Bonaire, Turks, or Bahamas?

[roegenwalder]

Hi. Ok, we're going away next weekend on a somwhat last-minute dive trip. I'm looking for advice.

The options are:
Bonaire (for shore diving)
Turks and Caicos (for a week-long liveaboard with explorer ventures www.explorerventures.com
Bahamas (also for a 1-week liveaboard with Explorer Ventures)

Can anybody vouch for any of these destinations? My considerations are dive quality first and affordability second.

The Bahamas option has the cheapest airfare, but I really have no way of comparing the 3 options. Anyone?

Thanx in advance.

 

[spectrum]

What sort of diving do you enjoy?

How do you fare on boats in terms of motion sickness?

Do you like freedom to roam?

 

[NTSilver]

Having just been on the T&C Explorer II in October, I highly recommend Turks and Caicos. I believe the Bahamas boat is a little older. You will have great diving and a great time on T&C Explorer II.

This was my first liveaboard and I was very skeptical. I was concerned that the boat would be crowded, I would be seasick, and that I would miss land. The boat was not crowded, I took 2 Bonines every morning and never felt sick, and when we came back to port on Friday I didn't want to get off the boat.

While we only saw one eagle ray, the crew advised that they were suprised we had not seen more, however, they attributed this to the water temperature (84 degrees). We did see several turtles, octopus and eels.

 

[dvrliz1]

I' mprejudice...Bonaire, bonaire, bonaire! Our average water temp is 82-84° F and we have lots of eagle rays, turtles, octopus, eels, barracuda, tarpon...too much too mention! Great people, safer than most island, great food, actually easy flight now that Continental flies direct...actually lots of flight options...

SD Magazine has Bonaire rated as the best diving in the caribbean for the last 12 years...need I say more?

Liz

 

[Thresa]

I have never been to Turks so I can't comment on that. I just got back from Bahamas a week ago and went to Bonaire in August. Bonaire gets my vote hands down. The reefs are very healthy with abundant life. There is so much freedom in shore diving as you can dive as much as you want and when you want at your own profile. We did 18 dives in our week trip to Bonaire. The reefs in the Bahamas were very disappointing, but we did see a lot of sharks on one dive, which was really cool.

 

[roegenwalder]

Sooo. Bonaire is the final choice. We were hoping to be gone and back already, but are going next week.

Any recommendations regarding where to stay? Anybody hear anything about Den Laman or Sand Dollar for accommodation+dive packages?

Thanx! Getting excited!

 

[Martha]

My family and I stay at BelMar and really enjoy it. I can't compare it to the ones you mentioned though, because that's the only place we've stayed. You may want to go to bonairetalk.com and do a search. It has plenty of information on accomodations, dining, etc...

 

[rickn]

We stayed at Buddy Dive in October and I can highly recommend it. They have a really nice setup.

 

[Thresa]

We stayed at Buddy's in August and were really disappointed in the accomaditions. It was very run down. We had to move rooms 3 times. We met a few other couples while we were there that had the same opinions as we did. Den Laman is a much newer nicer looking complex. We will stay there next time we visit.

 

[DiverVince]

Den Laman is about a year old, Sand Dollar much older.
Den Laman has nice seaside view if you get one of the seaside units.
Den laman is entirely A/C, however the way the building is constructed you do not get flow through ventilation from the trade winds. So if you like A/C all the time, that's fine, if you shut it off, I suspect you'll be hot..
Den Laman does not have a pool nor beach. There is a restaurant on premises..

Sand Dollar is older as I indicated above. The units do not have as good as an ocean view as Den Laman. It also has a restaurant on site as well as a pool located across the street. I've been in both & personally would chose a seaside terrace at Den Laman of these 2 choices. Both of these are right next to each other & it's EZ to walk from one to the other..