Bonaire or Dominica??

[mjh]

We are planning a trip for end of May start of June. It is between one of the two. Has anyone been to both? If only one who did you stay with, dive with, and eat? Any adivce would be welcome. FYI we are 40something, want to dive 4 times per day, and not looking for 4star, but past the days of "roughing it".

Thanks

 

[OceanusDC]

We are planning a trip for end of May start of June. It is between one of the two. Has anyone been to both? If only one who did you stay with, dive with, and eat? Any adivce would be welcome. FYI we are 40something, want to dive 4 times per day, and not looking for 4star, but past the days of "roughing it".

Thanks

I lived on Dominica for 3 years. The diving is good but if you are past the days of roughing it....Dominica isn't the dive destination for you. There is zero night life, no casinos, limited restaurants, high prices and accomodations are somewhat lacking. Don't get me wrong it is a fun place but it is more on the side of roughing it. Bonaire would be the better choice.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

We are planning a trip for end of May start of June. It is between one of the two. Has anyone been to both? If only one who did you stay with, dive with, and eat? Any adivce would be welcome. FYI we are 40something, want to dive 4 times per day, and not looking for 4star, but past the days of "roughing it".

Thanks

Hello, mjh.

I am forty-something with a thirty-something spouse, and we have been to both islands amongst our world dive travels. Since you asked, here's my opinion. FWIW, we're not big 'nightlife' people and prefer to be away from crowds, and enjoy fine dining, and personalized service, including dive service.

Dominica - really enjoyed the trip we made there in November 2002, would go back again if the accomodations we stayed at were still in business (Anse-a-Liane), but sadly no loger there. So many new places to try as well, you know. We tried several dive operators and the one that was our favorite hands down was East Carib Dive

http://www.east-carib-dive.com/

If you contact them with details about what you're looking for, I'm sure Beatrice and Harald could find what you want. Their shop, like where we stayed, was mid-coast on the west side of the island, about equal ways away from both towns. East Carib dive took us to very good dive sites - I'm pretty sure 'Nose' was where we found a 6 inch or so long seahorse for one example. The house reef of East Carib dive is a very nice shore dive from their black sand beach - we saw flying gurnards in the sand flats between the beach and the house reef. The colors underwater in Dominica are very vibrant - far less brown algae than many other Caribbean dive sites we've visited. The local marine biology professor and his students from ITME also use this service provider, so it can be pretty cool to have a Marine Biology PhD and grad students on the same dive boat to chat with. And, the nature trails etc. in the rain forest were wonderful as well. And, we found some GREAT dining while were there - Tamarind Tree was quite good, the lobster in cognac sauce with island spices (including hot peppers) at Sunset Bay Club was sublime, Bea is quite a chef, and Mr. Jones who was at Anse-a-Liane was absolutely impeccable - the type of person you expect to see featured on 'Great Chefs of the World' on TV..

In May / June 2004, we went to Bonaire & Curacao. We stayed at the Bellafonte Chateau de la Mer on Bonaire, and I can highly recommend this property.

http://www.bellafontebonaire.com

We took the 'unlimited Nitrox' package with 2 free boat dives each as a choice among their 'specials' (see their 'specials' list), and we were the only divers on the property at that time and had the drying room to ourselves. The diving right off the deck / dock is great day or night, and it's fairly centrally located without being in town. Tanks can be picked up just on the other side of the airport from Photo Tours at Caribbean Court. Plenty of good dining options on Bonaire as well.

Whichever choice you make, it'll be a good one!

Have a great trip!

 

[RICHinNC]

Well..Im 55 and dang glad about it by the way....but thats a whole other topic.

Ive only been to Bonaire and man, it is hard to beat. Ive dived St Thomas, St John, Barbados and the NC coast....but Bonaire is pure shore diving at its best.

Try www.goldenreefinn.com and i think you will be pretty happy. Liz will take care of you to the max.
good luck
rich

 

[mjh]

Thanks all, every bit of info helps. Warmwater, I am a photography buff and Dominica sounds great to me, but the wife gets a little bored with my "muck crawls" she likes interesting topography and fish life, how would you compare the two?

When I say roughing it I mean cold showers, and cattle boats. We have used Bay Adventures to book Roatan trips (Athoneys, CoCo View, Utila) before with good outcomes. They have packages for:

Plaza Resort and Toucan Diving
Buddy Resort & Buddy Dive Center
Sand Dollar Condos & Bonaire Dive and Adventure
Divi Flamingo Resort and Divi Dive

Is there much advantage to boat diving in Bonaire? One package includes 2 boat diver per day. Does anyone run 6 pack boats like Cozumel?

 

[herman]

Personally I don't see much reason to boat dive on Bonaire with the exception of a trip or 2 to Klein Bonaire. Buddy Dive has a really good operation and they are who I use as a dive op when on island. As to where to stay, if all you need is a clean room and don't mind not being on the water, you can save a bunch by staying elsewhere, $300-400pp. I have a bunch of trips to Bonaire behind me and if I were planning a trip today for my wife and I, I would stay at Golden Reef Inn and dive with Buddy.

 

[pilot fish]

We are planning a trip for end of May start of June. It is between one of the two. Has anyone been to both? If only one who did you stay with, dive with, and eat? Any adivce would be welcome. FYI we are 40something, want to dive 4 times per day, and not looking for 4star, but past the days of "roughing it".

Thanks

Has anyone mentioned to you that there is a bit of a crime problem with rented cars and shore diving on Bonaire?

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Thanks all, every bit of info helps. Warmwater, I am a photography buff and Dominica sounds great to me, but the wife gets a little bored with my "muck crawls" she likes interesting topography and fish life, how would you compare the two?

When I say roughing it I mean cold showers, and cattle boats. We have used Bay Adventures to book Roatan trips (Athoneys, CoCo View, Utila) before with good outcomes. They have packages for:

Plaza Resort and Toucan Diving
Buddy Resort & Buddy Dive Center
Sand Dollar Condos & Bonaire Dive and Adventure
Divi Flamingo Resort and Divi Dive

Is there much advantage to boat diving in Bonaire? One package includes 2 boat diver per day. Does anyone run 6 pack boats like Cozumel?

On Dominica, we didn't do any 'muck diving' - and IMO the photo opportunities are great. Visibility was on a par with elsewhere in the Caribbean we have visited. It was explained to us while we were there that the substrate is really from (geologically) old landslides etc. from this island of active vulcanism, so there's less nooks and crannies for stuff to hide. I remember fire worms in daylight all over as one example. Loads of crinoids of various colors. Azure vase sponges that were electric neon blue. Again, the vibrancy of the colors was very impressive for me. That also holds true above water on Dominica.

Our experience with boat diving on Bonaire was one 2 tank Klein Bonaire trip, and one trip to sites less easily accessed from shore - Rappel and Bloodlet. The rest we did as shore dives. As non-guided shore dives are the norm there, you set your own pace for # of dives a day.

 

[herman]

Has anyone mentioned to you that there is a bit of a crime problem with rented cars and shore diving on Bonaire?

Pilot fish ............Would you please stop the Bonaire bashing? Fact is problem is no where near as bad as you make it out to be and most of the problem is with unthinking divers who leave stuff in unattended vehicles, you know.. just like NYC. And for the record, I have spent 8 weeks over 6 years on Bonaire, traveling,eating and diving all over the island day and night with no, zero, nada problem. I have been with groups ranging from 2 to 24 and no one has had any problems. If I remember correctly, you have spent 1 week there, barely left the resort and had no problems yourself. It's true, the island is not without it's problems but at least I can walk down any street on the island day or nigh, something I doubt you would do in NYC or here in Raleigh for that matter.

 

[mjh]

Don't think anyone is bashing Bonaire, the car issue has been mentioned and as herman said just need to apply common sense. Am willing to pay the extra to be on the water also a "home reef" for some solo night diving would be great, any ideas?