Bonaire Dive Shop Rec's

[tursiops]

To be fair, this was our reality and we don't recommend Buddy. And we don't recommend Bonaire unless you're prepared to deal with crime.

I'm sure you had a terrible visit. Most others do not. Your negative report kind of stands alone.

 

[woodcarver]

Crime on Bonaire is actually not that common. Minor theft out of unattended vehicles is the most common, and still not "common". There was a brief rash of ABnBs getting broken into, but again, not common nor widespread. That being said, for someone who had a breakin, it is your reality. Just understand you hit the backwards lottery. The vast majority of visitors to the island suffer nothing but the hazard of navigating the ironstone getting in and out of the water.

 

[Pbdiver84]

To OP-

Bonaire is shore diving R Us. The usual way is to rent a truck, and literally drive thru a place to pick up tanks like you’d pick up McDonalds.

The alternative is staying at a resort like Divi Flamingo where you grab a tank off the dock and giant stride into the water.

 

[mccula01]

Hi all! Heading to Bonaire in just over a month and (obviously) going to do a bunch of shore diving. I'm looking for recommendations for dive shops for tank rentals (that come with drop off/pick up service). Anyone have a particularly good shop they would recommend??? Thanks!

My buddy and I stayed at Bloozz resort with Beyond the Corals dive shop. 11 dives ( 2 boat, 10 shore morning and on night shore drive)
Great shop with small groups (4 or less)!!
The wind was pretty bad, waves 3-6 feet making entry and exit precarious and nerve racking. Diver suffered concussion and sprained ankle during entry at Bachelor beach.
Even without wind and waves shore entry is difficult and painful without thick boots! Thick boots a must while negotiating the rocks and coral of shore dives there.Coral off Klein Bonaire good with nice sponges.(boat dive)
Some blanching of coral on shore dives.
At dive shop, STRONGLY recommend Robin, the math teacher.
Every dive trip is a new and different experience and you can never predict what you are going to see. Unfortunately the dive experience was over shadowed by the entry and exit difficulties.
While we were on a dive at the Cliff, another large dive group (10+) dropped on top of us and plowed right through our group of 4. No excuse.
Bonaire is not on my must repeat dive list.

 

[Doctorfish]

I kind of agree with Doc Harry in some ways. We were on Bonaire last summer and it was at least our tenth visit over the years. There is lot's of bleaching and Stony Coral Disease and there seemed to be far less in the way of schools of fish and larger fish. Maybe saw one Grouper all week and one or two Barracuda. There were far fewer Trumpet fish as well. Obviously this was not a fish population survey, but just an observation.
We saw multiple fishing boats right on the drop off every morning at 6, maybe that explains the fish depopulation.

Shore diving is not everyone's cup of tea and the energy you have to put out is significant in comparison to boat diving. Further, as one gets older, the idea of wading over the ironshore and risking a fall is less appealing than it used to be.

We have stayed mostly at Buddys but noticed that this trip, the amount of BS at the front desk and picking up the truck was even worse than previously. The boat diving from their shop was less than stellar as they had a few groups in who seemed to get priority for services, boats and sites. Signing up for boat dives was a PITA as they booked up fully on Saturday and we got there on Sunday. We only got on a boat if someone else cancelled or we were willing to go for a one tank afternoon. The boats moored at the closest sites to the resort, and the DMs were not interested in requests from customers. If we go back to Bonaire, we will definitely not use Buddy Dive Shop again.



The combination of lousy service, aggravation, lousy boat diving, bad food and tired musty rooms, for me means not going back to Buddy Dive Resort either.

I'm sorry if this seems a bit of a rant but after many years of diving Bonaire and staying at Buddy Dive, I was very disappointed.

 

[hilljo88]

This thread seems to have morphed into a general discussion of BON diving, so here goes:

Just back from our most recent trip to BON. In the past we have stayed at Capt Don's (won't go back), Buddy (fine), Harbor Village (outstanding). This time we rented a VRBO near Windsock (also outstanding).

A few comments and recommendations:

-In the past, we have done a mix of boat dives and shore dives. This trip the shore dives were so good that we never got around to booking boat dives. We could dive our choice of sites, on our own time schedule, at our own speed (photographer slow), with a minimum of 60 minutes bottom time and most at 70+.

-SCTLD has had an impact on brain corals in particular throughout the Caribbean. In an attempt to control the disease, various areas in BON have been identified, and some closed. There are now protocols for sterilizing dive gear when moving between more and less affected sites. In general, we were able to dive just about everywhere we wanted including a favorite site in the north (TOLO). Most of the sites we dove had abundant sea life.

-During 6 trips in the last 10 years or so we have personally experienced zero crime, nor have we heard first hand from anyone on a dive boat that they have experienced crime on the island.

-Outstanding dive shop: Wannadive. Great staff, inexpensive package price for air and weights, free Nitrox!

-Food recs: Coral Blue truck. Known for lion fish, beef, chicken sandwiches, but its the sauce with or without jalapenos. Sebastion's: fine dining, sunsets, but don't go on the famous pasta night as the service is overwhelmed. Melisa: sunset cruise, with boozy multicourse dinner served on the deck. Oasis: lively, fun spot but can be busy if a cruise ship is in port. We also ate at two smaller boutique hotel spots that cater primarily to their guests: Beach (not great) and Bonairian (super).

-We had tight returning connecting flights in CUR, and were concerned about our luggage making it. We were traveling on DIVI DIVI's 9 seater from BON to CUR but that flight was cancelled. We expected the worst, but a very helpful DIVI DIVI agent (Mikey) rebooked us on WINAIR's 19 seater. He even came into the waiting area to find me and reticket me. So we made it to CUR, but the clock was ticking and our luggage was still not on the baggage carousel. A very helpful Jet Blue agent went and got the bags, put labels on them and walked us to the head of the queue at both passport control and passenger screening. When we got through those areas, the Jet Blue gate agents were waiting for us and we sprinted for the plane as the last passengers to board. Miraculously, our luggage made it onto the plane, too. Outstanding effort by airline personnel!

 

[goodbuoy]

I am in Bonaire right now and we are renting tanks from 4 Wheel Diving - they say they will deliver for I think $50/week.