Bonaire VS this or Bonaire VS that ...

[hroark2112]

Is there anyplace else where you can shore dive 24/7 like in Bonaire? Somewhere just as easy? I'd love to hear about others for next year's trip!

 

[Scott from LongIsland]

As a few others have mentioned.... Bonaire is great for what it is = easy shore dive dive dive location. It is not great for big fishlife or exciting reef structure. All the reefs look the same, with exception of a few, that have slightly diff look. The same fish are found at every reef, in great quantities for sure, but not alot of turtles or rays or sharks or... anything big. Yes, a manta is spotted there about once a year but that is all.

I have sort of a Love-Hate relationship with Bonaire. I love the 24/7 diving where my husband and I can dive at our pace, where we want, for as long as we want. I hate the hassles involved with the island, like the restaurants and food issues, rude Dutch people (most of them are quite nasty, IMHO), and the constant worry of theft from vehicles parked at dive sites. (We have never had anything stolen but you always have the worry, so leave windows down and nothing inside car that would cause a thief to break window to get it.)

I think that we must have visited different islands. I am here to give the counter argument as noted above by AggieDiver.

I do find it very odd for a person to comment with such bias about a place that they have never been to though.

Rude Dutch people?? I hate to generalize but if you must do so I find the Dutch to be quite the opposite of rude. I have found the Dutch to be some of the nicest most engaging people that I have met in my travels and I now consider some Bonaire residents friends. I cannot say this about any other island that I have visited. To each his or her own though. I am not sure what you are referring to when you say hassles with restaurant and food issues though. Sure there is no McDonald's but the food on the island is very very good if you choose wisely.

Not a lot of turtles? This is baffling. I just returned from my 9th trip to Bonaire. On one dive we stopped counting at 20 turtles. Heck, snorkeling off Klein you will almost definitely see 4-5 in 1 hour. We even saw a massive loggerhead on one dive. Also, there are multiple mantas there now that are frequently spotted.

There is a huge change in topography (above and below the surface) when you go to the east side...this is often overlooked because a guide is needed and it is hard to get to.

I am one of the Bonaire enthusiasts...I find the island hard to beat. There is no hustle and bustle to sell you things like most other caribbean islands...no big resorts, no spring breakers, no drugs (or at least it is not apparent) and overall just a relaxing and safe place.

I like the fact that I can 100% make sure that we are the only people on a dive site. It is great to be able to wake up with zero schedule and do as many or as few dives as we want.

Obviously, I am in the Bonaire supporter crowd...9 trips and counting. It is indeed a yardstick for Caribbean diving. Yardstick does not make it "the best"...but it clearly does serve this purpose for many many people.

 

[ronscuba]

Is there anyplace else where you can shore dive 24/7 like in Bonaire? Somewhere just as easy? I'd love to hear about others for next year's trip!

When you consider the quantity of dive sites, the short swim out and driving distance from site to site, no place is "just as easy" as Bonaire.

However, places with really good house reefs and facilities, have more dive variety and are in some ways easier. Loading tanks in/out of a car and driving is not necessarily easy. As an alternative, I like Curacao and Cocoview Roatan. Curacao has some really nice beach sites with great diving and facilities. Lockers, bathrooms, showers and a restaurant. You can rent tanks there and skip the whole tank loading thing. Some of the Curacao resorts have fantastic house reefs as well. Cocoview Roatan combines boat dives with unlimited shore diving on the house reef.

Bonaire is definitely a very popular place, with many fans, but there are other places in the Caribbean that are worth trying too. And if you want REALLY easy, a liveaboard.

 

[BDSC]

I think that we must have visited different islands.........I just returned from my 9th trip to Bonaire. On one dive we stopped counting at 20 turtles.

Yep. You were on different islands. I have been to Bonaire maybe 10 times since 1992 and in all those trips, I doubt I have seen 20 turtles for an entire week much less 20 in one dive and that includes the east side.

 

[tkaelin]

Bonaire's big pluses for us is definitely the dive freedom, diving when and where you like as much as you like, with beautiful easy to dive reefs with a great variety and concentration of marine life, with predictably good weather outside the hurricane path. We found the people friendly, the island safe with a wide variety of restaurants. Love the last day lounging at Surf Place. Negative for us is definitely the flight times from NYC. Higher rates not an issue bc you make that up on the inexpensive diving. The almost constant topography, no swim throughs, tunnels and lack of larger fish are a slight negative and that is perhaps why we do visit other islands but the positives will bring us back time and again.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Extensive well-supported shore diving is Bonaire's unique feature. Not everyone prefers shore diving to boat diving--driving a pickup truck, setting up your own gear, and trying to keep your balance while walking down a rocky shore through the surf is not everyone's cup of tea. Someone who prefers diving from a boat and having the DMs help them with their gear wouldn't enjoy Bonaire as much as other places. I find Bonaire to be unique and wouldn't compare it with anywhere else.

 

[drrich2]

It seems like Bonaire is the yardstick for Caribbean diving by which all destinations are measured. Its mostly Bonaire VS this or Bonaire VS that threads that pop up from time to time.

Bonaire offers a good product that appeals to a broad range of North American diving tourists. Therefore, a lot of us have been there, which makes it a good common frame of reference for understanding other locales.

If you put together a poll where people could vote for multiple choices, ask yourself how the results would be if the question were 1.) If you've Dove the Caribbean, which of the following destinations have you dove at some point? Options might be:

1.) Bonaire.
2.) Cozumel.
3.) Bahamas.
4.) Belize.
5.) Grand Cayman.
6.) Roatan.
7.) Curacao.
8.) Little Cayman &/or Cayman Brac.
9.) St. Thomas.
10.) St. Croix.
11.) British Virgin Islands.
12.) Saba.
13.) Aruba.
14.) Turks & Caicos.
15.) St. Eustacius.
16.) Puerto Rico.
17.) Cancun.
18.) Grenada.
19.) Bermuda.
20.) Costa Rica.

I probably missed some, but you get the idea. I suspect Bonaire & Cozumel would be head & shoulders above the rest of the pack, with the Bahamas fairly popular, and after that a drop-off.

The reason we use a yard stick is because it's a widely recognized unit of measure.

If I were pricing a Grand Cayman or Turks & Caicos trip, I'd want to know how it compared to Cozumel.

Richard.

 

[robint]

Not to ruffle feathers.... but anyone who thinks that Bonaire is the yardstick of the Caribbean, hasn't been to very many places, or probably did them all from a cruise ship.
Bonaire is very good, as I said, but Cozumel is far better IMHO due to variety of dive sites, topography, and fishlife big and small. Liveaboards I have done have been better than Bonaire, IMHO, because they got us out to more remote sites with big stuff, like reef sharks and loggerheads sited daily. CocoView Resort Roatan is better, IMHO, because of the fantastic mix of boat diving on spectacular walls as well as freedom of 24/7 shore diving right at house reef to walls or wrecks.

Rude Dutch... yeah, I stand by that remark. The natives (locals) and Venezuelans were all very nice, but I didn't like the Dutch snob attitude. I am military, stationed in Germany for 3 years, so I understand the European attitude... the Dutch living on Bonaire can be quite rude and offputting.

Turtles.... on my first trip there, saw 2 turtles over on Klein dives, may have been same one just diff days. Saw one small one on shore dive at Andrea II site. Last trip saw zero. So that means I have see 2-3 turtles total there. I stand by my assessment.

 

[diverrex]

If you regularly read through all the different regional forums you will find at least Bonaire,Cozumel, Roatan and Cayman all have regular fans that go back year after year. Probably someplace else I missed. Different places appeal to different people and all have their pluses and minuses. I haven't been everywhere but have been to nine tropical locations and still haven't found the absolutely perfect place. I have been to Bonaire more times than any other place but won't say it's my favorite. As others have said the dive sites are mostly all very similar, there is a lack of big stuff and topside is okay but not particularly interesting. I do think Bonaire has lots of good restaurants and the new grocery store is the nicest I have found on any island. As far as turtles maybe I've seen five in a week.

 

[diversteve]

Is there anyplace else where you can shore dive 24/7 like in Bonaire? Somewhere just as easy? I'd love to hear about others for next year's trip!

For the Caribbean - in mostly descending order by available sites:

Bonaire
Curacao
Grand Cayman
Aruba
past here it's more work/driving for less sites
Roatan
St. Croix
Cozumel


Be Alive... ShoreDive! is a good starting point.