Bonaire & Dive Guides?

[Jersey]

I understand your wife's concerns, I've been the same way. As others have said Bas Tol is amazing, though he likes off the grid/unnamed, windward side advanced sites and 90 minutes dives. Heard great things about VIP Diving. Maybe do 1 or 2 guided to get the feel, ironshore entries can be a challenge, why re-invent the wheel, get a crash course, no pun. Southern sites, while the reefs are a bit further out, are sand/ironshore so if you overshoot an entry it's easy to get out. Many sites have natural or manmade markers to assist. Tories Reef was mentioned the entry is a wash from an outflow pipe, Salt Pier you swim out along the pilings, swim around and head back in the same route. If memory serves, Invisibles has channels or chutes which we counted during the dive. Donkey Beach has big mooring balls, an easy swim out, drop down, note your depth, dive to next ball or 2, turn, swim counting balls. With 75 feet of vis the mooring blocks and balls are hard to miss.

The closer you get to town, the closer the reef gets to shore so Bari, Buddy and the Andrea's take about 2 minute relaxed swim to the edge. All nice dives. The farther north you get, it's rockier but the reef is right there - Tolo/Ol Blue is an easy entry and you fall on the reef edge. Some of the northern sites are only practicably accessible via boat, unless you want to rappel in at Rappel. Which is a good reason to add some boat dives! I agree with Doctorfish, consider some boats - some days I don't want to deal with packing up gear, the sand, the ironshore. Take me for a little boat ride, I'll get some sun, talk to the other divers, giant stride off and I'll see you in an hour. 1,000 Steps is a wonderful hike up in 25 pounds of soaking gear, far easier from the boat. Karpata (local word for 'dog tick') has been infested with dog ticks.

Whatever you decide to do, have a wonderful trip!

 

[phoenix31tt]

Yes shops offer guided shore dives but guided shore dives on Bonaire is more costly and does take away from what diving in Bonaire is all about (dive freedom and adventure).

What would be the concern of your wife, I'm a firm believer that after certification a student should be able to plan and execute their own dives even though they should dive with a mentor for a little bit. After 70 dives you should be more than capable of performing unguided dives in Bonaire.

Get the book called Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, it helps with choosing easy sites and shore entrys

 

[oldschoolto]

If you want a great guide, do the East side with Bas!!

BAS Diving

I think getting BAS as a guide would be great, I don't think they are ready for the east side with so few dives...

Jim...

 

[gkrane]

I like doing both boat and shore dives in Bonaire. Doing boat dives is the only way to dive Klein which has some of the better sites. There are so many sites in bonaire it will take a couple of trips to do them all so just start with the easy ones.

 

[wwguy]

I think getting BAS as a guide would be great, I don't think they are ready for the east side with so few dives...

Jim...

I agree. Bas Tol only dives the east side of the island, which isn't appropriate for the skill and experience level discussed here so far. Not sure why he was suggested earlier. (I'm confident that Bas would probably agree.)

I like doing both boat and shore dives in Bonaire. Doing boat dives is the only way to dive Klein which has some of the better sites. There are so many sites in bonaire it will take a couple of trips to do them all so just start with the easy ones.

Klein (Little) Bonaire has some great dive sites, but none are better than what can be found shore diving on Groot (Big) Bonaire. There's no mythical underwater utopia just beyond the reach of shore divers. If you have the time and money for boat dives, and enjoy diving with others, you'll enjoy diving Klein Bonaire. But the original topic of this thread was discussion of unique shore diving opportunities on Bonaire. Bonaire offers a great opportunity and environment for Mr. & Mrs. Corcoran to discover independent self-guided diving in a safe and fun environment. It was a game-changer many years ago for Mrs. WWGuy and a major reason we return year after year to dushi Bonaire.

 

[oldschoolto]

I agree. Bas Tol only dives the east side of the island, which isn't appropriate for the skill and experience level discussed here so far. Not sure why he was suggested earlier. (I'm confident that Bas would probably agree.)

I'm sure Bas would love to take a half day or day with them showing how easy it is to shore dive on the west side.. Sometimes people just need to have someone " Show them the ropes" .. I think it would be money well spent to give them the confidence to go off on their own..

Jim...

 

[uncfnp]

I have seen Bas with divers on the west side.

 

[LiveTheDream]

As I sit here, pouting (in Cozumel) as the port was closed this morning and I will not get to dive today, I am looking at potential Bonaire trips.

The wife and I have approximately 70 dives a piece, however I am confident I would not be able to talk my wife into shore diving without a guide or Dive Master to accompany us. I thought about boat diving in Bonaire, but wonder if we'd truly miss out on what Bonaire is all about.

My question, does anyone offer guided shore diving in Bonaire?

Thanks,
Kerry

I felt the same way about my first visit to Bonaire (which was September 2015). I was anxious and concerned about safety. I had about 50 dives under my belt, mostly from boats (only a couple of shore walk-ins). My husband who has been diving longer kept trying to reassure me that it would be GREAT!! I was not convinced.

I have to admit I was nervous the first day, but after a couple of easy-entry shore dives, your confidence increases. We got the book "Dive guide Bonaire" at one of the dive shops. It was invaluable. If we felt uneasy, we skipped the "harder" dive and opted for a close-in reef like some of the others have mentioned. Honestly, some days I was just whipped --- the heat, carrying the gear around was draining. All that said, we enjoyed it so much we're going back in December. Counting the days!

We did include some boat dives and saw the other side of Bonaire. I highly recommend Bonaire East Coast Diving. We had a great experience with them. Very professional. We also did some local boat dives that were great and are nice just because it's relaxing and familiar to boat dive.

I'd be happy to chat with you or your wife or answer other questions.

There are a few that were a bit more challenging and I'd hold off on those until she feels more comfortable and gains some confidence.

 

[gkrane]

Here is the book that will tell you about each site in detail as well as level of difficulty for entry and exits. It is a necessity for me when I go and is the only thing I leave in the car.

Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy: Practical Guide To Shore Dive and Snorkel Sites of Bonaire [Fifth 5th Edition]: Susan Porter: Amazon.com: Books

 

[wwguy]

I'm sure Bas would love to take a half day or day with them showing how easy it is to shore dive on the west side.

I have seen Bas with divers on the west side.

I've tried previously to recommend Bas Tol (B.A.S. Diving) for something like this and was chastised by Bas for doing so. He was emphatically (and rudely) clear that this isn't his thing. Please read this thread.

Bas is also very clear on his website that he's "the one and only dedicated east coast shore dive operator". He makes no mention of any west side diving on his site.