Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy -book

[Mike]

Is the book Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, worth purchasing before we go? I looked at the website, it doesn't appear there are any maps of the dive sites or anything like that. Is the book worth it or should I just print out dive sites from the Internet?

 

[jupitermermaid]

I have the book and it is extremely useful in my opinion. It gives you the divesites, the level of diver that should dive it, the type of entry and how easy or hard it is, and other useful information. You need to make your decision based on how valuable you think it is, but I myself would never leave home (to go to Bonaire) without it.

 

[joystershell]

Looks like I need to pick myself up a copy of this guide, before our Bonaire trip.

 

[handben]

The book does have its short-comings. Lack of decent maps is one of them. There are also no decent graphics or photos. I also believe that it could use updating since Omar changed the entry of many of the sites as well as the shallow water topography described for many of the sites. However, there is near universal agreement that it is a good reference for shore diving in Bonaire. I recently bought Franko's Guide map of Bonaire on Amazon that I think will pair well with Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. It was 8 bucks and shows the location of the dive sites as well as the common fish found in Bonaire and the street names for Kralenjik. You will be able to find free maps on the island that may suit your needs just fine. There are also free guide books at the dive shops, but these are not nearly as detailed with regards to finding the sites, parking the truck, where to enter the water and so on.

This is a long-winded way of saying - Go buy the book, you won't regret it- assuming you make your trip to Bonaire that is.

 

[jupitermermaid]

Looks like I need to pick myself up a copy of this guide, before our Bonaire trip.

No need to buy another copy. We all can use mine.

 

[joystershell]

No need to buy another copy. We all can use mine.

Thanks sweetie, but a copy of the book becomes my recollection of the trip. Especially since I've stopped logging dives, I can use the book as my reminder as to which sites were my favorites (hopefully all of them).

 

[helimvee]

If you have never been to Bonaire, the book does help with locating some of the sites like Andrea I & II.

As joystershell mentioned, we also use the book to write down things we've seen or other information about the dive.

 

[Mike]

I should have listed the website with the shore dive sites with pretty good details. I think the website free versions might be more robust then the book?


Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Bonaire North, ABC Islands

 

[RJP]

Is the book Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, worth purchasing before we go? I looked at the website, it doesn't appear there are any maps of the dive sites or anything like that. Is the book worth it or should I just print out dive sites from the Internet?

Not a popular opinion here, but I vote no.

If you wanna borrow mine I can send it to you; just promise to send it back when you return. (Not great, but since I already paid for it...I plan on keeping it.)

 

[handben]

Thanks sweetie, but a copy of the book becomes my recollection of the trip. Especially since I've stopped logging dives, I can use the book as my reminder as to which sites were my favorites (hopefully all of them).

If you are able to dive all the sites in one trip; you'll either be extremely busy or have a very long trip. There are 60 some odd sites on Bonaire. I was only able to do 25 dives the last week I was in Bonaire. I think it better to spread it out over several trips.

I'm headed back in March to try to hit some of the sites I've missed. Your mileage may vary - but I tended to enjoy the sites inversely proportionate to their proximity to Kralenjik. The further North or South of town the better. I've still got a number of far south sites yet to dive. Perhaps we'll try a boat dive to Klein Bonaire on this next trip.