Trip Report Bonaire trip report and "How to"

[ljwillia]

@mbwilliamn thank you for such a great post. We're going at the end of October. It will be our first time on Bonaire. Your information is so helpful!

 

[ijdod]

Also, I’d recommend everyone do at least one boat dive with East Coast Divers. A great operation with a completely different dive experience than you see on the West coast. This week we had 75-100 Green Seaturtles on a single dive.

I absolutely agree on that one.

A great variation for the excellent Karpata site is to jump in at LaDania's Leap. It's less of a jump than Oil Slick, but there is NO exit there. Dive towards Karpata and exit the water there, then walk back to the car The entrance for LaDania's Leap is about 500m short of Karpata. There's room for 2-3 cars on the right side of the road, with a yellow paint marker on the road, and a pile of rocks/rubble nearby. There is no official yellow marker. Either park here and walk back from Karpata, or drop gear and buddy, park at Karpata, and walk back to start the dive.

 

[blazey07]

I absolutely agree on that one.

A great variation for the excellent Karpata site is to jump in at LaDania's Leap. It's less of a jump than Oil Slick, but there is NO exit there. Dive towards Karpata and exit the water there, then walk back to the car The entrance for LaDania's Leap is about 500m short of Karpata. There's room for 2-3 cars on the right side of the road, with a yellow paint marker on the road, and a pile of rocks/rubble nearby. There is no official yellow marker. Either park here and walk back from Karpata, or drop gear and buddy, park at Karpata, and walk back to start the dive.

That is my favorite dive as well.

 

[PStrangerX]

Very informative post!

If anyone doesn't mind - few questions - a group of 4 of us plan on spending a week in Bonaire next March. I have never rented a car in my beach travels before, but it seems that since Bonaire is focused on shore diving. Will we pretty much need to rent a car or are taxis cheap? With 4 people and dive equipment, will 1 car or 1 taxi be sufficient?

 

[shoredivr]

Very informative post!

If anyone doesn't mind - few questions - a group of 4 of us plan on spending a week in Bonaire next March. I have never rented a car in my beach travels before, but it seems that since Bonaire is focused on shore diving. Will we pretty much need to rent a car or are taxis cheap? With 4 people and dive equipment, will 1 car or 1 taxi be sufficient?

Rent a pickup truck with a crew cab.

 

[ijdod]

Very informative post!

If anyone doesn't mind - few questions - a group of 4 of us plan on spending a week in Bonaire next March. I have never rented a car in my beach travels before, but it seems that since Bonaire is focused on shore diving. Will we pretty much need to rent a car or are taxis cheap? With 4 people and dive equipment, will 1 car or 1 taxi be sufficient?

I agree with shoredivr above, rent a pickup. I'm not sure cabs will even transport 'wet' divers.

 

[herman]

Rent a truck. Almost all of them are manual transmissions so make sure you have at least 1 driver who knows how to drive one.

 

[drrich2]

You can get an automatic transmission truck (at least from some providers), if you book well in advance and pay extra. But don't show up on-island and then mention it.

Richard.

 

[gypsyjim]

Very informative post!

If anyone doesn't mind - few questions - a group of 4 of us plan on spending a week in Bonaire next March. I have never rented a car in my beach travels before, but it seems that since Bonaire is focused on shore diving. Will we pretty much need to rent a car or are taxis cheap? With 4 people and dive equipment, will 1 car or 1 taxi be sufficient?

Rent a pickup truck with a crew cab.

Do NOT let the rental agency talk you into a "free upgrade" to an SUV type vehicle!

Several divers gearing up from the bed, and lowered tailgate of the battered old beater pickup trucks is quite do-able, but trying to gear up from the back of an SUV is a total cluster-F+×÷!
And unless you are very short, doing so leaves scars on your head from trying to duck under the damned lift back! And only 1 or maybe 2 divers at a time can get at the rear of that SUV "upgrade".

Truck rentals and shore diving packages are the way to go if you arenotstaying at a resort. If you are, the resorts usually include those in their package.

We very, very seldom book any boat dives on Bonaire, there is just so much shore diving available, at much less $$

 

[gypsyjim]

You can get an automatic transmission truck (at least from some providers), if you book well in advance and pay extra. But don't show up on-island and then mention it.

Richard.

Or, buy the full coverage, and take the opportunity to learn how to drive a stick shift in a place where there is little traffic, and where you will never see that truck again....?