Bonaire vs South East Asia

[caymaniac]

Hi there!

We're thinking a lot about going to Bonaire for our next dive trip, but my concern is that we've been diving in Fiji, Komodo, Thailand and Burma, and LOVED it there (fields of corals! zillions of fishes!). Afterward, when we did Cozumel, and then... well, we were a bit disappointed...

I'm wondering how is Bonaire compared to those places?

We did a couple of LOB, and really liked it. One aspect that is attracting us to Bonaire is the freedom of diving by ourselves, as long as we want (or can). We like to take our time, and look at the small critters in the shallows.

Thanks for your feedback!

You will not have the Pacific biodiversity in the Caribbean. (period) Yes, the Pacific will far out do the Caribbean when it comes to fish and coral, for instance, the Pacific in Fiji you can have up to 40 species of angel fish (total count in the Pacific and other than the the Atlantic is 76), in the Atlantic 6, the coral species in the Pacific can reach near 1000, the Atlantic maybe 300. You can't expect these oceans to compare, the Pacific is a lot older than the Atlantic for one reason.

What you can expect in Bonaire is that you can shore dive one whole side of the Island, this is often not possible in the Pacific. It is a very relaxing way to dive, and the diving is good, very seldom is there a current, Bonaire and the Caribbean is just not comparable when it comes to marine life.

I've been to Little Cayman after going to Papua New Guinea and it seemed the diving was not that great. But there is no comparison, it didn't take us 29 hours by air to get to the Caymans and it is more affordable because of the distance in time and money. Little Cayman after all is IMHO the best reef diving that the Caribbean has to offer. Bonaire is the easiest land based place to dive......let's not even think about how easy a liveaboard is and how it compares to Bonaire

 

[scubachica]

As everyone else has said, you can't compare. I've been diving in both Fiji and Thailand and don't look for similar "paradises" in the Caribbean, even though I still daydream about soft coral and clown anemonefish. I just came back from my first trip to Bonaire, which I've resisted for some time as I thought it would be a big disappointment despite the enthusiasm other divers have for the place, and can tell you this: the reefs are very healthy, there's an incredible amount of marine life, I saw fascinating critters that I didn't see in other parts of the world, and I thoroughly loved the freedom and flexibility of shore diving. Bonaire didn't have the wonders of SE Asia, but it had wonders of its own, including great and extensive shore diving. As someone said, the best dive is the one you're doing now. I found that to be true in Bonaire.