Bonaire or Roatan

[kpickerell]

When are you going in August TC and where are you staying?

Well, I'm going in August. I hope my dive buddies can keep up; I've already got two that said they will.[/QUOTE]

Seriously, I've never needed to go far, or even get in a vehicle, to have a great shore dive. Buddy's and Capt. Don's both have great house reefs and the scenery changes with the critters. Grab a tank and go, night or day. Doesn't get any easier than that.

 

[T.C.]

When are you going in August TC and where are you staying?

Whoops. I meant to say in September/October. We're staying at Captain Don's, but last time we stayed at Buddy Dive.

Seriously, I've never needed to go far, or even get in a vehicle, to have a great shore dive. Buddy's and Capt. Don's both have great house reefs and the scenery changes with the critters. Grab a tank and go, night or day. Doesn't get any easier than that.

I second this!

 

[cathycalg]

Thanks for reminding me about the "herding cats' video!!

 

[diver 85]

Kathy.....I sure would like to go on this next trip...............lolololol.......Joe

(Betsy & I will see you in N.O.----on our way to Bonaire-----in August )

 

[kpickerell]

Joe, you're one of those "cats" I have to herd. :blinking: Kurt's worked his behind off to get us this package. He's just so tenacious that he kept plugging away. I'm grateful, though, that I have such a good sounding board, both within the group and on this forum. It helped solidify the decision. Betsy was a tremendous help with her input as well, and of course Early leaves no stone unturned when it comes to research. Looks like we've got ourselves the annual Boudreaux and Thibodaux dive trip, and the good news is that it's before football season. Yeeehaw!

 

[gbf]

For how many days in a row before you stopped to eat/sleep/pee?

I like Bonaire, but the reality of diving there is after a boat dive in the AM, the drive-to shore dives are single tank excursions (unless somebody remains onshore to guard your stuff & car). Same for a night dive.
-----Nope.

Its really 4x a day max, and that's a hump at that. Driving to a shore dive, gearing up, slogging out and back... That eats a lot of time and a whole lot of energy. It's not like falling off a boat.
------I guess that boat never leaves the dock or takes 0 time to get to the dive site. Sometimes drive/dive can take more time, sometimes a boat dive could take more time. depends.

I look for an "ease" of diving, I give Bonaire a C+ in that regard. You really don't need to go to Bonaire to "just dive-dive-dive". There are a lot of other nice diversions
-----True that you don't need to go to bon for divedivedive, but it sure is easy if one is so inclined. I'd say the ease of diving is about the same between bon and CCV - Boats about the same, shore about the same. One could, of course, climb cliffs on bon if you want:
j/k

in Bonaire, I like to take time for different unusual restaurants, and that takes time to get to and enjoy. I'm not talking about the standard tourist places near the dock.
-----Me too. When I was young and foolish I'd do the 5-6 times a day thing. Now I don't. But I could if I wanted to (on bon). I could get 5-6 at ccv too, but I wouldn't have the option to dive salt pier or 1000 steps or Bari or....

Bonaire has a lot going for it, but 35 in a week is some kind of Galactic Record... Even "12 years" ago.
-----35 is no big deal if you're so inclined (I'm not now, but once was). I guess it would be a galactic record anywhere but Bon.

I like ccv. akr, rhr too. But I dropped them all for Bonaire. Not because any of them were bad - they're all great in their own way. Bon just lets me do it my way all the time - dive when/where I want, how I want, and eat when/where I want. And I like that.

 

[Renae Kearse]

We just returned Saturday from Roatan, CCV. We went to Bonaire in November, Buddy's. This was our first visit to either place and had a great time at both! In my opinion Bonaire is the place we will return to over and over again! The visibility in Roatan (even with perfect weather all week) was disappointing. The visibility in Bonaire can't be beat! The ocean was much more calm in Bonaire which made boat diving much easier. The shore diving in Bonaire is incredible, Roatan doesn't even compare. I loved the drive through tank pick up/drop off at Buddy's!

The most dives we did per day in Roatan was four. In Bonaire I had several five dive days and my husband six. We had no issues with bugs at either place...lucky us, Mosquitos do not like my husband or me lol. When shore diving in Bonaire only take what you will be using on your dive and you will not have any problems with break-ins. The only extra items we took were spare tanks and no one bothered with them.

I had a problem with my back and Nurse Andrea was wonderful at CCV! The DM'S at both places are the very best! The dive lockers at CCV were much better than at Buddy's. I also loved having my dive gear loaded and pre-assembled on the boat dives at CCV!

The AI at CCV was great and we found the food yummy! Adding up the total trip cost including purchasing meals versus AI and everything else, the price for both trips was about the same. You will be pleased with either choice, however Bonaire is our favorite between the two.

We took videos at both places. Due to poor visibility the Roatan videos were disappointing. Here are a couple from Bonaire:

Swimming with the fishies! Bonaire 2012 Bait Ball - YouTube


Stalking a Sea Turtle Bonaire 2012 - YouTube

We saw a lot more sea life in Bonaire than in Roatan. We did see some some sea life in Roatan we did not see in Bonaire and vice versa.


I hope this helps!

 

[uncfnp]

For how many days in a row before you stopped to eat/sleep/pee?

I like Bonaire, but the reality of diving there is after a boat dive in the AM, the drive-to shore dives are single tank excursions (unless somebody remains onshore to guard your stuff & car). Same for a night dive.

Its really 4x a day max, and that's a hump at that. Driving to a shore dive, gearing up, slogging out and back... That eats a lot of time and a whole lot of energy. It's not like falling off a boat.

I look for an "ease" of diving, I give Bonaire a C+ in that regard. You really don't need to go to Bonaire to "just dive-dive-dive". There are a lot of other nice diversions.

in Bonaire, I like to take time for different unusual restaurants, and that takes time to get to and enjoy. I'm not talking about the standard tourist places near the dock.

Bonaire has a lot going for it, but 35 in a week is some kind of Galactic Record... Even "12 years" ago.

Even for an individual of average fitness and a few years on them, 4 dives a day is very doable. Good breakfast, load two tanks, drive to dive site, do dive then either second dive same site in opposite direction or drive to next site in adjunct area and do second dive. Then light lunch, load tanks and repeat above at 2 more sites. Since most divers are on nitrox, by the time you change out gear, you are ready to dive again, no waiting on the rest of the boat with different level divers and some on air to be ready. Leaving tanks in truck is really a none issue and keeping nonessential gear at a minimum is easy enough to do with a little planning. Interestingly, I recently had the same advise of leaving nothing in vehicle when parking at BHB in Florida.

If you do a house or night dive, you can easily add a fifth or possibly even sixth dive for the day but while I go to Bonaire to "dive, dive, dive" that level of diving at this point in my life as no appeal. The only real limiting factor to diving on Bonaire is the divers drive to dive, fitness, and using a dive op with 24 hour tank availability.

 

[diverjen]

Thank you for the comparison! I have snorkeled Roatan 2x before I was a diver, and dove Bonaire on one trip and hope to be back soon. I really appreciate your feedback!

We just returned Saturday from Roatan, CCV. We went to Bonaire in November, Buddy's. This was our first visit to either place and had a great time at both! In my opinion Bonaire is the place we will return to over and over again! The visibility in Roatan (even with perfect weather all week) was disappointing. The visibility in Bonaire can't be beat! The ocean was much more calm in Bonaire which made boat diving much easier. The shore diving in Bonaire is incredible, Roatan doesn't even compare. I loved the drive through tank pick up/drop off at Buddy's!

The most dives we did per day in Roatan was four. In Bonaire I had several five dive days and my husband six. We had no issues with bugs at either place...lucky us, Mosquitos do not like my husband or me lol. When shore diving in Bonaire only take what you will be using on your dive and you will not have any problems with break-ins. The only extra items we took were spare tanks and no one bothered with them.

I had a problem with my back and Nurse Andrea was wonderful at CCV! The DM'S at both places are the very best! The dive lockers at CCV were much better than at Buddy's. I also loved having my dive gear loaded and pre-assembled on the boat dives at CCV!

The AI at CCV was great and we found the food yummy! Adding up the total trip cost including purchasing meals versus AI and everything else, the price for both trips was about the same. You will be pleased with either choice, however Bonaire is our favorite between the two.

We took videos at both places. Due to poor visibility the Roatan videos were disappointing. Here are a couple from Bonaire:

Swimming with the fishies! Bonaire 2012 Bait Ball - YouTube


Stalking a Sea Turtle Bonaire 2012 - YouTube

We saw a lot more sea life in Bonaire than in Roatan. We did see some some sea life in Roatan we did not see in Bonaire and vice versa.


I hope this helps!

 

[Renae Kearse]

Thank you for the comparison! I have snorkeled Roatan 2x before I was a diver, and dove Bonaire on one trip and hope to be back soon. I really appreciate your feedback!

You are so very welcome! I hope regardless of your choice you have a wonderful time!