Buddy Dive or Bonaire Dive & Adventure

[JW13]

My buddy (wife) and I are staying at Sand Dollar for a week at the end of this month. We have rented a pickup and plan to do all shore dives, probably 3 - 4 per day including the house reef and night dives. We are debating on whether to go with the onsite dive shop (BD&A) or Buddy's. BD&A has some restricted hours (8:30 - 4:30) which might make it a challenge to get tanks for late or early dives, but they are right there for some pretty convenient house reef dives and gear storage. Buddy's has the drive-up tank exchange which people rave about and several locations on the island which would be convenient when we're away from the condo.

Because our condo is located at the end of Sand Dollar closest to Buddy's (and farthest from BD&A), I imagine we would probably be using the pickup to get new tanks for everything but house reef dives. So, would it make more sense to just use Buddy's for the convenience of the drive-up feature? And does Buddy's have gear storage and busines hours comparable to BD&A?

My apologies in advance. I'm obsessing now about the little stuff because we've never been to Bonaire and the time is drawing near........

 

[ScubaSteve]

Not knowing what Buddy's policies are, I can comment only on BDA. I have dove with them twice and yest their hours suck. To get around this, keep an extra tank or two in your truck for the night or morning dives. They frown upon it if they see it but really, they do not track it so it is a small inconvenience (assuming there is not a whole lot of divers there at the same time). I found the group there to be a great group this time around (I had some problems the first time on the island but was good the second),

All I can say is if you choose BDA, you will be OK with just a couple extra tanks.

 

[BDSC]

When I was there last year I stayed at Sand Dollar and used BDA and had no problems at all. I did just what ScubaSteve001 said and grabbed an extra tank or two if I was going to do a night dive away from the site. But if I remember correctly, they had some dive lockers along the pier that you could put a couple of tanks in if you were going to dive in the evening there at the house reef. Bring a lock because I'm pretty sure you could lock the tanks up you stored in there.

Of course Buddy's would work just as well. Really can't make the wrong decision here.

By the way, me and a buddy of mine will be staying at Buddy's from the 21st - 28th of this month.

 

[denniscloutier]

I just got back from Buddy Dive. They close their drive through at 5pm and open it fairly early. We went through as early as 8 am and could always get tanks. You can still drop tanks off after 5 pm, and they might leave some full ones out as well.

 

[DvrRick]

I just got back from Buddy Dive. They close their drive through at 5pm and open it fairly early. We went through as early as 8 am and could always get tanks. You can still drop tanks off after 5 pm, and they might leave some full ones out as well.

On the dock Buddy's tanks are availbale 24/7 so if the drive through is closed you can get tanks from there. You do have to walk them up the steps but it wasn't a problem when we were there.

 

[Cecil]

If I had a choice I would go with Buddy Dive, I'm not real impressed with BD&A.

 

[scubadada]

All due respect to Cecil, perhaps he's been to both Sand Dollar/BD&A and Buddy Dive. He gives no rationale for his recommendation. I've been to Sand Dollar and used BD&A thrice. I've nothing but positive comments regarding their support of boat and shore diving. Not a single problem encountered. House reef, Bari, is fantastic. Dive with the nauralist, Jerry Ligon, is well worth the modest fee for half day class and dive.

Good diving, Craig

 

[DiveMaven]

We used BD&A for 2 weeks last summer and had nothing but excellent service and convenient tank access. I can definitely see how the hours might inconvenient some (it never bothered us), but tanks are available on the dock until 9:00pm, and there are the small lockers if you want to stash gear or tanks for late night or early morning dives. We'll use BD&A again this summer when we return to Bonaire for 2 weeks.

It sounds like you're interested in the multiple locations to access tanks, so Buddy is probably your best choice just based on that fact alone.

 

[Bob]

I've stayed at the Sand Dollar and used BDA. I've also stayed at Buddy Dive, and they win hands down just in convenience alone. If you use Buddy Dive you will never consider BDA again... almtree: Bob

 

[DeputyDan]

I have used both.

I would use Buddy Dive simply because the orientation at BDA is long - long - long to being beyond stupid.