AB for Tanks, gear, and maybe even a few AOW's?

[keesmon]

Good morning,
I'm planning our 4th trip to Bonaire, and this time there's a mix of 17 of us coming in July for my 50th Birthday.
Most are divers, but there's some non divers coming as well
We're looking to stay at a villa near Punt Vierkant.
Some of us are coming for 11 days, some for a week, some are diving air, some nitrox.
Some need gear, some don't
Some will dive 3-4 dives daily (me), while some are happy to do a dive every other day (my wife).
My kids and nephew will likely take their AOW while on the island.

In looking at some of the big shops, besides getting a 10th package for free, there doesn't seem to be much flexibility in their plans. Equipment rental seems pricy, and tank rental seems non flexible with consecutive day rules.

AB (according to their website) seems to be significantly cheaper than the others, both with gear and Nitrox and they don't have a consecutive day clause, which would allow divers like my wife to go dive every other day, without needing to pay for 11 days of unlimited tanks. They also claim to fill their tanks to 3200PSI, which would be a nice bonus if true.
The location of their drive through is close enough for me, so no need to have a shop with 7 locations on the island. They also seem to have a tank delivery service, which could come in helpful with such a crowd.
Get unlimited air at AB-Dive

Can anyone give me a first hand review of their service, specifically anyone who's used their dive school?

Also happy to hear if anyone has any other suggestions for a location south of Kralendijk that might fit the bill.

Thanks in advance,
Kees

 

[mbs]

Maybe you want to check with Dive Friends since they have a location now at Delfins (lighthouse pt)...

 

[GrafCanuck]

Consider hiring a private PADI instructor for the AOW. I did and it was FANtastic. Give Paul a shout though www.bonscuba.com a shout. May want to check at the Carib Inn for dive training and gear. (south of town and close to Divi) Also, I highly recommend any of the Dive Friends shops throughout the island.

 

[DustyC]

I pretty much universally suggest Dive Friends Bonaire. I've used them 3 times and love the flexibility of that many locations. They can arrange any classes you want easily. For the trip we just booked, we did consider going with AB because DFB is getting spendy. But at the end of the day, 8 locations and great history of good fills (Almost always north of 3100psi) consistent blend, and rarely having a bad o ring we decided that they were who we should use. Especially since they're a few doors down from us in Hamlet.

 

[egan25]

I usually stay in the Punt Viekant area and found AB to be pretty convenient and definitely the most affordable with little to no downside. There is a Dive Friends at the Delfins and Belmar that would be closest to you. I'm going back the end of Febuary and getting tanks from AB again, if you go this direction make sure to book it when you rent your truck to get an extra 10% off. The shop is close to Vandentwel grocery shop which we frequent often so for us it was usually "on our way". I can't vouch for their dive school, if you're needing those services Belmar or the shop at the Delfins may be better options. We had a new diver with us last year at she rented at Belmar as I have in the past, they definitely have the most convenient pick up spot for tanks and decent. I would check our the infrastructure at the Dek Fins I don't recall seeing a pier, Bel Mar has a nice pier for instruction. Hope this helps, if it's just tanks than I would definitely recommend this route, less sure when dive instruction is involved, a combo of both may be the best answer as we did last year. BTW, were all getting tanks at AB this coming year.

 

[keesmon]

Consider hiring a private PADI instructor for the AOW. I did and it was FANtastic. Give Paul a shout though www.bonscuba.com a shout. May want to check at the Carib Inn for dive training and gear. (south of town and close to Divi) Also, I highly recommend any of the Dive Friends shops throughout the island.

This is great. I'm actually gonna keep my two Jr. Open Water Divers away from their advanced certification, since it would only move them from 60ft to 75ft. Better for them to just get more dive experience.
My 22 year old nephew will get his AOW though and Paul sound like a great option for that.

 

[keesmon]

I usually stay in the Punt Viekant area and found AB to be pretty convenient and definitely the most affordable with little to no downside. There is a Dive Friends at the Delfins and Belmar that would be closest to you. I'm going back the end of Febuary and getting tanks from AB again, if you go this direction make sure to book it when you rent your truck to get an extra 10% off. The shop is close to Vandentwel grocery shop which we frequent often so for us it was usually "on our way". I can't vouch for their dive school, if you're needing those services Belmar or the shop at the Delfins may be better options. We had a new diver with us last year at she rented at Belmar as I have in the past, they definitely have the most convenient pick up spot for tanks and decent. I would check our the infrastructure at the Dek Fins I don't recall seeing a pier, Bel Mar has a nice pier for instruction. Hope this helps, if it's just tanks than I would definitely recommend this route, less sure when dive instruction is involved, a combo of both may be the best answer as we did last year. BTW, were all getting tanks at AB this coming year.

Thanks so much for the review. With their flexibility, AB dive center gives me by far the best value for what I'm looking for, with the wide variety of divers that I have. I'll look into a few options for my nephew, who is going to get his AOW while on island.