Bonaire w/Kids

[ednedfred]

We have two kids 9 & 7. Wife doesn't dive. Any suggestions for a good spot in Bonaire that is #1 Kid friendly #2 Family friendly?

Thanks

 

[herman]

Well, Bonaire is really best suited to divers, not a lot of shopping and the like. If the wife is not happy laying around the pool, biking or snorkling, she may get a bit bored. There are only a couple of nice (wide/sandy ect) beaches on the island. Most are pretty rugged with coral and iron stone. There is some great (or at least I am told) wind surfing as well. As for the kids, this may be to their liking http://www.discoverbonaire.com/dive/kids.htm
The SandDollar resort that has the above kids program is also a pretty nice place to stay and dive from so you could do it all at one place. They have just build a new dock and dive shop. www.sanddollarbonaire.com
Two other places to stay are the Plaza, a bit more upscale and Buddy Dive (my favorite and is next door to Sand Dollar). No matter where you choose to stay, be sure you include a vehicle of some sort, you really need one on Bonaire.

You may want to go over to the Bonaire board and ask there for some more ideas. www.bonairetalk.com

The diving on the other hand is great....well worth having the wife and kids mad at you for a while hehehe.

 

[Rick Murchison]

We've been taking our youngest to Bonaire since she was 5, and she has always had a blast (she's 14 now and an "Advanced Scuba Diver"). Swimming, snorkeling, goofing off... and the Sandollar program can be used whether you stay there or not.
The Lovely Young Kat & I both dive, so our typical routine was to dive with another couple in shifts, where we'd watch the kids while they dove and they'd watch 'em while we dove. Worked out great.
Rick

 

[ednedfred]

Thanks for the information. I'm still exploring the island as it may be too little to do for the spouse and boys. Any recommendations on dive operators?

 

[scubagrl]

As far as kid's programs, check out Caren at Sea and Discover. Some friends of mine put their kids in this program every year and they love it! Caren is a PADI divemaster, has a masters degree in Marine Biology and will pick your kids up wherever you are staying.

http://seandiscover.com

 

[herman]

ednedfred once bubbled...
Thanks for the information. I'm still exploring the island as it may be too little to do for the spouse and boys. Any recommendations on dive operators?

The island has lots of good dive ops. Come to think of it, I have not heard of a bad one. You can use any that are on the island no matter where you are staying, but I just use the one that is on site where I am staying, it just makes life easier. Stay,pay,dive and sleep at the same place. We stay at Buddy Dive so we use the Buddy Dive shop. Others that have good reps are the shop at Sand Dollar(not sure what they are called now but I can assure you Andre has a first class op), Bon Bini located at Lions Dive, Capt Dons located at Capt Dons, Tocan and Wanandive, not sure what resorts the last 2 are associated with. This is by no means a complete list, just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.

 

[mlove]

There are actually a lot of things on Bonaire of interest to kids. There is the flamingo reserve, Washington Park, the salt mountains, the cave snorkeling is great if they are in fairly good health. I just returned two weeks ago with my 75-year-old mother in law, we took her touring in between dives, and still got 3 dives a day in. I recommend Buddy’s for its laid back atmosphere, and great breakfasts.

mike