1st trip to Bonaire

[scubadada]

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

After reading the prices in prior posts, I went back to our last bill, August. We reserved everything through Den Laman, including room, truck, and diving with Dive Friends. If you add 3x2 tank dives to unlimited tanks for shore diving, the 2 tank dives cost $53.33 each. They have a similar package with 5x2 tank dives, I don't know if the price is the same, or less. My wife and I like some boat dives, there are some very nice sites off Klein Bonaire and at northern sites not accessible by car. During our August visit, there were 2 gorgeous seahorses at Sampler, off Klein

 

[mbs]

We meet up with some folks that don't shore dive. Well maybe a night or twilight at the house reef. This is at the Plaza Resort. So we do morning boat dives with them and shore dive on our own in the afternoon. Its a nice mix. We also pretty much have the full boat so we can dictate sites that we can't get to from shore. The dive op on site is Toucan Divers.
We book the truck separately through AB cars.

 

[boat sju]

mermaid,

Assuming you get an unlimited shore diving package, A la Carte boat dives are $30 for single tank, $54 for a two tank.

A la Carte Diving Prices - Caribbean Club Bonaire

Caribbean Club is a sister property to Buddy Dive.

 

[akmermaid]

After reading the prices in prior posts, I went back to our last bill, August. We reserved everything through Den Laman, including room, truck, and diving with Dive Friends. If you add 3x2 tank dives to unlimited tanks for shore diving, the 2 tank dives cost $53.33 each. They have a similar package with 5x2 tank dives, I don't know if the price is the same, or less. My wife and I like some boat dives, there are some very nice sites off Klein Bonaire and at northern sites not accessible by car. During our August visit, there were 2 gorgeous seahorses at Sampler, off Klein

We have been looking at both Divi and Den Laman. We are leaning towards Den Laman since it is smaller and has better reports for the house reef. Are there any lounge chairs on the grounds for catching some sun post dive? We are looking at one bedroom ocean front. It looks like there is a table and chairs on the deck, but no lounge chairs. Looks like there is a small deck area of some kind between the property and the pier...Also thinking of the day before we fly home when we won't be diving.

 

[dmaziuk]

Also thinking of the day before we fly home when we won't be diving.

You could try windsurfing in the bay. Or drive around, look at the donkeys and flamingoes and goats.

 

[rsingler]

Rent a car and go to the nature preserve up NW part of the island.

 

[cpace]

My Wife and I visited Bonaire in May of 2017 and really enjoyed the freedom of shore diving. We found the cost of shore diving to be incredibly affordable. The only problem for us is the airfare from Seattle really sucks at $1000+ per RT ticket. Last spring we flew to the Philippines for $600 and had an great time diving.

 

[scubadada]

We have been looking at both Divi and Den Laman. We are leaning towards Den Laman since it is smaller and has better reports for the house reef. Are there any lounge chairs on the grounds for catching some sun post dive? We are looking at one bedroom ocean front. It looks like there is a table and chairs on the deck, but no lounge chairs. Looks like there is a small deck area of some kind between the property and the pier...Also thinking of the day before we fly home when we won't be diving.

Correct, table and chairs on the balcony, no chaises. I have fallen asleep in one of the chairs in the late afternoon sun, didn't complain. I have enjoyed many beers from that location after a day of diving, wonderful view of the sunsets. There are a few chaises down on the "beach" below Den Laman, I have not actually been there. There are a few other chaises on the "beach" north of the pier, technically, I believe they belong to Sand Dollar. Personally, I don't think you will miss the loungers

 

[Paleo]

Welcome to a great place to dive!

I really would encourage you to try shore diving as Bonaire is one of the best places for this. It will enhance your diving and communication skills. Plus, you are on your own schedule. I like it doing a lot of photography I'll concentrate on a few locations without worrying about the group schedule. And, as you get skilled at shore diving you can ratchet things up to sites like Red Slave and the Lighthouse.

Plan your dive with your buddy(s) before entry, go through communication and procedures - I've had my buddy suffer an inflator hose failure and a free-flowing regulator while diving - and decide how you want to enter the water. We carry our fins in until we can float, put them on in the water and do a surface swim to our entry point. Before the dive we agree on the tank pressure at turnaround and plan a multi-level dive. Once on the reef we decide on our direction and point (as best we can) to an exit feature.

You can start at a real easy spoy like Something Special and go from there.

You can do boat diving anywhere. Why come to Bonaire if you aren't shore diving?