Bonaire is small enough you can drive from wherever you stay to anywhere else. So location on-island isn't as big a deal as it would be with Roatan, from what I understand.
Proximity to the capital city (for big grocery stores & restaurants), the house reef (handy for night dives, and convenience dives) and locations farther north (Caribbean Club Bonaire) or south, whether there's an onsite restaurant or dive boat pickup, a number of things discriminate.
The the 1st timer, I would suggest you decide if walking into town is a big deal. I hear you can do that from Divi Flamingo, which is toward the south of town, and it seems to have its fans.
North of town, but still fairly centrally located on the island, there's a dive resort strip I'll list from north-to-south. To the north of them a little is the little Zhung Kong grocery store, which a number of us like.
1.) Beach Comber Villas (also Hamlet Oasis) - house reef is The Cliff.
2.) Captain Don's Habitat - nice house reef, but reviews are more mixed than some competitors from what I recall.
3.) Buddy Dive Resort - nice operation, airport shuttles to & from so they come get you & take you back, rental your truck on grounds, dive boats pick up there, nice house reef & it's nice whether you enter & head north, or south. Seems to be the standard others are measured against, & what I recommend for the 1st timer.
4.) Sand Dollar (Condo.s) - house reef is the well-loved Bari Reef. Choice of dive op.s; Dive Friends (seems very popular) or Bonaire Dive & Adventure (seems to me more mixed reviews, but you can use the pier if you are with BD&A, though I don't think that's a big deal).
Seems like on the forum I hear Buddy Dive & Sand Dollar mentioned the most, with a smattering of others afterward.
If you want an automatic transmission truck, request well in advance & expect to pay another $150 or so.
There are another of other options; I'm just laying out what I think are popular 1st line choices. In time, you may want to consider Bamboo Bali, Dive Hut, an all-inclusive at the Plaza, etc...
Richard.
P.S.: If you want to save yourself a head ache, book it with Buddy Dive Resort for your 1st trip. They're not perfect or everybody's favorite, but they're well-liked by a legion of customers, the house reef's fine, the restaurant is decent, it's good.
P.S. #2: The glory of Bonaire is shore diving. At Buddy's, boat trips may be single tank, and carry quite a number of people. If for whatever reason you plan to mainly boat dive & want to do small group diving, perhaps someone else can better inform the discussion.
