Boat diving at Buddy Dive, is it worth it?

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Scoooter961

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Location
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Headed to buddy dive this summer and am trying to decide if the boat dives are worth it or if we should just do all shore diving? Do the boats usually go places that can't be reached from shore?
 
First time on Bonaire you don't need to do boat dives plenty of shore accessible dives. Maybe throw in a day or two to get over to Klein, or some of the non shore dives up north. But you could easily save them for the next trip.
 
Headed to buddy dive this summer and am trying to decide if the boat dives are worth it or if we should just do all shore diving? Do the boats usually go places that can't be reached from shore?
Where they go is determined by a negotiation between the passengers and the crew. Talk to the crew in advance and make your preferences known. Some of the boat-only sites are very good.
 
Headed to buddy dive this summer and am trying to decide if the boat dives are worth it or if we should just do all shore diving? Do the boats usually go places that can't be reached from shore?
I am looking forward to my eighth Bonaire trip, and my wife and I resolved that we are FINALLY going to try some boat dives, particularly to Klein Bonaire, where we have never dived. There are SO many shore dive sites on Bonaire that one could easily make a dozen trips without feeling a boat dive might be a nice addition. We would be just as happy not doing any boat dives, but we feel we ought to mix things up a bit. If this is your first trip, I recommend you do as many shore dives as possible to maximize the kind of diving Bonaire is world-famous for, and save boat dives for a future trip. Bonaire is the kind of place you will return to, possibly again and again.
 
We take some boat dives everytime we visit. We stay at Den Laman and the Dive Friends boats pick up at their pier. There are some very good dives off Klein Bonaire and some excellent dives of the 8 or 9 up north that are generally not accessible from shore. Dive Friends only does boat dives at sites that can't be shore dived. I don't know about Buddy's.
 
Depends on the captain and DM. Some trips, the boats have only gone to sites not otherwise accessible, other times a mix, and occasionally one runs into a lazy crew who just seem to go to the closest spots.

I personally like to do a mix of shore and boat dives. As I age, more boat than shore.
What is definitely worth it is a boat dive trip on the east side. Different geography, more turtles, tarpon, and a very occasional pelagic.
 
Of course boat dives are "worth it," but the question, as I see it, is whether to wait until you have had your fill of shore diving or to go for it earlier. I really don't enjoy boat diving as much as shore diving, which is why I prefer Bonaire over other Caribbean destinations. I dislike being a slave to a boat's schedule, as I have to do almost everywhere else in the tropical world. In my mind, nothing compares to the freedom of Bonaire shore diving--the shore lined with well-marked dive sites and their parking areas, the drive-through tank stations, and so forth. It's almost grudgingly that I'm finally going to do some boat dives this next trip. And I'm sure I will say it was worth it. I might even wonder why I waited so long. But the siren song of the shore diving is hard for me to resist.
 
Absolutely worth it. Ask for sites only accessible by boat. I like the shorediving, but some of the entrys are pretty tricky when carrying a large camera and lugging the gear around for 4 shore dives a day gets old. I love the ease of boat-diving in between.
 
I second the its a good change of pace. The only thing that can be annoying is when you go to the easy shore dive sites (one time I got drug to bachelors beach). But as previous folks mentioned - you can have a negotiation with the Captain.

I dont remember the name of the sites, but Klein was a very nice dive on every dive I did there.

I cant remember if Buddy Dive is two or one tank dives - I actually like one tank dives you go out and come back quick so you can hop in the car and catch another dive by driving.
 

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