Boat dive package in Bonaire

[HippiDiver]

Hello!
Does anyone know of any boat diving packages available in Bonaire. I’m planning a trip there early next year but keep hitting a dead end when it comes to finding diving. Hope you can help!

 

[scubadada]

Try Dive Friends. They have 2 tank boat dives every morning, I believe 1 tankers some afternoons if enough people. Where are you staying? I know they leave from Sand Dollar/Den Laman Pier. I think they also leave from Yellow Submarine and Port Bonaire. They have 7 sites for tank pick up and drop offl

 

[arew+4]

Ala cart boat dives with Dive Friends are very reasonablely priced as an ad on.

Also, where are you staying? Resort, Condo, single house?

 

[Doctorfish]

IMO, the boat dives are no better than the shore diving. If you do not have age or physical constraints to diving from shore, that is the only way many people dive Bonaire. I'm older and lazy so I do half and half.

 

[tursiops]

IMO, the boat dives are no better than the shore diving. If you do not have age or physical constraints to diving from shore, that is the only way many people dive Bonaire. I'm older and lazy so I do half and half.

There is no shore dive like Rappel, which is boat-only. There is no shore dive like Ebo's Special, on Klein. There are many good shore dives, but if you do shore-only, you are missing some really good and different dives. Not to mention boat dives are easier, especially if you have a big camera.

 

[drrich2]

I did a guided east coast shore dive at Cai with Bas Tol of BasDiving.com; there's also Bonaire East Coast Diving, if you want to boat dive the east coast (which I have not done). In my very limited east coast experience, east coast diving is far different from the mainstream west coast diving, to the point it's like a different destination. You might want to spend a day trying it out.

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

When I was on Bonaire, the last two weeks of August, boats were not going to the 8 northern sites not accessible from shore that they usually visit, La Dania's Leap, Rappel, Bloodlet, Country Garden, Bon Bini Na Cas, Kalli's Reef, Barkadera, and Small Wall. La Dania's Leap and Karpata were closed due to possible SCTLD. Boats were not visiting the other sites as a precaution.

I have not heard any follow up on this topic since the end of August. The accuracy of identification of SCTLD has been questioned Has SCTLD Been Identified on Bonaire?

 

[living4experiences]

Divi Flamingo has a dive and stay package. I really liked the setup. There's an onsite dive shop and the diving is all by boat.

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Divi Flamingo has a dive and stay package. I really liked the setup. There's an onsite dive shop and the diving is all by boat.

Divi has multiple boats (up to 5?) and normally does a 2 tank shortish (45 minute) dives in the morning and a 1 hour dive in the afternoon.

There are tanks available in a hut in the parking lot if you want to toss some in a vehicle and dive elsewhere. Tanks are also available 24 hours a day on the dock.

 

[scubadada]

Divi has multiple boats (up to 5?) and normally does a 2 tank shortish (45 minute) dives in the morning...

Morning boat dives with Dive Friends from Sand Dollar/Den Laman pier, August 18-29, averaged 70 minutes for me (59-83 min).

The stated dive time for the group is an hour. I am generally one of the first in and one of the last out. Most of the divers congregate on the surface on the tag line and descend as a group with the guide. You may descend immediately and join the group later. I generally get in at least 5-10 min of dive time before the group descends. The time alone is generally very nice.

Doing quite a bit of boat diving in SE FL, I find the prices for boat diving in Bonaire fairly inexpensive. I pay around $100 for a 2 tank trip in FL. As part of an unlimited shore diving package, a 2 tank boat dive with Dive Friends is about $55, added onto a shore diviing package it is $60.