Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, 6th Edition - ???

[ernani]

Without going into the essence of the value of this little booklet - I was not impressed neither with the information nor with accuracy - I would like fellow ScubaBoard readers to know that while author charges 20.95 USD to get it to you on the mail in the US or 25.95$ elsewhere, it costs no more than 15$ to buy it on the island [and you really do not need it ahead of time for planning [there is precious little relevant info].

I am sure to make some enemies with this posting, as writer is very popular within her community, but I was not a happy customer.

 

[Angry Turtle]

I own the book, yet I think it could be enhanced to a good degree if it had diagrams of the sites.

I borrowed a book from a friend that had a very similar scope, but included site diagrams including the reefs general layout. That helped me navigate as I knew from the get go the underwater layout.

 

[deco_martini]

I've seen lots of happy customers.

However between the maps we got on the island and the little bit of info on shorediving.com, I don't feel like we ever lacked info we needed to find a site or make a decision.

Reef maps? Really?

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That'll be 20 dollars. Buying the book might be great for some people. For others, it will be overkill.

 

[texbob]

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LOL. Just returned from my first Bonaire trip and this is so true.

 

[drrich2]

I liked the book; simple & to the point. Can be crammed into a log book cover for me.

For a more in-depth treatment of Bonaire, covering the island itself, I picked up the Lonely Planet series book on Bonaire.

Richard.

 

[deco_martini]

Don't forget the occasional double-reef.

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or the Hilma Hooker

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[DiveMaven]

We got the book before our first trip to Bonaire and found it to be a huge help in picking sites, etc. We even took notes on the pages about each site (condition of reef, etc), in anticipation of our return trip the next year. Sadly, I forgot to pack the book the next year and although at first I was a little disappointed, we found after about 10 minutes that we really didn't need it. Last year when we returned for our third trip, I didn't even consider taking the book.

So I would say the book can be extremely helpful to first timers to the island who want to go off by themselves and may not have a lot of shore diving experience. Those who have been to Bonaire would likely not find it to be a useful resource.

 

[ernani]

So I would say the book can be extremely helpful to first timers to the island who want to go off by themselves and may not have a lot of shore diving experience. Those who have been to Bonaire would likely not find it to be a useful resource.

While I totally understand your take, I tend to disagree; You had an old addition - the new one is more "careful". There are more locations marked as "advanced", and I am afraid to say without ANY reason. Either the writer is afraid of responsibility or worse, she has an agenda - keeping some of the dive sites less busy. I found the information misleading in many cases [and inaccurate in others]. I think diving Bonaire is an excellent opportunity for many divers to build confidence in themselves and shore dive alone [alone, being without a dive-master holding their hand]. Get some info at your dive operation and go diving - the book will only increase anxiety in few of the better dive-sites, stating that they are "advanced" or "long swim" etc. [short swim = 4 minutes, long swim = 6 minutes?.....give me a break, please].

I seriously see little merit in this little, expensive booklet - sorry.

 

[pdive]

I never understood buying a dive guide book since even the most recent edition is dated. Storms, run off, temperatures, construction, site closures, etc... won't be captured. There are so many other resources that can give you more up to date descriptions of what the diving is like and what people are seeing at sites - the divers staying in the room next to yours, Bob at Wannadive D), Scubaboard to name a few.

A book makes sense if you are going to Disney World and none of the attractions are going to change, not for diving given all the other resources available.

My $.02