Advice for novice/beginner divers

[Arsalan Ahmed]

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice across scubaboard community. I think i now have really good insight on all the locations weve been hoping to target. hopefully we'll make a decision soon.

---------- Post added March 2nd, 2014 at 08:44 AM ----------

Sorry one more question. has anyone figured out a decent way to get to bonaire? expedia is rerouting me through amsterdam at a reasonable 13000 (yes, thats 3 zeros) price unless i travel on saturdays and i live in vegas.

 

[wwguy]

Sorry one more question. has anyone figured out a decent way to get to bonaire? expedia is rerouting me through amsterdam at a reasonable 13000 (yes, thats 3 zeros) price unless i travel on saturdays and i live in vegas.

United flies to Bonaire on Fri/Sat/Sun via Houston or Newark. Delta flies once a week on Saturday via Atlanta. Other options include flying to nearby Curacao or Aruba and taking a smaller "puddle jumper" flight into Bonaire. More info is available here.

 

[Alvida]

Arsalan;
I don't know what the best resource is where you are located, but I usually get on Expedia and start plugging in all variety of options: I'd try Amsterdam to Miami, Amsterdam to Atlanta, Amsterdam to New York, Amsterdam to Houston, etc. and I'd play with dates. Then I'd look at flights from those destinations to Bonaire either direct or via Curacao and Aruba. Then when I figure out which flights I can live with in my schedule and budget, I go to the websites of the airlines and check them for a cost comparison and I look at other search engines like Kayak, Travelocity, etc. But I kind of enjoy the bargain-hunting game. You may find your time better spent by going to a travel agent and letting them do the work.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Like most have mentioned here, Bonaire is easy diving. In my opinion, there is not a better place on the planet for you and your buddy to ease into a routine of self checks, self reliance, and experience the true feeling of confidence that goes with it.

It won't take long at all for you to appreciate the allure of independence and the total true meaning of "vacation" once you realize that there is no schedule for you to adhere to on Bonaire. This is what makes Bonaire a place that folks continue to go back to and exactly why my wife and I will be back for our 10th trip his May.

There is no boat to meet at 7:00am every morning. There is no tide-book to consult like here in Puget Sound and BC. There is no breakfast, lunch and dinner bell. There is the confidence that peace that goes with doing it your way on your time.

With all of that said, and based on everything you’ve mentioned, my advice would be to buy a drive and dive package with Buddy Dive for your first trip to Bonaire. This will give you everything that you think you might need, while also allowing and providing you with all of the independence and self reliance that you might want....And all at a fair price.

Is the diving on Bonaire the best? I guess that all depends on your point of view. Fiji and Truk are awesome and Maldives are kick ass. I personally think that Browning Wall, Port Hardy, BC and Neah Bay are the best, but none of those places give us the peace and relaxation of Bonaire.

As for “other” things to do on Bonaire, you’ll find plenty of great advice here on the board. My only suggestion to add is to take an evening drive to the south for a sunset and play a game of beach rock Jenga..



As far as what you can expect to see on Bonaire dives, there's plenty of pics and videos right here on this forum. for what it's worth, here’s our vaca video from last May. It also has some shot's of the dive op, grounds and drive through tank pick-up at Buddies.... Have a blast!!

[video=youtube;SbVBdnA8FXc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbVBdnA8FXc[/video]