Shore Dive Experience Levels without Guide

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HoJam

Registered
Messages
17
Reaction score
5
Location
Toronto
# of dives
25 - 49
Hey Everyone,

My wife and I are planning a trip in the new year to go diving and Bonaire is at the top of our list. Doing a drive and dive seems ideal to both of us, however I'm just curious of what skill level you should have to do this without a dive master/guide? I've have approx 50 dives under my belt, however my wife just started diving last year and has about 14 dives. We are both physically fit, and she's a paramedic back home. What are, if any, the main challenges of shore diving in Bonaire and should we have any reason NOT to do the shore dives without a guide. Any thoughts and or opinions are welcome!

Thanks
JH
 
Hello JH. You and your wife seem like excellent candidates to have a wonderful shore diving vacation in Bonaire. My wife and I align with your profile though with a bit more diving experience, and we went to Bonaire last year and had such a blast we've decided to make it an annual trip. We didn't use a guide or DM at all, and that's standard for most people. I'm aware of a couple guides, but it seems like they mostly do trips to the rougher east side of the island and not the protected west side, where most diving takes place.

To directly answer your question, the only challenge we found was getting in and out of the water, because the footing can be tricky, you're wearing a lot of gear, and you don't want to fall. Our approach was to take it slow, hold hands for balance, keep the reg in and mask on in case of a fall, and swim as soon as the water was deep enough. There are some sites that are more difficult to enter/exit than others, but if you're both physically fit, you should be able to do this no problem. We saw many older, not physically fit folks doing it and not having too much difficulty. Rent a truck and tanks, then just drive around and dive where you want. It really is that simple.

From another thread here I just discovered this Reef Smart guide book. I bought the Kindle version and liked it so much I bought the hard copy. This is far better than the other guide book we used last time. Especially with this book, I don't think there's any need for a guide for the dives on the west side of the island.

Peter
 
Hello JH. You and your wife seem like excellent candidates to have a wonderful shore diving vacation in Bonaire. My wife and I align with your profile though with a bit more diving experience, and we went to Bonaire last year and had such a blast we've decided to make it an annual trip. We didn't use a guide or DM at all, and that's standard for most people. I'm aware of a couple guides, but it seems like they mostly do trips to the rougher east side of the island and not the protected west side, where most diving takes place.

To directly answer your question, the only challenge we found was getting in and out of the water, because the footing can be tricky, you're wearing a lot of gear, and you don't want to fall. Our approach was to take it slow, hold hands for balance, keep the reg in and mask on in case of a fall, and swim as soon as the water was deep enough. There are some sites that are more difficult to enter/exit than others, but if you're both physically fit, you should be able to do this no problem. We saw many older, not physically fit folks doing it and not having too much difficulty. Rent a truck and tanks, then just drive around and dive where you want. It really is that simple.

From another thread here I just discovered this Reef Smart guide book. I bought the Kindle version and liked it so much I bought the hard copy. This is far better than the other guide book we used last time. Especially with this book, I don't think there's any need for a guide for the dives on the west side of the island.

Peter

Awesome! Thanks for the great feedback Peter! That sounds amazing, and we're looking forward to it for sure! Also, I will definitely check out the Reef Smart Guide Book! Thanks for the great suggestion!

Jason
 
Do you need a guide to do shore dives in Bonaire. No, at least not on the west side of the island.

Agree with the entry/exit challenges. Watch other divers before going in and take your time. Shouldn't be an issue with the majority of sites. Just make sure you both have hard sole dive booties. This is a MUST.

I've been to Bonaire twice in the past 12 months. Both were wonderful vacation and dive experiences. My wife isn't a diver but loves walking into town for her early morning gelato at GIOs. This past April I hired an instructor to get my AOW. I had a fantastic experience and must admit it worked out real well to have a PADI instructor / guide. Check out Paul at www.bonscuba.com.

Can't wait to get back to Bonaire in early 2020.

Cheers
Darrell
 
Do you need a guide to do shore dives in Bonaire. No, at least not on the west side of the island.

Agree with the entry/exit challenges. Watch other divers before going in and take your time. Shouldn't be an issue with the majority of sites. Just make sure you both have hard sole dive booties. This is a MUST.

I've been to Bonaire twice in the past 12 months. Both were wonderful vacation and dive experience. My wife isn't a diver but loves walking into town for early morning gelato and GIOs. This past April I hired an instructor to get my AOW. I had a fantastic experience and must admit it worked out real well to have a PADI instructor / guide. Check out Paul at www.bonscuba.com.

Can't wait to get back to Bonaire in early 2020.

Cheers
Darrell

There is NEVER a bad time for Gelato! And thanks for the tip about the hard sole booties! I've noted that down!
Thanks Darrell!
Jason
 
Agree with the entry/exit challenges. Watch other divers before going in and take your time. Shouldn't be an issue with the majority of sites. Just make sure you both have hard sole dive booties. This is a MUST.

Darrell is spot on here and this should be emphasized. These are not sandy entries; they're broken coral or ironshore and very sharp. You need good protection for your feet, and you don't want to fall.

Some entries have more surf than others or a more difficult path to get in/out, and we avoided those. My wife isn't a risk-taker when it comes to things like that, and we were able to find plenty of dive sites that were within her comfort zone.
 
What are, if any, the main challenges of shore diving in Bonaire and should we have any reason NOT to do the shore dives without a guide. Any thoughts and or opinions are welcome!

The actual diving is dead simple - it really is the getting in and out of the water that takes some getting used to.

1) At each new site get in and out without gear first. Find the spot that works for you.
2) Get some thick soled boots, ideally with some ankle support.
3) Go slow and stay low enough that when you do bail - and you will - the fall isn't so bad.
4) Find a way to protect your hands for the entry/exit.
5) If you have a prescription mask have a plan to keep it defogged and on during entry/exit - you need to see where you step.
6) Beware of holes - keep your weight on your planted foot until you find the next step.
 
I'm old, and just returned from 2 weeks on bon, shore diving with my young daughter.

I avoid the more difficult entries/dives where I once didn't hesitate. Think the way-south sites, red slave, lighthouse point, and sites where you have to climb down (Tolo comes to mind, though I do it anyway because it is so darn good).

a couple of rules for us:

1. hard soles, as already noted.
2. If it looks too rough, it's probably too rough. Go elsewhere. You can almost always find a spot that is in the lee. If you can't then it is a good time for gelato, or a nap. It's not worth getting hurt and ruining the trip. The area by the airport runway is almost always calm. And there's a burger truck handy.
3. I always do a "dry-run" entry without gear if it's a new-to-us site so I can find any trip-and-fall hazards the easy way. And I get to cool off.

We started going to bon in the early 90's when our daughters where 12ish and newly certified. Never had a DM, and dove all over the west side.
 
you see some themes developing here...

A couple more things:

Take water to drink and a couple of empty bottles refilled and left to warm in the truck bed so you can rinse off.

Leave the truck windows down when parked at dive sites, don't leave anything of value in the truck.

If you go way-north the road turns to one-way just past 1000 steps and stays one-way until Karpata dive site. Take a load of tanks and a picnic lunch and make a day out of it if you go. We go north to Nukove, dive there, then back to candyland, dive there, then back to Karpata and dive a third tank. Then return via Rincon. Maybe drive up to Seru Largu for the view and apres dive beers.
 
I'll just add some tips. I went down early in the week at Angel City (stepped in a hole) and sliced my shin pretty good so the rest of the week I was more selective on entries.
To start with and get accustomed, dive a few1 of the resorts. Arguably one of the best dives is Bari Reef and they have stairs. Enter from Den Laman condos, there's a Dive Friends shop there. If the water level is just under the dock you can also GS off the end but the sides are about 3' deep.

Just north of it is Capt' Dons - from their dive dock you can access Clifff to the north and the LaMachaca wreck on the same dive. It's a lot easier to pay their $5 and go in there than at DFB on the north side of Cliff which is over boulders. Buddy Dive has a nice dock entry also. At most resorts diving is free, just tell them you're there - and rent a tank from them?

If you feel llike walking down 1000 Steps (there's 64 of them) it's an easy beach entry in some spots. Of course Both "Leaps" are easy to get in and have a ladder to get out.

We walked in at Witches Hut but the tide was in so it was a steep 4' drop to a sandy bottom. At Bachelor's Beach south, if the tide is out, you step off the ladder onto the sand, if in, just drop into the water.

Windsock is a walk in off the a flat beach, maybe the easiest one there.

The sites near the Hooker tend to be rockier entries.

There's an exposed concrete slab at Salt Pier that's an easy entry point but we just went in between the parking area and the pier itself and were floating b4 we hit the ironshore.

Good advice above to look around at the south sites b4 entry - at some divers have piled up small piles of coral rubble to indicate a good entry point.

At some there's sort of an ironshore shelf that extends off the beach, it's slippery and sometimes ends in the surf - step off it into 3-4'.

The other thing to look for is there are sandy beach incursions at some sites that extend out into deeper water. They shift with the tides but here's one example. My buddy thought Vista Blue was among the best dives we did. Here's the entry there - http://shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/BonaireS/Vista_Blue/c004508.jpg

Invisibles is also thought of highly.

I'd personally also do some boat dives. You can't dive Rappel any other way and 4-5 divers on our boat asked for it. Also IMO one of the best dives we did was Forest off Klein Bonaire - there's a forest of Black Coral at depth there.

Heed the warnings about leaving nothing in the truck you want to keep. It's such a small dive area that you will usually go by your resort more than once per day, ours was in Belnem on the main road so we left everything there and stopped between dive sets. You will find that if you do 2 south then 2 north - there's your surface interval.

Food we liked - It Rains Fishes and Donna/Giorgio's. rumrunners at Habitat was OK food - tables near the water look down on the Tarpon feeding in the lights. Service is really slow and you may have to ask for the check more than once - you're their guest and can stay as long as you want,

Make some provision to carry a phone - 90% of the dive sites have NO facilities, Take it with you, the kids are amrter than you about hiding places - and may be watching from the bushes.

Last tip, the south sites are flat with no distinguishable features - especially from the water. If you can, park the truck behind your entry point. There are some "riparian" areas they don't want you to drive thru also though.

Old info but there's some good site photos here - Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands
 
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