Buddy Dive vs. Dive Friends (diving only)

[dberry]

Looking forward to my first trip to Bonaire in May. A friend and I have rented a place at Playa Lechi for a week in May, and will rent a truck from AB rentals. All that's left now is choosing a dive op for our tanks, etc. Playa Lechi is literally next door to Dive Friends @ Yellow Submarine, but Buddy Dive is <1 mile up the road. Their prices are EXACTLY the same ($175 for unlimited shore diving, $54 per 2-tank boat dive ala carte, $330 for unlimited shore + 3 2-Tank boat dives, etc.)

Seems a bit like 6 of one, half-dozen of the other. (remember, talking dive ops only.)

Buddy Dive:
Folks on the forum seem to love the Buddy Dive house reef and Drive-thru tank exchange.

Dive Friends:
Main shop right next door to our condo.
House reef - not sure, not as many comments.

Both seem to have outlets scattered around the island for tank exchanges.
Is the distance to the main shops even something to think about? We'll be driving to dive sites most days, no?
After the check-in and orientation, how much "service" do the shops provide?

Does either place offer steel tanks? Or 100s? (My guess would be "no").

So, is there any real reason to pick one place over the other?

Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations.
Don Berry

 

[tursiops]

Buddy Dive does have a few AL100s, that sorta need to be "reserved."
One difference may be night dives...how to get the tanks after 5pm.

 

[darook]

Where you are staying it is a no brainer to use Dive Friends. I have not used them but would really like to on a future trip. For night diving just grab some extra tanks in the afternoon. Playa Lechi is a GREAT dive as it blends into Something Special to the north. All kinds of critters there and would be a great night dive.

 

[Kharon]

+1 for Dive Friends. They have 5 shops where you can pick up tanks and Cliff & Yellow Submarine are two good sites right at their shops.

 

[wwguy]

We've used both on multiple trips over the years.

We've opted for Dive Friends for the past 6 years for several reasons:
- DFB has more locations (5 vs. 3 for Buddy Dive).
- DFB has more convenient locations (for us anyway.)
- DFB has given us consistent 3000+ psi fill pressures and nitrox blends over 15 combined weeks of diving.
- DFB has great managers and dive staff.
- DFB continuously invests money back into expanding and updating their facilities.

The only reason we'd go back to Buddy Dive for tanks would be if we were staying at or very near one of their properties. On our next trip in a few weeks we'll be staying at a VRBO in Sabadeco, near Andrea I & II dive sites. Even though Buddy Dive's Caribbean Club location is closer we'll be driving a little farther to get our tanks from DFB's Hamlet shop.

You mentioned Buddy Dive's drive-thru. If that's important to you DFB has one too at their Hamlet location. Personally I think it's a bit of a novelty. Most non-drive thru locations for most dive operators have tanks located conveniently too.

Ditto on the previous comments that your location makes DFB a no-brainer. DFB's main Yellow Sub shop and boat dock are right next door. If you plan to do any boat dives their dive boats only go to dive sites that can't be reached via shore-diving. The shore diving from their dock north to the mouth of the harbor includes Something Special and is one of my favorites on the island. Sometimes we do variations of this dive site a couple days a week. We've seen turtles, seahorses, octopus, frogfish, tarpon, eels, and schooling squid and many other critters there. (To be fair though, Buddy Dive's house reef is great too.)

All of the dive operators on the island use the ubiquitous aluminum 80 cf tanks, but a few have a limited supply of 65 and 100 cf tanks. (I've seen more 65s than 100s though.) The challenge with the special-sized tanks is that you likely won't be able to simply exchange them. You may need to return them to one of the locations with compressors and wait for them to be filled. IMHO you'd be better off to dive shallower and/or more frequently to more bottom time. The great thing about unlimited tanks is that they're unlimited!

I know from previous experience that DFB offers 10% discounts to guests of some of properties near their locations as incentive to dive with them. It might be worth inquiring about this from whomever you booked the apartment with (I'm guessing Sunbelt or VRBO.)

Enjoy your trip!

 

[howswedeofme]

We also received a 10% off discount from DFB for our rental house (Bonaire Exclusive Bungalows). We received great, friendly service and never had any issues with getting tanks. They were all filled well, and if you're diving nitrox you can't use the drive-thru option anyway (or at least you shouldn't be using it). Parking outside Yellow Sub was never an issue. We either got a spot right out front or, at most, once was about 20 yards down the street. I loved the house reef at Yellow Sub. It's an incredibly easy entry/exit, well-marked at the return point underwater, and very healthy reef (which is true basically everywhere). We saw eels, a turtle, tons of fish, etc. A lot of the dives are the same, sloping reef and the marine life moves around so we really didn't have any "bad" dives anywhere on the island. Buddy's house reef is excellent for a night dive because of the facilities and easily-spotted exit point, but I don't think it's so superior to the Yellow Sub house reef that it would affect my decision on which shop to use. I actually thought Buddy Dive was a bit of a zoo at the actually resort because there are so many people that are staying there/using their facilities. DFB's boat dives also leave from Yellow Sub, so if you're already right there, it's an even more relaxing morning!

 

[dberry]

OP here - Many thanks to those who offered advice. Seems like Dive Friends Bonaire is the obvious choice, especially given where we're staying. And special thanks for those who mentioned possible discounts. I sent a simple question to the realtor (Kittie at Sunbelt Realty) and the next day I got a (slightly) discounted quote from AB rental and a voucher for 20% off from Dive Friends that's good for both me and my friend.

Once again, the ScubaBoard community rocks!