Bonaire & Dive Guides?

[gkrane]

Read the thread and the guy sounds like a real gem. I wouldn't hire him solely based on him being such an ass. What does he care if he's paid to dive a house reef for a week? I guess he's too "elite" for that. What a joke.

 

[Lorenzoid]

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

Have you seen the Dive Guide Bonaire book that LiveTheDream posted above? Susan Porter's BSDME is the classic, but I am afraid this new book blows hers out of the water with its organization/layout, modern graphics, etc. BSDME got me through three previous trips, but I think I'm going to pick up a copy of Dive Guide Bonaire on the upcoming trip. Someone in our group had bought a copy last trip, and I was really impressed.

 

[phoenix31tt]

Have you seen the Dive Guide Bonaire book that LiveTheDream posted above? Susan Porter's BSDME is the classic, but I am afraid this new book blows hers out of the water with its organization/layout, modern graphics, etc. BSDME got me through three previous trips, but I think I'm going to pick up a copy of Dive Guide Bonaire on the upcoming trip. Someone in our group had bought a copy last trip, and I was really impressed.

BSDME was the gold standard when we went bonaire but if this new book is better i'd get a copy. Would def check it out

 

[gkrane]

I havent seen it and would like to get a copy. Do you have a link?

---------- Post added November 26th, 2015 at 02:37 PM ----------

Found it, wow 40$!!!!

 

[choiahoy]

Worth every cent! Very detailed and well done.

 

[oldschoolto]

I bought it... They have one that's paper for a few bucks less... Spend the $40... Very well made and plastic coated pages.. Last a lifetime...

Jim...

 

[uncfnp]

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.

Wow. I think it was Karpata where we saw him and 2 other divers coming out of the water. I got the definite impression that he was working with them.

I can't say I am entirely surprised that he was less then enthusiastic about guiding a house reef but still...Just wow. On our dive he admonished me for going deeper to see things then he and Eric so that our dive wasn't a full 90 minutes. At that point I was't sure who was paying whom.

 

[Kharon]

I havent seen it and would like to get a copy. Do you have a link?

---------- Post added November 26th, 2015 at 02:37 PM ----------

Found it, wow 40$!!!!

If you found it - how about the link you asked for. I love Bonaire, love BSDME, and would gladly pay $40 for a book that is better. Actually I'd pay that for a book that was as good but had a different perspective/approach.

 

[wwguy]

Dive Guide Bonaire was originally released in Dutch language in mid-2012, with an English version following about 6 months later. Until now I was under the impression that the only place you could purchase it was at one of the Dive Friends Bonaire dive shops on Bonaire.

But I just found this Dive Friends press release announcing the book's debut, which linked me to this Dutch online store, which also seems to have an Amazon store here.

IMHO your best bet is probably to purchase it from DFB next time you're on the island. It certainly is a beautiful book. I leafed through it one afternoon and was generally impressed. However there were a few details in it that were inconsistent with my experience on a couple of reefs that I've spent a lot of time on.

Although BSDME isn't as flashy as this newer book, I give extra bonus point to Susan Porter for living, working, and diving on Bonaire for decades, as well as continuously editing and updating her book. It's currently on it's 6th iteration.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The copy I saw was purchased at Dive Friends Bonaire. That's where I plan to pick up mine in a couple of weeks.

wwguy, I totally agree with you that Susan Porter did us all a great service with her pioneering work on BSDME and being a fixture on Bonaire for decades.