1st trip to Bonaire! Lots of questions.

[Manneca]

Back in the day (before BCDs), I used tennis shoes to get down into the water and then took them off and put on my fins. I have a Nikonos photo of my ex with his tennis shoes tied to his backplate (we had no idea we were so far ahead of the curve). I can't get thick soled boots into my fins.

Have a great time.

 

[phelana]

Hello! I just bought tickets to Bonaire!!! It sounds incredible - we are going next month for a week! I really need advice though. I'm taking my 11 year old daughter, who will be getting her OW locally right before we go. She loves swimming and fish and did a scuba camp last summer and really liked it. Otherwise she's really only snorkeled a few times and did alright. I have 100+ dives myself, but only a handful in the last 15 years. I'm excited but nervous having her as a dive buddy, and definitely want a guide/instructor with us on our first few dives, at least. Then I think we'll be ok with small groups or easy shallow dives on our own, or just snorkeling. I'm nervous about our ears. Last year I messed up my ears and had to abort a trip. And she has complaints after a lot of swimming.

*What dive shop should we use for personal attention and small groups ?

*Where should we stay? Do we choose a resort that has a good house reef? Or how important is it having easy access? We basically just want a safe quiet room with a pool, frig and microwave. Walking distance to a grocery or restaurants would be helpful. And my daughter would really love it if pets or friendly animals or kids were on site.

*Am I ok not renting a truck/car? Since we're diving most days with a guide can they get us where we want to go? Or, should I rent for a couple days on non diving days? Or just take taxis? Is a car ok for basic sightseeing like to the donkey sanctuary? We'd also like to do the cave snorkel, and/or kayak, but I think they will do a pick up for those.

Originally I was thinking Carib Inn, for the lodging and shop. But I am also considering splitting the week between either of these 2 hotels, (or a whole other place altogether?) one a cheaper, nice small boutique hotel a couple blocks from the water, which has a great breakfast and pool, or else the Marriott for points. Both seem close enough to Dive Friends which I hear is really good also. There's a discount through Expedia for these rooms, it would save a bit a night over the other lodging I've looked at. It's also a nice splurgey bed and tv and fancy pool, my daughters's dream vacation, for our first and last nights, plus we'll get points. Is it silly to change hotels when we're only there for a week? I figure it sorta makes it 2 vacations before we have to get back to our busy, real lives.

As for equipment, we have snorkel gear and will upgrade to scuba. She needs fins for her class and good booties for this trip. My fins don't fit booties so I need new ones too, plus the booties. We currently wear the same size shoes but she's definitely growing. Whatever we buy now will only fit for this year (Except the boots which could be handed down to me). She needs a wetsuit and rash guard. So should we buy quality or cheap equipment, or rent, or is there used gear anywhere. I'm starting to feel broke already, not even considering other gear. Maybe dive lights?

Would love your recommendations and advice. Are there any other tips for this first time to bonaire, and/or to a new (hopefully lifelong) diver?

Thanks so much! D

For a first timer, I recommend a hotel or condo property so you have the comfort and provision of on site management and concierge.

Dine around, experience our cuisine. On off dive days, explore the park, Rincon, The Bonaire Botanical Garden, Arletta's Goat Farm, the Donkey Sanctuary, Mangroves...so in short, yes, rent a truck for sure. The price is around 300.00. Use a reputable car rental agency.

For me, VIP is the best dive shop on island. You can dive here and stay at many properties. Most of our diver properties have self-catering options which is very much recommended. If you need personalized travel planning, do send me an email at ann@bonairecaribbean.com

Welcome soon

 

[oldschoolto]

What Annie said.... ^^^^^ She has been on the island for years and knows all the places to see and eat at.. A wonderful person that would be a big help to you...

Jim...

 

[maj2]

I was there with my daughter a couple of years ago when she was 12 and finishing her Jr AOW.

Stayed at Divi, and really enjoyed both the resort and the dive shop on site. Close to town, and with an onsite car rental. We had two boat dives each morning (lots at Klein Bonaire), and unlimited shore diving in the afternoon and evenings. They also have a small building kept stocked with tanks in the rental car parking lot for shore diving on the rest of the island, but I assume most places do this as well.

Plan on spending a half day exploring the island, or a full day (or more) if doing the National Park. A stop at the Donkey Sanctuary is a must. My daughter had a blast there. We also pulled to the side of the road on the north shore of the island within site of the water. We got out and walked around, right to the shore. She loved the walk-- it looks pretty desolate from the road, but there really is all kinds of little stuff and signs of life to see!. We also made stops at the slave huts, and a few other spots. Also got to watch a number of wild flamingos at the North end of the island (we did not go into the park-- that will be done on our next trip). My daughter probably loved that afternoon of driving almost as much as the rest of the week of diving!

To see the full island from Divi, drive clockwise!. Going counterclockwise gets you to the donkey sanctuary faster from the Divi, but leaves you unable to circumnavigate the island do to a stretch of one-way road that goes in the other direction. If you want to drive around the island, it is best to do it in a clockwise fashion! I learned that the hard way because my daughter wanted to see the donkey sanctuary so badly (So badly that she would not even get out of the car when I stopped for a lionfish sandwich at Cactus Blue!).

I suspect that your daughter will also love the gelato shop that is in town. It was pretty much a daily stop for us...

 

[dlawr3]

I was there with my daughter a couple of years ago when she was 12 and finishing her Jr AOW.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Did you feel like she required any extra help in the beginning? Were you comfortable being in group dives on the boat? Was she excited to dive every day? Was there a preference for boat or shore dives? Lots of questions I know! With my girl being an animal lover she will want to spend a lot of time with those donkeys too.

 

[maj2]

She did not require much (if any) help at all.

We were in a fairly large group of local divers on a trip through or LDS, so she knew the folks on the group dives. There were also other Junior divers in our group, so she also had kids her age in the group as well.

We did the boat dives that were in our package every day. She did tire of shore diving eventually, so we rented the car mid week to give her a break for the afternoon.

My daughter is also into equestrian, and wanted to go horseback riding. Lets just say that I do not meet the weight limits for most tropical riding places with smaller horses... She took an additional afternoon to go trail riding at Rancho Washikemba Horse Ranch Bonaire, doing their "ride and swim" tour where the horses swim while she is riding. They were great to work with. They picked my daughter up at the hotel, and dropped her back off. I spent that afternoon shore diving (my spouse was not on the drip... it was a "daddy-daughter" diving trip). She had a great time with them, and they were very good with my daughter. My only issue with that afternoon was that my daughter had so much fun that she neglected to take any photos, or even give the camera to them to take photos of her. I had a lot of correspondence with them prior to the trip to makes sure that I was comfortable with the whole arrangement.

My daughter also loved stopping at other dive sites (even if not diving) to explore the shoreline. She invariably found hundreds of tiny hermit crabs at pretty much every stop.

 

[diver0008]

I've been to Bonaire several times, and although have never dove from a boat while there, have dove with people who were staying at Buddy Dive, who seem to have nice accomodations, a house reef, and daily boat diving excursions. They also have trucks available for rental. Worth looking into.

 

[Doctorfish]

+1 for Buddy Dive. They have competitive dive and drive package that includes breakfasts, truck, unlimited shore diving and 6 boat dives per week. No extra charge for nitrox. There is a good beach bar on site with reasonable casual food and a great ocean view. The house reef at Buddy's is also very good.

 

[dmaziuk]

Back when we were there Buddy had nice prices for 6 people in a 3-brm place. For just the 2 of us Sand Dollar worked out better, with a discount from DFB.

And one morning we watched a pair of rather large iguanas fighting over some couple's breakfast at Den Laman's.