Boat Dives

[ron_dodge]

The boat dives are nice for sites that don't have the easiest shore entries, such as many of the northern sites. My wife and I, we're both in our 30's, were there the first week of December 2013 with a group that was mostly in their 60's. They preferred the boats just for the ease or entry. As far as sites go, you'll need a boat for any of the sites on Klein. Knife was a good site and it is open. Mi Dushi was probably our favorite. We did 1000 Steps and Karpata by boat. Both were excellent sites. We also chose to do the Hilma by boat. The entry for the Hilma isn't hard but it is a pretty good swim from the shore out to the wreck site. It's totally doable but it may tire out some divers.

Other sites to be sure to visit are Salt Pier, Angel City, and Jeff Davis.

 

[James R]

I'm actually going to book two tanks on the east side this March when i head back to Bonaire. Was going to use east coast diving.

I don't recall the name of the dive op, but the east side diving is fun. The ride out is pretty rough, so if you are prone to sea sick, take the appropriate meds in advance etc etc.

 

[Mike]

in Bonaire never boat it if you can do it from shore.

the boats will have a dm-so that's not good
then there are another dozen people in dive kit jumping in at the same time.

I had 2 glorious weeks in Bonaire recently marred only by one boat trip.
It was a free addition to my holiday package and I must admit I got what I paid for.

2p

My experience was very pleasant and the opposite. The DMs I experienced in Bonaire were easy to get along with cause they didn't care what you did once you got in the water, you could follow them around and use them to find critters or you could go off on your own and just meet back under the boat in 1 hr.

 

[Doctorfish]

Agree with Mike. The DMs know where the seahorses and frogfish live and will point them out to you. Never had an issue with a DM on Bonaire not letting us do our own thing if we wanted. Just be back on the boat at 60 minutes.

I have seen the DMs go after turkey divers and reef breakers however, which they deserved.

---------- Post added December 29th, 2013 at 11:11 AM ----------

Murphin, at Buddy Dive, is one of the best DMs I've every met. Knowledgeable, easy going, speaks about 5 languages, has great eyes, and knows where every critter in bonaire lives. If he is going in the water I stick to him like glue.

 

[Tunaman68]

Bonaire Diving, unforgettable scubadive vacation adventure! Crazy good boat, crazy fun dives, and a nice change from what you see on the standard side! Definitely not your average Bonaire boat dive! Two thumbs WAY up! FWIW, ALL off the DM's we were out with on Bonaire were chill, and not babysitting at all unless needed. They found some of the coolest stuff!

One viewpoint to relate - we dove with Dive Friends up to Rappel and it was a mixed boat of new/experienced divers. They let the more advanced divers get in first, and it was a 'be back under the boat in an hour' scenario. We did our out and back dive (AMAZING) and when we got back to the line, the DM was waiting for us. He had surfaced the noob group and was waiting to show us some stuff. He took us to the cliff face to see some caverns and a really cool hole with a huge green moray while hearing/feeling the subsonic frequencies shake the water as the surf pounded the cliff. It ended up being a 70 minute dive both independent and guided on the same dive! Without our boat dive or the DM we would never have experienced this!!!