My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Bonaire August 10-25, 2024. Since I have written a number of trip reports on Bonaire that can be accessed on the forum, I will just take the time to highlight a few things that would be new or different.
Reef Conditions: Overall, I felt that the reef conditions were in solid shape. The southern reef sites in particular with all of their soft corals were quite healthy and beautiful. The further north the better and the sites closest to town are in the worst shape (Oil Slick on the north end to Windsock on the south end). We had some incredible massive bait ball encounters at Vista Blue and Bachelor Beach over the entire two weeks. Water temp was a consistent 85 degrees. We were in Bonaire for 2 weeks last August also, and if anything, the reefs were in better shape this year.
We were able to dive Bari Reef on a few occasions. There is public access from the new park south and adjacent to Den Laman Condos via the roundabout. The name of the park escapes me and has been under construction for quite some time and they were putting the finishing touches on it while we were there. There is a parking lot and a short paved walk down to the shoreline. I also had a wonderful 10 minute encounter with a spotted eagle ray at Salt Pier one monring.
Accommodations: We have stayed at a lot of different places over the years (Air BNB, VRBO villas, Den Laman, Bamboo Bonaire…) This trip we stayed at a new location (for us) called Bloozz Resort. It is right across the street from Bachelor Beach. Cannot be missed. The website does a good job of accurately depicting the place. It is newer, very clean and well taken care of. The staff is responsive, there is an on-site bar, restaurant and nice swimming pool. We stayed in a water view studio suite on the 2nd floor overlooking the pool, bachelor beach and with sunset views from the large shaded outside deck. Kitchen was well equipped with everything needed for a lengthy stay including a dishwasher and full size fridge. There was a picnic sized cooler available to use when out for the day and plenty of towels for showering and the pool/beach/diving. There are good sized lockers for each individual that has its own padlock and key. Small rinse station with 4 sinks (adequate). On site parking, but the parking spots are tight for getting in and out. There is also an on-site dive shop, but we did not use them.
Dive Shop: We have historically used Dive Friends Bonaire over the last 10 years due to the numerous number of tank fill locations and we have often stayed at Den Laman Condos which has a Dive Friends on site. However, the last couple trips, we have been using VIP Diving. We have found their tank fills and nitrox fills to be extremely consistent and we never have an issue with o-rings. It is a well-run operation and they are excellent with communication and are one of the best when it comes to price point (10% discount for repeat customers and an additional 10% discount on that for pre-payment 2 weeks in advance, no upcharge for Nitrox and 3 different tank sizes going up to 100cf). They only have 1 fill location, so that is something to consider. They also offer on-site gear rinsing and secure 24 hour access to a locker room and tanks for night/dawn dives.
I guess that is about it. We will be going back for another 2 week the end of January and looking forward to it.
