Bonaire - A First Timer's Perspective

[BDSC]

Thanks for the report Tim.

I'll be headed that way and staying at Buddy's Feb. 21st - 28th. We were there last year and noticed the same thing about the northern sites having better vis than the southern sites. This will be my 7th or 8th trip to Bonaire and last year is the first time I really noticed a big difference in the southern and northern sites as far as vis.

This will also be my first trip with my video rig so I'm pretty pumped about that. I have several diving friends who have never been to Bonaire so I want to do a video showing what shore diving is all about.

Maybe I'll run into a few SB folks while I'm there.

 

[DeputyDan]

While I haven't seen truly large creatures, I have always found large turtles, medium rays and of course tarpon, but Bonaire is always simply an awesome dive experience for us. A couple from our local club encountered a whale shark there last year I believe it was, but that is rare.

I have never found surf entry even marginally difficult in Bonaire. Even accounting for the fact that my early diving was off Maine, where any entry or exit you survived unscratched was memorable, Bonaire shore entries are what dreams are made of! You do have to watch your footing in the coral, but in 4 trips I have yet to see anything I could call surf, except on the "wild side".

DD, enjoy Belize. When are you going? Live aboard? We stayed at Hamanasi resort in the south: I think the live aboard would be the way to go.

We are going in July and yes we are doing a liveaboard. We are going with our LDS -and my kids and I have been to COCO View with at least 1/2 the folks going on this trip. We are looking forward to it!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I have never found surf entry even marginally difficult in Bonaire. Even accounting for the fact that my early diving was off Maine, where any entry or exit you survived unscratched was memorable, Bonaire shore entries are what dreams are made of! You do have to watch your footing in the coral, but in 4 trips I have yet to see anything I could call surf, except on the "wild side".

I hear ya. My buddy didn't have any problems at all. It was only a mild pain in the butt for me because I was changing over from sandals to full foot fins in the shallows to avoid the sharp corals.

 

[gypsyjim]

DeputyDan: a live aboard is high on my list. Never done one, even though I know I know once I do I'll probably be spoiled (sort of like diving Bonaire with all of you that first time did). Maybe THAT'S why I haven't done one yet. Oh well, it's not in this years budget, have agreat time in July!

 

[lmorin]

........
I have never found surf entry even marginally difficult in Bonaire. Even accounting for the fact that my early diving was off Maine, where any entry or exit you survived unscratched was memorable, Bonaire shore entries are what dreams are made of! You do have to watch your footing in the coral, but in 4 trips I have yet to see anything I could call surf, except on the "wild side".
..............

Bad surf does occasionally happen on the "leeward" side of Bonaire, if it has temporarily become the "windward" side. We were there last March on such a day. Vis went down to <1 ft when near the shore. The only site relatively unaffected was the southeast side of Klein Bonaire. Smallish, but nevertheless, real rollers hit the Bonaire shore coming from the northwest. Vis on the reef was OK, but there was too much sediment in the water for anything but photography with a strobe. Took about 24 hr to settle back to normal. We were shore diving from the BDA dock and it was quite difficult to get back onto it because of the major wave surges that enveloped the return stairs. We heard that less protected dive sites, like Hilma Hooker, were rather awful that day, both for vis and for entry/exit.

 

[DiveMaven]

We've done 3 liveaboards and after 2 weeks on Bonaire, we decided that Bonaire edges out the liveaboard for the #1 spot for us. We absolutely fell in love with the pure diver freedom that Bonaire offers, and rather than choosing where to eat being a hassle in the evenings, we really enjoyed the variety of options. Now every trip is compared to Bonaire.

We haven't experienced an all-inclusive dive resort yet, but we're joining a group in 2010 and we'll see how it compares to both liveaboards and Bonaire. In the meantime, we can't wait to return to Bonaire for another 2 weeks this summer.

 

[DeputyDan]

An all-inclusive ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Unfortunately my work will take me to Cancun this December for a week. Plan to stay over and do my cavern certification in the cenotes.

Will be staying at an all-inclusive for the first time. I bet that it does not suck !!!!!

Oops! Forgot about COCO View - How could I ever do that. It's a great dive trip if you get the chance!

 

[gypsyjim]

Never did a dive all inclusive.

Stayed @ Sandles, Turks and Caicos all inclusive a few times. Diving was included, and it was pretty good diving, just no where near enough diving for me. (Only 2 tank morning dives to the wall, and maybe a 1 tank afternoon, in close with the snorkelers. Had to bribe my way into a night dive.)
Not exactly a dive all inclusive, but it was fun for a while.

Bonaire is where I can dive dive dive dive........... and oh ya, dive.

Enjoy Belze. Some of the largest barrel sponges I've ever seen in Belize. The photos of the barrel sponges and "grandpa" the turtle in my photos are from our Belize trip.

Still looking forward to a liveaboard, someday.

 

[BDSC]

Anyone wanting a last minute vacation should look at Bonaire because Delta has some killer prices going to Bonaire out of Atlanta and they have a great schedule to boot. The ticket we bought about 4 months ago is now $160 cheaper. Probably could find a place to stay at a deal also.

 

[gypsyjim]

Ya, right now I could have flown from Albany threw JFK to Bonaire for what the JFK to Bonaire leg, alone cost when I booked in Nov.!!!