Bonaire - Buddy's Dive Resort Trip Report

[highlandfarmwv]

Bonaire doesn't have lots of pelagics, but I love it for what it does have...diving freedom. I've dived in the Keys, Caymans, BVIs, USVIs, Aruba and Bonaire. I'm going on my 4th Bonaire trip next month. There is just something about the climate, people, diving that just draws me.

 

[DiveMaven]

I can totally see how the OP might see Bonaire in the light that he did, as it seems clear that his expectations were different than the reality.

It reminds me of someone I know who likes to shore dive, doesn't really like reef diving (says they get boring), loves diving wrecks (not in a tech way), and has to feel "stimulated" underwater by what he's seeing. He thought Cozumel diving was kind of "boring" after 4 dives. However, he can't stop talking about wanting to go to Bonaire. After our first trip last year, I had a long conversation with him, describing that Bonaire is about macro, reefs, slowing down, and relaxing....being brutally honest about the slow pace of the entire island, above and below the water. His closing remark was that he thinks the advantages of shore diving and price will outweigh all of the other factors. Hello? If he manages a trip to Bonaire, I know he'll come back thinking it was over-rated and wonder why anyone would want to spend more than 2 days there.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm sorry the OP didn't have a good vacation and hope he'll find just the perfect place to enjoy diving as much as many of us enjoy Bonaire.

 

[BDSC]

I'm headed to Bonaire this Saturday for a week and will be staying at Buddy's so I'll report back when I return. It will be interesting to see how the diving is as compared to last year when I was there in February. My favorite sites are the northern sites and I understand they were hardest hit.

I am going to take some time this trip to check out some of the other places to stay that I have read great things about like Bellevue, Coral Paradise, and Bonaire Oceanfront Apts.

 

[robint]

I'm headed to Bonaire this Saturday for a week and will be staying at Buddy's so I'll report back when I return. It will be interesting to see how the diving is as compared to last year when I was there in February. My favorite sites are the northern sites and I understand they were hardest hit.

I am going to take some time this trip to check out some of the other places to stay that I have read great things about like Bellevue, Coral Paradise, and Bonaire Oceanfront Apts.

Yes, please report back. We have friends who just returned from Bonaire a few weeks ago and they say that the reefs on the north end did take a hit but only shallow areas. Once you get deeper than 40' the reefs look fine. I will be anxious to hear your take on them.

As far as the OP having such a terrible time and not liking Bonaire diving - different strokes for different folks. You can check out my videos and see that we thought the diving was fantastic, tons of fishlife, and reefs were healthy. We were with a group of other photo/video geeks so we had our own boat all week so I can't attest to issues with Buddy's boats. We had great dives and they went where we requested. Most of our group left their dive gear sitting out on the balcony or patio to dry unattended all afternoon/night and not a thing stolen or anything stolen from rooms. We were there June 2007 so I don't know if things have changed that much since then.

robin

 

[BDSC]

This will be my first trip to Bonaire with my video rig so maybe I'll post a little video when I return. I'll just have to read up on how to do it but it doesn't seem too complicated.

 

[gpatz]

Offthewall, in regards to your review I am curious to know where in the Carib is your favorite dive location? I also have dived Roatan and Little Cayman. I felt LC for Coral and animal life was hands down the best. Roatan was fine, in fact somewhat similar to me to Bon. in fact after a week diving Roatan I became somewhat bored with all sites looking the same. Bonaire is hands down the best for the freedoom of shorediving. I do agree that it does depend on what your interest is that makes a good or bad dive. I for one enjoyed Bon last year for all the little critters that you see teaming at the Bon dive sites, I saw something different at each site that I dived last year and that is why I am going back this year.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

It has been my good fortune to be able to dive in the following warm water locations: Antigua, Jamaica, St. Thomas, Florida Keys, New Providence, St. John, St. Croix, St. Lucia, Providenciales, Grand Turk, Roatan, Belize, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Palau, Saba, Cozumel, Riviera Maya and Bonaire. Don't kid yourself Bonaire has some of the healthiest reefs and best macro/shore diving in the Caribbean. Its major fault is no big stuff. Its major plus besides the healthy reefs and critters is dive freedom!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

As stated above, I have never been to Bonaire(& will never go)...but I can 100% guarantee you that LC or Roatan will be better in every respect........Heck, even Cozumel will/did probably beat it--------

I disagree ... been to Bonaire three times, been to Roatan once, been to Cozumel once. There's a reason for those numbers ... and in fact, we're leaving for Bonaire on Friday (we're staying at Buddy's, in fact) for my fourth trip there.

Everyone's going to find things different. For me, the diving in Bonaire is superior to either Roatan or Cozumel. In fact, although I would definitely go back to Roatan, I was totally underwhelmed with Cozumel and don't understand why so many people think it's so great.

It's nice to get different perspectives on dive destinations ... but it's a mistake to take someone else's perspective as anything more than just one person's opinion.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[offthewall1]

Offthewall, in regards to your review I am curious to know where in the Carib is your favorite dive location?

My original post was quite accurate for those that question it. There were 19 others on the trip... all who generally felt the same about it... the other 19 simply choose not to particpate on Scubaboard.

One thing I want to clarify - the rooms that were broken into were all LOCKED. As I stated, it appeared a key was used. Buddy's has little to no key control and if a key is not turned back in... locks are not changed as they should be. There is a police report but I do not have it. Those who suffered the losses have the reports. I was not one of them.

I also want to be clear that my trip overall was not a total bust. Despite all the problems, the trip overall was relaxing and enjoyable. The island is quite nice and has a good feel while driving around and through towns. The scenery is nice and photos at the Lighthouse and slave huts were neat.

I do agree with some of the other posts here and I understand why many like diving Bonaire. The diving is predictable. I think that is the best word for it. It is not exceptional in any way... but there is little to no current, diving from boats is super easy... but shore dives not necessarily so. The small life for macro photography is decent. We saw more Christmas Tree worms than I've ever seen before, Flamingo Tongues, a good many seahorses, different types of sea slugs, a very large fireworm etc...

There is also an easy to achieve sense that you are safe on Bonaire... even though that is not necessarily so. One of our travelers (on a previous trip - not this one) was mugged in the alley in town in the main shopping district.

The island has charm... and many people are easily charmed. Getting there is also somewhat easy compared to other destinations - given many direct flights and the short time it takes to get there from many US International airports.

To answer the question asked... My favorite Carribean destinations include (in no particular order)

1. Roatan - for many reasons. Again, easy to get to... better wall diving, larger animals mixed in the the small, better restaurants (like Hole in the Wall - All you can eat Lobster for $15) and more sandy beaches.
2. Little Cayman - Little Cayman is harder to get to... but the ability to dive sites both at Little Cayman and the Keith Tibbets at Cayman Brac make it worth the effort. Food at Little Cayman Beach resort is far superior to Buddy's and they have a hot tub. As far as critters, you'll see more sharks and larger rays for those interested in that type of thing.
3. Bahamas Live-aboard cruising (I've dove many of the live-aboards in the Bahamas.) These are more exhilerating and include diving and or snorkeling with Dolphins, larger shark species encounters (we've had Hammerheads, Bulls, Tigers and your typical Carribean and Grey Reefs) on many dives, and less hassle carrying and transporting gear around. No worries of theft, Eat sleep and dive.

Speaking generally, If I was going back to the Netherlands Antilles - I'd re-visit Curacao long before I'd go to Bonaire. Same type of diving - but a better atmosphere, more non-diving choices. Both are on my "not again" list... but Curacao left a much better overall impression on me than Bonaire. As some have stated and I agree - different strokes for different folks. My original post was not meant to discourage anyone from going Bonaire or Buddy's. Just giving some facts for consideration. Had we had advanced notice that this was "construction week" at Buddy's we would have booked elsewhere.

I think my personal biggest problem of the week was when the boat crew told us "sorry, no gas in the boat." It was just unprofessional. They knew days in advance they needed gas in the boat... and they failed to do their jobs.

As a side note... My wife loved and raves about Belize... she did that trip without me.... but it comes with very high recommendations from her...

Happy Diving

 

[robint]

just one more question - you keep saying "the boat"... when we were there Buddy's had 4 dive boats. Isn't that true still? It sounds like you had a big group and maybe you all wanted to dive together on the same boat maybe?

I understand what you are saying about the diving. If you aren't a photographer interested in laying in the sand trying to capture a photo of a yellowhead jawfish for an entire dive, or watching a frogfish jiggle his lure or watching a blenny do a courting dance on top of a coral head for an entire dive you might get bored. Me and my hubby are both Fish Nerds and can't get enough of those types of things. That is one reason we loved Bonaire as well as Roatan and Nekton liveaboards..... lots of time to observe fish behaviors and search every crevace or interesting critters.