Cash money and diving questions

[cruxpot]

Hi guys,

I'm going to Bonaire on Saturday, first time! I am trying to determine how much cash to bring. I have an ATM and credit cards with no foreign transaction or other fees so I can use them freely. I transferred some money to my ATM accounts but I'm wondering what the machines are like and whether Dive Friends accepts credit card (staying at Sand Dollar). The less cash I need on me, the better but I will pay cash to avoid fees that merchants on the island try to charge.

Also, how difficult is it to buddy up? Should I do it in advance of landing or simply go to a dive shop and add my name to a list or do a boat dive to meet people? Unfortunately, my wife won't be diving with me so I'm gonna be on my own. I rented a Jimny so I could get around and do some shore diving and site seeing. Is it possible to just pull up to a dive site and ask to jump in with someone?

Any experience with using a SIM card on the island with an unlocked phone or is it not worth the cost?

How deep is the house reef in front of Sand Dollar?

 

[diversteve]

There are ATM's all over. Downtown, Airport, inside the food stores etc. There used to be one in a freestanding kiosk in the little shopping mall adjacent to Sand Dollar - probably still is. Now they likely all give dollars.
Branches & ATM's | Maduro & Curiel's Bank (Bonaire) N.V.
Girobank Bonaire - Locations
Banking on Bonaire | InfoBonaire

How deep is the house reef in front of Sand Dollar?

4. Bari Reef
Boasting a large number of fish species, Bari Reef is an easy shore dive that is usually very calm with no current. You may see tarpon swim by, and can find seahorses and octopi, on the colorful reef. This site is #1 in the entire Caribbean for the fish diversity with over 300 species sighted and surveyed. Depth 30-100 feet (10-30 meters)

Also, how difficult is it to buddy up? Should I do it in advance of landing or simply go to a dive shop and add my name to a list or do a boat dive to meet people? Unfortunately, my wife won't be diving with me so I'm gonna be on my own. I rented a Jimny so I could get around and do some shore diving and site seeing. Is it possible to just pull up to a dive site and ask to jump in with someone?

It depends. I was asked about 3-4 times - usually at/near a dive dock or rinse tank.

Bari is a pretty popular spot - people should be entering from 3 places - your resort on the south end by the tank house, Bonaire Dive/Adventure at Den Laman Condo's next door or next door to Den Laman there's a "public" entrance to Bari for non-guests of either. It may not be there now, there was an on-going project to renovate the beach in that area and make it into a beach with paid amenities - but I didn't see dive shop on the list. BD&A's owner is going to be a little fussy if he sees you walk over from Sand Dollar and use the dock but "your" entrance is 20' away off the beach.

Buddy's Bar to the north is a likely spot also for the next day. Or Habitat north of that. Good crowd at both bars generally. It used to be possible to walk along the water between them - IDK if it still is. I think probably 75% of people you meet at restaurants/bars/flights are divers - the rest are kitesurfers - or cruise tourists if you happen to be in town that day.

I'd contact Dive Friends now and see if they can add you to any list they might have instead of waiting till you arrive. Boat dives are another good option - we met several people/groups from our boat (of 12) at different dive sites later that week. I suppose we could've asked them on the boat what their plans were but we weren't looking for a third.

Based on our experiences in summer you should reliably be able to find other divers at the Hooker, Salt Pier (if no ship is tied up) and likely Angel City or Invisibles. It might've just been a fluke but there must've been 7-8 trucks parked at Webers Joy/Witches Hut one afternoon. The "leaps" are also popular - things seem to thin out a little past the one way heading north towards Karpata. And to a lesser extent south past the Salt Pier.

 

[howswedeofme]

My husband and I brought $200 with us and didn't use it all. We used cash at a food truck and a couple other places for some small purchases, but more or less every restaurant and store we went to took credit cards. Dive Friends took card at their Yellow Sub location so I assume the other ones do. I believe that the mandatory marine park fee ($25) is cash only.

There are a couple threads on here that address finding a buddy. You can also post on Bonaire Talk. Dive Friends had a board at their Yellow Sub shop for buddying up if i remember correctly or you can hire a DM to shore dive with you. We didn't see people at every site we went to, but there were people at most sites. It's possible you could hop in with a group if you hung around the more popular sites.

The house reef in front of Sand Dollar - Bari Reef - is similar to the sloping reef around most of the island. You can go quite deep or stay more shallow for a longer dive. We generally stayed between 45 and 70 feet until we came up to the top of the reef to do a safety stop while still diving. Bari Reef is a great dive though, and excellent to have as a house reef.

We did not use an unlocked phone on the island; we only used our phones when we had some wifi to check work email. A couple restaurants had wifi we could hook into.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I suspect this is just repeating what others' said, but ...

. . . I have an ATM and credit cards with no foreign transaction or other fees so I can use them freely. I transferred some money to my ATM accounts but I'm wondering what the machines are like and whether Dive Friends accepts credit card (staying at Sand Dollar). The less cash I need on me, the better but I will pay cash to avoid fees that merchants on the island try to charge.

Dive Friends takes Visa (no AMEX), and they told me they don't give a discount for paying cash, which is sort of the flip side of your question about merchants adding fees for paying with a credit card. I prefer paying cash to anyone who will give me a discount over a credit card.

Any experience with using a SIM card on the island with an unlocked phone or is it not worth the cost?

I don't know, but I'm interested in this as well. We often buy local SIM cards for our unlocked phone--in Cozumel for example--as it's often cheaper than an international roaming deal if all one wants to do is make local calls. But we haven't tried it in Bonaire. I hope someone chimes in with an answer. You might also try posting the question on Bonairetalk.com, as you would be more likely to get a reply from a Bonaire resident.

 

[oldschoolto]

You can Solo dive all you like on Bonaire... No scuba cops....

Jim....

 

[tursiops]

I've had a local SIM card my last two visits, with both voice and data plans. I'll not do the data again...a bit pricey and not really worth it if you've got WiFi.
Voice was handy.
The problem is you've got to go to Digicel downtown to get the SIM card..and they are not open weekends, or at least not on Sunday. And there is a waiting line at all times they are open.
I'm going to try a World SIM card (starting tomorrow!) and its own cheap voice-only phone for Bonaire, Mexico, Philippines, Cayman, etc. Won't have to keep changing things on arrival departure, and it looks like it will actually be cheaper.

 

[parachute]

Hi guys,

Also, how difficult is it to buddy up? Should I do it in advance of landing or simply go to a dive shop and add my name to a list or do a boat dive to meet people? Unfortunately, my wife won't be diving with me so I'm gonna be on my own. I rented a Jimny so I could get around and do some shore diving and site seeing. Is it possible to just pull up to a dive site and ask to jump in with someone?

When I've gone solo and needed a buddy, I've done every single one of the things you've mentioned in the paragraph above with reasonably high success rates.

 

[cjibber]

There is an ATM at the bank next to Sand Dollar - it is less than a minutes walk away and you just about walk past it to get to Dive Friends. We have used this ATM many times without any problems. Dive Friends at Sand Dollar do accept credit cards.

 

[herman]

A couple of additional notes. Bonaire now uses the US dollar so there should be no transactions. All the reefs on Bonaire drop off very slowly so the depth you dive is completely up to you. Don't blow past the shallow (5-20 ft) areas, there is a lot of life there if you take the time to look.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I've had a local SIM card my last two visits, with both voice and data plans. I'll not do the data again...a bit pricey and not really worth it if you've got WiFi.
Voice was handy.
The problem is you've got to go to Digicel downtown to get the SIM card..and they are not open weekends, or at least not on Sunday. And there is a waiting line at all times they are open.
I'm going to try a World SIM card (starting tomorrow!) and its own cheap voice-only phone for Bonaire, Mexico, Philippines, Cayman, etc. Won't have to keep changing things on arrival departure, and it looks like it will actually be cheaper.

You recall how much the SIM card cost? There's no information in Digicel Bonaire's web site in this regard. We have a voice-only phone, and we just want it for emergencies and such.