I'd second the vote from the previous poster. Toucan - at the Plaza - has 3 smaller boats. I don't think they hold more than 16 divers max, we went out with them 6 or 8 times with never more than 12 on any trip, twice it was 8 and once we went out at 2pm with just the two of us and a dutch couple which is their minimum before cancellation.
And we were there during the first week of Dive Festival this past June, the only week I was told is more crowded is during the Regatta in the fall.
When they ask where to go, make sure you push for Klein or the northwest side of Bonaire. Rappel is a great dive that you can't do from shore on Bonaire, as it's right up against a rock face. Two of the better dives off Klein were Hands Off - drift dive and Forest - Black Coral at 70' - although it's not much to look at in the water.
Personally I'd stay away from Captain Don's, all we saw there were larger boats and it appeared that they're geared to handle large groups, there must be 40-50 lockers in the setup area at Capt. Don's. Cliff off their north dock is a fairly good dive, though you have to pay $5 for the use of the facilities and bring your own air.
A small trip operator is Larry's Wildside Diving, he has a big Zodiac and only dives the rougher waters on the East side. Might be more of what you're looking for in an "experienced" trip. I also read that the sites down south around the Lighthouse are for experienced divers due to the currents.
There's also supposed to be some advanced sites off the Slagbaii park area, although I think you need 4wd to get there, we just had a little Mitsu truck so didn't want to try it.
We stayed at BelMar condos just south of the airport, they have the other Toucan diveshop on premises and the house reef isn't too bad. You'll have to do your first Marine Park buoyancy check/dive to get your Tag anyway, so their reef was a good place. There can't be more than about 10-15 condos in the whole complex and they're relatively new and clean. Onsite Nitrox and an analyzer also. Tanks available 24/7 also.
Plaza Resort, where the Toucan boats leave from is 5 min away. You'll definitely need a truck to get around town and the north/south divesites. Heed what the car rental places tell you and leave the windows down and the doors unlocked at all shoredive sites and don't leave anything in the truck you don't want taken. The divestore operator told us you don't even need to carry your driver's license and you'll only need to show your c-card once when you get your tag.
Also there's now a restriction on diving both Piers thanks to the new Port restrictions. You have to book through a DM (read pay him $20pp or more) provide proof of ID and be accompanied on the dive.
We got in under the wire diving the Salt Pier on our own, Town Pier was always a DM accompanied dive anyway. I read somewhere that they also limit the amount of divers on any given night at Town Pier now also. My dive buddy said while he liked Town Pier, it wasn't something he'd do more than once, I didn't go. Salt Pier was different, it's sort of ethereal with the Salt Pier conveyor supports rising up off the bottom, lots of things clinging to them - lots of fire coral...
Steve
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