BONAIRE: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Trip Report, May 16 - 23)

[arubabob1]

You said Karpata was one of your favorites. If you keep going further, that's when the diving really gets good. It is off road but the diving is great. The East coast is also awesome!! The weather needs to be right for that. I never had a hard time getting 5 dives in a day but you have to either do a early morning dive or a night dive. Then 5 dives a day on Bonaire is a piece of cake!! I have been to Bonaire 5 times and have never had any trouble with getting broken into. We don't leave anything valuable in it and leave it unlocked. I know you said you had some pills taken but now a days, you can't leave pills out where someone else can grab them. Its just the way it is. We ate breakfast in the room and took lunch with us. Then we ate about every other night out and grilled in the room the other nights. If you want to eat cheap on Bonaire, its possible. If you want to spend a lot, Its also possible. We don't drink so I am sure that saves us a bundle!!!!!

 

[ManBearPig]

This has been very informative. Thank you. I too dive Morehead City and love it but am contemplating a trip with a local shop to Bonaire in the fall. As I like big life like sharks I may just pass on Bonaire. Seems like you can dive a lot but if all there are is tiny things to see, that does not sound like my jam.

 

[tursiops]

If you read the CAPTAIN's other postings, you can see that he was prepared before going to really dislike Bonaire. I'd say he got pretty much what he was looking for.

I'll be making my 29th trip there this Fall, each for 1 or 2 weeks, spread over the last 16 years. I'm tempted to disagree with him on nearly all of his conclusions, but mostly disagree on his "can't do more than 3 dives a day" statement. That is just crazy. Also just crazy is his "no cheap restaurants" statement.

Of course, he was there for a week, doing 3 dives a day, so hit at most 20% of the dive sites. I'd say he is completely unqualified to say all the sites (except Karpata and Salt Pier) look alike!

 

[drrich2]

This has been very informative. Thank you. I too dive Morehead City and love it but am contemplating a trip with a local shop to Bonaire in the fall. As I like big life like sharks I may just pass on Bonaire. Seems like you can dive a lot but if all there are is tiny things to see, that does not sound like my jam.

Enjoy it for what it is, not what it's not. A number of medium things; blue striped grunts, school masters, French & queen angelfish, lots of parrotfish or varied types, trumpet fish, small barracuda, and schools of French grunts & other things. Spotted morays here & there.

For big, small to medium & occasionally large sea turtles (hawksbill & green are what I've seen), green morays, tarpon, occasional big barracuda, occasional tiger grouper (I've not seen goliath, Nassau or black grouper there; someone reported seeing a goliath once I know of), cubera snapper, rainbow parrotfish, midnight parrotfish, those are the main things off the top of my head.

I don't seen pork fish or gray angelfish for whatever reason, & don't see sharks there.

Lots of corals, gorgonians & sponges.

I hope to hit Morehead in August. You've got big stuff & all the sharks you can stand there. Try something different; you might like it. After all, that's the spirit I planned my Morehead trip in.

Richard.

 

[darook]

I appreciate this report. It does not comport with my experience but everyone's experiences are different. This October will be my 6th trip to the island and they all will be different as well. This next trip for me has some boat diving in it as it was included in our shop's package. I think having a DM this trip to find some cool stuff will be nice. I plan to still get in 4-5 dives a day including the boat dives.

With airfare what it is the more negative reviews the better!

 

[Hintermann]

So many posters make Bonaire seem like this magical, mystical place.

It is nothing of the kind. I was also in Bonaire for the first and last time almost in the same week as the OP (I was there 19th to 26th May). IMO Bonaire appeals to those who want to have "total diving freedom" of diving when and where they want and admittedly, the place is good for that. But the quality of diving in terms of marine life is nothing out of the ordinary even by Caribbean standards. I have had far better dives in Turks & Caicos and the Cayman Islands, particularly Little Cayman.

I rated my trip as very good but that was largely because of the super-excellent service provided by VIP Divers, with whom I dived. Without them, my trip would have been very ordinary. In fact, I found the little inconveniences of diving in Bonaire more than 'little' - remembering NOT to take anything that won't go underwater with you, having to change in sandy areas and get muck into your wetsuit & booties, the lack of fast-food outlets etc.

 

[RJP]

But the quality of diving in terms of marine life is nothing out of the ordinary even by Caribbean standards. I have had far better dives in Turks & Caicos and the Cayman Islands, particularly Little Cayman.

In ten years on SB, BonaireTalk, etc I don't think I recall anyone - even the most ardent Bonaire fan - ever suggesting that tha quality of Bonaire diving was anything out of the ordinary.

Then again, "quantity" has a quality all its own.

---------- Post added June 23rd, 2015 at 07:10 AM ----------

In fact, I found the little inconveniences of diving in Bonaire more than 'little' - remembering NOT to take anything that won't go underwater with you, having to change in sandy areas and get muck into your wetsuit & booties, the lack of fast-food outlets etc.

Again, I'll pose the question: Did you do any research before you went?

I know you posted umpteen threads asking questions. So how did you get to a tiny tropical island known for shore diving and end up finding yourself significantly inconvenienced by having to change in sand areas? (PS - next time stand in the bed of the pickup.) How hard is it to remember not to take something diving that you wouldn't take underwater? As for the "inconvenient" lack of fast food outlets... well, I'll just leave that one alone.

 

[drrich2]

In fact, I found the little inconveniences of diving in Bonaire more than 'little' - remembering NOT to take anything that won't go underwater with you, having to change in sandy areas and get muck into your wetsuit & booties, the lack of fast-food outlets etc.

Hadn't thought about the wetsuit angle since I don't wear one there. I think every dive operation/environment has its own 'workflow.' Many people come to Bonaire accustomed to boat diving, with it's advantages (which they've come to like) and disadvantages (which they've come to accept/overlook). Your 1st time in Bonaire is an adjustment. One reason you see so many of us repeat trips there is because once you get the workflow down, there's a lot to be had from it.

Richard.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Holy piling on, Batman! Okay okay, I get it. I, too, am perplexed by the OP's experience. Maybe not a "magical, mystical place" as someone alleged it's been portrayed, but I can see there are quite a few of us who feel strongly that Bonaire can have advantages over some of the other popular destinations. I will never try to argue Bonaire is a good fit for everyone, but it does seem well liked by many.

If I had to summarize my thoughts into just two points that are the polar opposite of the OP's experience, I would have to say:

1) I manage to get more dives in on Bonaire trips than I do anywhere else except a liveaboard, not fewer dives. More dives, and with less stress than I find a boat gives me. If I'm running 20 minutes late, people are not waiting for me on a boat. If I want to sit out a dive, I can do it without feeling like I'm losing money. Okay, you get the point: Freedom! I give that a lot of weight. The OP seems to give more weight to other things. Fair enough. To each his own.

2) I end up spending less money per dive than I do anywhere else (liveaboard probably included). I think the OP recognizes that he's not going to get good value eating his meals out, but I believe he said he didn't like to cook. Well, that explains how Bonaire seemed expensive. I found the "nice" restaurants fun for the first few trips, but it's not like they're Michelin starred or something--in the restaurant universe, they are just okay and they are not a good value for thrifty people. If I want a nice meal out, I can do it back in the US. In Bonaire, I tend to be thrifty. I rent a condo with my dive buddies, and we often make breakfast out of the leftovers from dinner--breakfast never ends up being much of a cost. Lunch is sandwiches: buy a kilo of ham and a kilo of cheese from the supermarket when you arrive, and eat lunches on the beach between dives. If you go to a restaurant, sure, you'll be eating right into your afternoon dive time. Lunch is not the meal to eat out.* When we do take a night off and eat dinner out, it's Bobbejan's or something on the low end of the price scale. The Chinese places can be great fun, too.

*I'll make an exception for lunch out at the snack shacks that offer goat stew, when we happen to see one or set aside a day for that.

Imagine the nerve.. a Dutch grocery store on a Dutch island!

Of course there are many places to buy groceries on Bonaire. Van Der Tweel is great, offering most major US brands of anything you might want. But there are several other large stores, and a great many smaller shops.

"Van den Tweel." If you're going to point out the Dutch-iness of it, at least get the name right.

 

[tridacna]

"Van den Tweel." If you're going to point out the Dutch-iness of it, at least get the name right.

You may also want to stuff a few shopping bags in your luggage. If you arrive sans same, you will be charged for bags at VDT.