Aruba or Bonaire Where should we go?

[Even_Stephen]

I've been to both and enjoyed both. I would not say that Bonaire has better diving per se. But it most definately has 1) many more dive sites and 2) shore diving central. The dives on Aruba are very good. There just isn't nearly the number or variety of sites. Aruba is much easier to get to and has a vast number of hotels at all price levels. Aruba is a busy place, almost cosmopolitan in an island sort of way. Lots of great places to eat and a bunch of casinos. Beautiful beaches. Bonaire is downright low-key. Not primative at all, but has no traffic lights on the whole island (unless they put one in pretty recently). Beaches aren't so great and there are only a handful of high-end places to stay. Plenty of good eats on Bonaire, too. Just not as many places as Aruba. Great cheap bus system on Aruba. You won't need a car. You *must* get a car on Bonaire so that you can get to all the great shore dives!

The word according to Even_Stephen: Bonaire is tops for a low-key mega-diving trip. Aruba gets the nod if you want a great beach vacation with some pretty decent diving.

 

[scubabum2]

I've also been to both Bonaire & Aruba. I can't say I would go back to Aruba for the diving. A buddy & I got wreck certified there in '99. They do have a few neat wrecks (the Antilla, several planes), but I don't remember the fish life being that great compared to Bon. The visibility on a few of our dives was pretty crappy too, maybe 30-40ft, lots of sediment. On other dives the vis was fine - dive site location was a factor. The nightlife is good and seemed to have a South American aura to it. The island is also pretty spread out - I remeber there was some distance between town and the hotel district. Personally, I would choose Curacao before going back to Aruba.

 

[kelseysmith]

Hi, I'm interested in going to Bonaire at the end of Nov and I'm wondering how the weather has been treating this season. Any hurricane that has passed by or any risk for that time of the year?
Thanks!