Budget pickup rental:
They are slow and you need to walk around the car to take a video of every scratch and dent. Pay extra attention to the tires.
Ask for a tank rack, if there isn't one in the pickup.
Stayed at Resort Bonaire:
pizza oven on site and the pizza is decent.
The apartments have a kitchen with a fridge. Very easy to cook.
Garden apartments have easy access to the wraparound parking lot.
Dive friends has a tiny dive shop in the hotel. You can take and return tanks, wash gear, shower, bathrooms, wifi.
Rented tanks and weights from Dive Friends:
There are 8 locations, you can take and return tanks in any of the shops.
The unlimited 6 day package includes Nitrox 32%
Hamlet oasis sits on "The cliff" dive site and they have a compressor
"Yellow submarine" sits at the dive site entry
Port Bonaire has a lot of gear and huge compressor capability
Resort bonaire is tiny but the pizza oven is close by for lunch
Delfin's beach has a drive through tank return and pickup. very convenient on the way back from southern dive sites.
Daniel at Delfin's beach was great. The shop is busy and he was very professional and helpful.
As a rule: their tanks are AL80s (12L) with yoke valves. But we found some DIN tanks and a few AL63(10L) and even an AL53(7L the short kind not a pony bottle)
Port Bonaire has any kind of tank and mix you want, but a pony bottle is an extra $18 a day. Any mix that is not 32% or Air needs to be ordered ahead of time.
They are not really set up for technical divers, but recreational, single tank dives should not be an issue.
You can take 2 tanks per person at a time. If you get to the dive shop by 4:30PM you can take a tank for a night dive and have another full one for a sunrise dive.
The VIP diving shop has a better overall setup.
Tell me what shops you prefer and why in the replies. I would appreciate trying new places.
The diving:
You have to do a buoyancy and weight check with a "supervisor" before you can dive alone.
We did it at Dive friends Delfin's beach because the house reef is beautiful and the parking is only accessible through a closed gate.
Hilma Hooker, Salt Pier, Tolo, Yellow submarine, "The Lake" technical dive, Karpata, Red Slave, Salt pier at night, 1000 steps, The Cliff, Hilma Hooker at night, Invisibles, Sebastian's reef, White slave, The lake at night, Karpata again, Bachelor's beach, Angel city.
Karpata and Tolo are great for morning dives. You have to come back through Rincon but it makes for an interesting surface interval.
Karpata has steps to get to the water and a big concrete block to help shield you from getting battered by the waves.
Tolo is a much easier entry.
White slave is a long swim to the drop off but an eagle ray gave a good show in the sand.
We saw ostracods at "The Lake" at night. What a beautiful dive.
Invisibles has an eel garden.
Bachelor's beach has a ladder to the sand and no rocks on the beach. It is the easiest natural entry.
Sebastian's reef has a boat ramp to the water. It is the easiest entry we had all week.
Nitrox costs the same as air. You can do the e-learning and get certified in any shop. You can't swing an inflator hose without hitting two nitrox instructors in Bonaire.
Water temperatures were 75-78F (24-25C). One hour dives with a 2mm shorty are no problem.
Visibility is generally very good. Karpata had 100-150ft of crystal clear water in the morning.
The currents were very mild.
The only negative is that anything you bring with you in the car is either going in the water or getting stolen.
They are slow and you need to walk around the car to take a video of every scratch and dent. Pay extra attention to the tires.
Ask for a tank rack, if there isn't one in the pickup.
Stayed at Resort Bonaire:
pizza oven on site and the pizza is decent.
The apartments have a kitchen with a fridge. Very easy to cook.
Garden apartments have easy access to the wraparound parking lot.
Dive friends has a tiny dive shop in the hotel. You can take and return tanks, wash gear, shower, bathrooms, wifi.
Rented tanks and weights from Dive Friends:
There are 8 locations, you can take and return tanks in any of the shops.
The unlimited 6 day package includes Nitrox 32%
Hamlet oasis sits on "The cliff" dive site and they have a compressor
"Yellow submarine" sits at the dive site entry
Port Bonaire has a lot of gear and huge compressor capability
Resort bonaire is tiny but the pizza oven is close by for lunch
Delfin's beach has a drive through tank return and pickup. very convenient on the way back from southern dive sites.
Daniel at Delfin's beach was great. The shop is busy and he was very professional and helpful.
As a rule: their tanks are AL80s (12L) with yoke valves. But we found some DIN tanks and a few AL63(10L) and even an AL53(7L the short kind not a pony bottle)
Port Bonaire has any kind of tank and mix you want, but a pony bottle is an extra $18 a day. Any mix that is not 32% or Air needs to be ordered ahead of time.
They are not really set up for technical divers, but recreational, single tank dives should not be an issue.
You can take 2 tanks per person at a time. If you get to the dive shop by 4:30PM you can take a tank for a night dive and have another full one for a sunrise dive.
The VIP diving shop has a better overall setup.
Tell me what shops you prefer and why in the replies. I would appreciate trying new places.
The diving:
You have to do a buoyancy and weight check with a "supervisor" before you can dive alone.
We did it at Dive friends Delfin's beach because the house reef is beautiful and the parking is only accessible through a closed gate.
Hilma Hooker, Salt Pier, Tolo, Yellow submarine, "The Lake" technical dive, Karpata, Red Slave, Salt pier at night, 1000 steps, The Cliff, Hilma Hooker at night, Invisibles, Sebastian's reef, White slave, The lake at night, Karpata again, Bachelor's beach, Angel city.
Karpata and Tolo are great for morning dives. You have to come back through Rincon but it makes for an interesting surface interval.
Karpata has steps to get to the water and a big concrete block to help shield you from getting battered by the waves.
Tolo is a much easier entry.
White slave is a long swim to the drop off but an eagle ray gave a good show in the sand.
We saw ostracods at "The Lake" at night. What a beautiful dive.
Invisibles has an eel garden.
Bachelor's beach has a ladder to the sand and no rocks on the beach. It is the easiest natural entry.
Sebastian's reef has a boat ramp to the water. It is the easiest entry we had all week.
Nitrox costs the same as air. You can do the e-learning and get certified in any shop. You can't swing an inflator hose without hitting two nitrox instructors in Bonaire.
Water temperatures were 75-78F (24-25C). One hour dives with a 2mm shorty are no problem.
Visibility is generally very good. Karpata had 100-150ft of crystal clear water in the morning.
The currents were very mild.
The only negative is that anything you bring with you in the car is either going in the water or getting stolen.
