Hi everyone. I am looking for someone to tell me which of the above in thier opinion is best. I jus don't know, but I am flying from the UK andit seems a waste to go all that way and be only round the corner from the best diving. I have divied only once in Coz before but it was in 99 after Mitch had played havoc with Honduras and so the viz and currents were pretty bad. Please give me you honest opinions, and recommendations if necessary. Thanks in advance
Bonaire or Cozumel...if you had the choice
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Guess I might as well kick this debate off. For me, it's Bonaire hands down.
I did my first trip to Coz in May and I was not really impressed. I go to dive, eat and sleep. I could care less if there was not a night club or tourist store in 500 miles. Bonaire is a lot more sleepy than Coz. No doubt there will be those that dissagree but I never did find what I considered a good restautrant. To me, they were more interested in a one time tourist and less concerned with quality food or service than most any place I eat in Bonaire. You can't walk 20 feet without a vendor harassing you to buy something in Coz, this type of bahavior is no where to be seen in Bonaire. There are plenty of shops, just no one bugging the crap out of you.
The diving in and of itself is pretty similar as far as life and water clarity is concerned. From the spots I dove on Coz, I saw a lot less soft corals and hard branching type corals like elk horn and stag horn than I am use to in Bonaire. Fish life was similar, mostly small and med size fish. I did see more turtles in Coz. The dive style in Coz is mostly fall off the boat, follow the DM in a fair current, surface, do a SI and repeat. Shore diving is limited in Coz. Our typical dive profiles on Coz started around 90 ft, worked up to around 50 ft for around 45 mins with a 3 to 5 min safety stop. We would do a 1 1/2 hr SI and then a similar profile with a max depth of 50 ft.
The style of diving on Bonaire is totally different. You drive up to a site, suit up and do your own dive, no DM or guides. My typical dive on Bonaire is a shore dive to 40 ft for 70 to 90 minutes followed by a 30- 45 minute SI and another dive of similar profile. 100+ ft deep dives are possible but I choose not to do them. My prefered dive style is to go slow and closely look over coral heads taking photos. The currents and the need to stay with the DM in Coz forced me to abandon my normal dive style and do a more run and gun approch. Boat diving on Bonaire is different as well. They moor the boat to a buoy and allow you to follow the DM if you wish or do your own profile. They typically limit your time to around 60 minutes. Due to the extra cost of more boat dives we opted not to do more dives while in Coz. We get the unlimited shore package when on Bonaire so we typically do 2 morning, 2 afternoon and a night dive about every other night, each dive 70 to 90 minutes long.
In my opnion, if you want to dive 2 or 3 dives a day and party at night go to Cozumel. If you want max bottom time, to set your own dive profiles or to do much photography go to Bonaire. I have several resorts to recommend on Bonaire with wide price ranges.
I did my first trip to Coz in May and I was not really impressed. I go to dive, eat and sleep. I could care less if there was not a night club or tourist store in 500 miles. Bonaire is a lot more sleepy than Coz. No doubt there will be those that dissagree but I never did find what I considered a good restautrant. To me, they were more interested in a one time tourist and less concerned with quality food or service than most any place I eat in Bonaire. You can't walk 20 feet without a vendor harassing you to buy something in Coz, this type of bahavior is no where to be seen in Bonaire. There are plenty of shops, just no one bugging the crap out of you.
The diving in and of itself is pretty similar as far as life and water clarity is concerned. From the spots I dove on Coz, I saw a lot less soft corals and hard branching type corals like elk horn and stag horn than I am use to in Bonaire. Fish life was similar, mostly small and med size fish. I did see more turtles in Coz. The dive style in Coz is mostly fall off the boat, follow the DM in a fair current, surface, do a SI and repeat. Shore diving is limited in Coz. Our typical dive profiles on Coz started around 90 ft, worked up to around 50 ft for around 45 mins with a 3 to 5 min safety stop. We would do a 1 1/2 hr SI and then a similar profile with a max depth of 50 ft.
The style of diving on Bonaire is totally different. You drive up to a site, suit up and do your own dive, no DM or guides. My typical dive on Bonaire is a shore dive to 40 ft for 70 to 90 minutes followed by a 30- 45 minute SI and another dive of similar profile. 100+ ft deep dives are possible but I choose not to do them. My prefered dive style is to go slow and closely look over coral heads taking photos. The currents and the need to stay with the DM in Coz forced me to abandon my normal dive style and do a more run and gun approch. Boat diving on Bonaire is different as well. They moor the boat to a buoy and allow you to follow the DM if you wish or do your own profile. They typically limit your time to around 60 minutes. Due to the extra cost of more boat dives we opted not to do more dives while in Coz. We get the unlimited shore package when on Bonaire so we typically do 2 morning, 2 afternoon and a night dive about every other night, each dive 70 to 90 minutes long.
In my opnion, if you want to dive 2 or 3 dives a day and party at night go to Cozumel. If you want max bottom time, to set your own dive profiles or to do much photography go to Bonaire. I have several resorts to recommend on Bonaire with wide price ranges.
I was typing 
Thanks Herman
Do you know a budget airline in the US that fly to Bonaire. I have just checked the UK website and would you believe it costs about $3,000 to get to Bonaire from here (UK) and I know that I could prob get to Miami for about $1000. Interested to hear about your recommendations too
Do you know a budget airline in the US that fly to Bonaire. I have just checked the UK website and would you believe it costs about $3,000 to get to Bonaire from here (UK) and I know that I could prob get to Miami for about $1000. Interested to hear about your recommendations too
Nobby:
I also would recommend Bonaire over Coz for max bottom time. Rent a truck and dive to your computer's limit. We did 23 dives (total bottom time over 24 hours) in 5 days of diving. The surface intervals were spent driving to get the new tank and to the new dive spot!
I've stayed at both the Plaza Resort (more fancy) and the Sand Dollar Condos (plain). I preferred the Sand Dollar, due to cost. We weren't there for a resort experience, just a clean place to eat and crash between dives. The included breakfasts were pretty good too. We booked it through Caradonna Tours (www.caradonna.com). I would definitely use them again to book a trip to a dive destination in the Carribbean.
FWIW...
pilot fish
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Nobby:
I dove both and think Coz has the better diving, plus the island is not as boring as Bonaire. The vis is better in Coz than Bonaire too. Too many reports of rented cars getting broken into on Bonaire also. The food is better in Coz as well. If you just want to shore dive than Boniare is for you, but if you want some great dive sites, with fantastic vis, than Coz is the ticket. Also, the price is right in Coz. Your pounds will got further in Coz. Best dive value around.
Good, safe diving
There are several ways. KLM flies from your side of the pond to Bonaire fairly regulary. Right now, there are a couple of way to get to Bonaire from the eastern US. Air Jamacia from Atlanta to Montego Bay to Bonaire / Amerian Airlines to Pr to Bonaire or you may be able to fly to Curacao or Aruba and take Bonaire Excel to Bonaire. There is also a group of Bonaire resorts working on a charter from either Atlanta or Ft Lauderdale to Bonaire. They are going to roll out the flight in Aug from what I hear. If you are in no hurry, I would wait to see what comes of this. Any of these are possibilities for you. Bonaire Excel will not show up on regular internet travel sites, you have to book them directly. I have not used them so I am not exactly sure of the process but if you need the info, I know how to get it.
Air is the one big advantage Coz has over Bonaire, it's easy to get there from here.
Air is the one big advantage Coz has over Bonaire, it's easy to get there from here.
pilot fish
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herman:
I'm told Air Jamaica no longer flies to Bonaire.
"the island is not as boring as Bonaire. "
True, which is a big plus to me, I go to dive.
"Too many reports of rented cars getting broken into on Bonaire"
It does happen on occasion but gets blow way out of proportion not to mention no one drives to remote places to dive on Coz which is the norm on Bonaire. No one in his right mind drives in Coz, it's very dangerous.
"The food is better in Coz as well.'
I totally disagree. You don't have to worry about drinking the water on Bonaire either.
"The vis is better in Coz than Bonaire too
Having dove both, I disagree, they are similar on any given day. Bonaire is almost never closed to diving unlike Coz.
"Your pounds will got further in Coz. Best dive value around.'
Not if you base the cost on a per dive or per minute of bottom time. 5 dives a day on Bonaire are the same cost as 2 and it's quite easy to do 5 per day. Resorts, food and air (at lease for me) are a wash.
"I'm told Air Jamaica no longer flies to Bonaire"
They did suspend it for a while but have resumed Sat-Sat service. Some of the weekday flights are no longer running.
True, which is a big plus to me, I go to dive.
"Too many reports of rented cars getting broken into on Bonaire"
It does happen on occasion but gets blow way out of proportion not to mention no one drives to remote places to dive on Coz which is the norm on Bonaire. No one in his right mind drives in Coz, it's very dangerous.
"The food is better in Coz as well.'
I totally disagree. You don't have to worry about drinking the water on Bonaire either.
"The vis is better in Coz than Bonaire too
Having dove both, I disagree, they are similar on any given day. Bonaire is almost never closed to diving unlike Coz.
"Your pounds will got further in Coz. Best dive value around.'
Not if you base the cost on a per dive or per minute of bottom time. 5 dives a day on Bonaire are the same cost as 2 and it's quite easy to do 5 per day. Resorts, food and air (at lease for me) are a wash.
"I'm told Air Jamaica no longer flies to Bonaire"
They did suspend it for a while but have resumed Sat-Sat service. Some of the weekday flights are no longer running.
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