1st trip to Bonaire

[akmermaid]

1st trip to Bonaire and looking for advice. We usually do boat dives. Is it worth it to book a dive package through the hotel or just book them separately? Does Dive Friends let you dive your computer on boat dives and group divers together with similar experience? Do they group Nitrox divers together? We've done a few shore dives and might prefer shore diving in Bonaire, but we have enjoyed the convenience of boat diving in the past. That said, it's irritating when you are on a boat dive that you could have easily done from shore. Thank you!!

 

[rsingler]

My buddies and I LOVED Divi Flamingo a few years back. The ease with which we packed in 26 dives in a week (2am, 2 after lunch, a night dive off the hotel) was unsurpassed. All our meals, only a short walk down the pier for our dives, a short walk into town when we wanted to sample Kragendijk. Unbeatable.
More than 15 different dive sites with virtually no effort. Rent a truck and carry our gear around? Not for me.

 

[akmermaid]

My buddies and I LOVED Divi Flamingo a few years back. The ease with which we packed in 26 dives in a week (2am, 2 after lunch, a night dive off the hotel) was unsurpassed. All our meals, only a short walk down the pier for our dives, a short walk into town when we wanted to sample Kragendijk. Unbeatable.
More than 15 different dive sites with virtually no effort. Rent a truck and carry our gear around? Not for me.

Thank you! Having the dive options right at the hotel is appealing. So you did a combination boat and shore dives from the hotel? Any absolute favorite boat dive sites? How was the night dive?

 

[rsingler]

Multiple night dives off the hotel. Easy. Great!
1000 Steps. Hilma Hooker wreck. Too many to list.

 

[scubadada]

1st trip to Bonaire and looking for advice. We usually do boat dives. Is it worth it to book a dive package through the hotel or just book them separately? Does Dive Friends let you dive your computer on boat dives and group divers together with similar experience? Do they group Nitrox divers together? We've done a few shore dives and might prefer shore diving in Bonaire, but we have enjoyed the convenience of boat diving in the past. That said, it's irritating when you are on a boat dive that you could have easily done from shore. Thank you!!

You might get a discount if you book some boat dives along with your unlimited tanks for shore diving. Dive Friends has a somewhat loose rule of hour dives. I generally jumped in first and came up with the last, generally got in about 70 minutes per dive. Dive Friends only goes to Klein Bonaire and northern sites that are not accessible by car

 

[wwguy]

1 We've done a few shore dives and might prefer shore diving in Bonaire, but we have enjoyed the convenience of boat diving in the past.

I guess that depends on your definition of "convenience". We've enjoyed 35 weeks diving Bonaire over the past 21 years, including 29 weeks since we last felt the urge to board a dive boat there. Convenience and value are the primary reasons we return to shore dive there year after year. There's nothing else like it anywhere in the world. Seriously.

Boat diving (info based on DFB's current website):

• 2 tank dive $90, 1 tank dive $65, plus tips for DM and boat crew.
• 3 boat dives per day max. (2 tank AM dive + 1 tank PM dive for $155/day.)
• Meet at the dock at prescribed time.
• Dive with strangers of varying experience and abilities.
• Dive sites chosen by group consensus or by others.
• Fewer dive sites to choose from compared to shore diving.
• Bottom time typically limited to 60 minutes.

Shore diving:

• 6 days unlimited tanks of air or nitrox $180.
• Dive any of 54 marked shore dive sites, or explore any of the dozens of unmarked sites in between.
  
• Dive whenever you want to. The only schedule to keep is your own.
• Dive with whomever you want, or with nobody at all if that's your thing.
• Dive as long as you want. You're in charge of your own profile.
• Dive wherever you want, at whatever pace you want. You're in charge of your own navigation.

I can't imagine anything more convenient than that.

 

[rsingler]

Economical, yes! Convenient? Arguable.
We dove with our LDS club, so it was friends. $2000 for 7 days included air fare from Calif to Bonaire, all meals, 4 boat dives per day, Nitrox, unlimited night dives off the pier, semiprivate room and the only tanks we lugged were from the end of the dock where they lived 20 feet to the ladder. Wash racks right at the end of the dock. Locker right at the end of the dock. Separate camera fresh water tanks.
I don't know how that might compute on a per-dive basis given other costs, but it was certainly less than $90/2 dives.
Prices may have gone up since then.

I'm not arguing the freedom of driving to any of your favorite Bonaire shore sites.
I'm just saying value can be defined from more than one point of view.

Dive and Let Dive!
Cheers!

 

[wwguy]

I'm just saying value can be defined from more than one point of view.

Fair enough, and exactly my point. My intent was to (hopefully) open the OP's eyes to the upside of shore diving on Bonaire. It's a new paradigm for diving that most aren't exposed to at other vacation dive destinations. If it's not their thing, or yours, that's okay too.

Dive and Let Dive!

I love that phrase, and it certainly applies to Bonaire!

 

[rsingler]

I love that phrase, and it certainly applies to Bonaire!

I have to credit @The Chairman for that one. He's the Man!

 

[tursiops]

In a bit of a contrast with @wwguy, I'm leaving Saturday for Bonaire, covering 32 trips (all to Buddy Dive) over 19 consecutive years, for 1-3 weeks each, and I have ALWAYS had boat dives as part of my package...anywhere from 6-9 per week. I currently have 769 logged dives in Bonaire, of which perhaps a third are boat dives.

Here are the Buddy Dive differences [in red] from the Dive Friends list quoted above:

Boat diving (info based on DFB's current website):

• 2 tank dive $90, 1 tank dive $65, plus tips for DM and boat crew. [6-9 included in package, extras $30 each]
• 3 boat dives per day max. (2 tank AM dive + 1 tank PM dive for $155/day.) [four possible, five if you do a boat night dive]
• Meet at the dock at prescribed time.
• Dive with strangers of varying experience and abilities.[we are always in a group of compatible divers/friends]
• Dive sites chosen by group consensus or by others.[I choose the dive sites]
• Fewer dive sites to choose from compared to shore diving.[yeah, maybe 35 compared to 40?]
• Bottom time typically limited to 60 minutes.
• [Depth limited to 100 ft unless under training]

But the key is a mixture of boat and shore dives. I like shore dives, but the boat dives get me to places I can't otherwise get to that are some GREAT dive sites, and they are a lot easier for some people, especially if you want to carry a big camera rig into/out of the water.