help keep expectations balanced and realistic, to help people who'd be happier elsewhere go elsewhere, and to help people enjoy a destination for what it is, not to be disappointed because of what it is not.

I've been to Bonaire 7 times, a week each, have well over 100 dives there, and my experience is:

1.) In a week's diving, close to 20 dives, I might see 0 - 3 octopi. 1 or 2 in the week is likely. For squid, maybe none, maybe 3 or 4 little ones on one dive.

2.) Don't think I've ever seen a Grey Angelfish in Bonaire. Lots of French, quite a few Queens, quite a few Rock Beauties, but no Greys.

3.) I haven't seen a shark in Bonaire. Other fish I've seen in either Florida or the Caribbean but not Bonaire include hogfish (but Bonaire has lots of Spanish Hogfish) and Porkfish. No 'big' (e.g.: not counting graysbys and conies) grouper except Tiger Grouper.

4.) In a week of diving, I might see 1 or 2 stingrays. Of the few I've seen there, I think 1 was not a Spotted Eagle Ray. None let me get close.

5.) In a week, I might see 2 to 5 sea turtles, most about the size of a pizza pan or garbage can lid, but a minority are big. All greens and hawksbills; I've heard loggerheads occur there, but I don't think I've laid eyes on a loggerhead yet anywhere I've dove.

If you want fishy, with some more big stuff, grey angelfish and to get in a lot of diving, you might would have enjoyed my week in Key Largo diving with Rainbow Reef Dive Center last September. Did 20 dives in 5 days. Saw Black Grouper, Goliath Grouper, Reef Sharks, big Great Barracuda, more big Green Morays, a number of Southern or Ridgeback Stingrays, and plenty of Moon Jellyfish (dodging them to get back on board).

I am a Bonaire Bigot. I also loved Key Largo. When planning a trip, I consider what I want for that trip. Right now, I'm hoping to someday get to dive off Jupiter, Florida to see big stuff drift diving. Which is way different from Bonaire.

Richard.

 

[deeper thoughts]

very nice and thnx for sharing. Diving all the time here in the Keys, I am a bit spoiled with the amount of fish we have. That being said we did enjoy Bonaire

 

[Randallr]

Wow! What a helpful, substantive conversation. I really want to thank you all, because it's actually given me a bit of a new perspective. You're right: the freedom and variety of Bonaire shore-diving adds a very different qualitative dimension to the experience. I'm looking or excuses to go back, and you all have given me some. (That said, I'm going to Saba in July - to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my certification there! - and Boynton Beach/Blue Heron Bridge in August.)

Sinbad, for the most part these shots were all taken with the Olympus XZ-1's built in lens; it's a compact wit a very fast (f1.8) lens that's fantastic at close focusing. I think on a few of them, I might have had 67mm diopter wet lens attached to the housing, but I'm not sure. The XZ-1 isn't the ideal underwater compact; it's view screen isn't bright enough, it refuses to do a one-stop white balance below 20', and it's very finicky in terms of TTL compatibility with various strobes. But its lens is terrific, and has enabled me (a rank amateur) to walk away with some lovely shots.

Thanks again, everyone, for your thoughtful comments.