Checkout dives on Bonaire

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Aloha y'all -
We're heading to Bonaire for the firs time in March, and my youngest son will be doing his open water checkout dives. He will be 12 by the time we go. He has all his own gear and is very comfortable in the water. He did great with buoyancy and all skills during OW training.

Can anyone recommend a good operation to do his checkout dives (PADI)? Preferably small class or 1:1 with instructor. Shore diving is fine. I'd rather not have to book him all day, but if we can do something either boat or shore where my wife, older son and I can do a couple dives while he does his checkouts, that would be perfect.

We're staying in the vicinity of oil slick reef. I haven't figured out where to get tanks yet (we plan to mostly shore dive), so if anyone has any recommendations on the best operation with Nitrox and small tanks available, convenient to that area, that would be most appreciated.

Lastly, this will be our first trip since 2019, because...well... If anyone has any tips or recommendations as far as travel to Bonaire in the current state of pandemic, I'd also welcome any notes. Thanks! We can't wait!

 

[arew+4]

We had our kids do online and then pool and check outs with Buddy's and got tanks thru them for the duration of vacation. We stayed in a VRBO up by oil slick leap too. Could not have been happier with Buddy's. Their is another operator that is closer to where we stayed, VIP divers I believe. I have heard good things about them. We are headed back in July and are probably going to go with Dive Friend's for tanks because they have multiple locations. Buddy's only has one that I'm aware of. Both of them have 63's which my wife and daughter prefer. Also, both do boat dives, Buddy's has regularly scheduled ones, Dive Friend's may be more on demand. With four of you they will probably go out on your schedule.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

My wife and I have been to Bonaire 5 times in the last 4 years. We stay at Den Laman and use Dive Friends, based at that location. We have a fairly narrow, but good, experience.

Dive Friends has a location a little south of you at Hamlet Oasis, Cliff dive site. DF has 6 other locations. They do a lot of teaching at the Sand Dollar/Den Laman location, easy shore entry and the pier. DF boats leave from there also. The Bari Reef dive site is there. I would imagine DF would be glad to help arrange whatever check out dives you want, will take 2 days for the 4 dives.

I don't know about all the DF locations, they have many small cylinders at Sand Dollar/Den Laman

I'm sure others will add their favorite operations. Good luck for a great trip.

Edit: I see @arew+4 posted while I was typing. Dive Friends has 4 boats, there is a 2 tanker leaving from the Sand Dollar/Den Laman pier every morning. They only go to Klein Bonaire and north sites, not accessible from shore. There is a 1 tank afternoon dive that appears to be on demand, have never taken it.

VIP is south, a little north of the airport

 

[arew+4]

@scubadada
Didn't there used to be a dive shop at the little resort (Caribbean Club?) up that way. I think it has closed and the owners been selling off the units as condos. I think VIP was running the dive operation when we stayed in a house in El Pueblo in 2016.

 

[saschaverst]

I have good experiences with AB Dive, you can also rent a car & dive tanks/ material there.
Most of the dives at Bonaire are coast dives, so it is recommended to have a pick up truck equipped for dive tanks.

I have been to Bonaire in Nov/Dec 2020 and Nov 2021. Had a great time!! The last time it was quite busy, (I'm not sure about now) but make sure you arrange a car before you go there! In terms of the pandemic: just don't bring covid and life there is practically all in the open air.

 

[drrich2]

Didn't there used to be a dive shop at the little resort (Caribbean Club?) up that way.

I thought that location used to be a satellite of Buddy Dive Resort; a tad cheaper, still used Buddy Dive for dive services, and Oil Slick Leap was considered the house reef.

Richard.

 

[bdyslm]

Highly Highly Highly recommend Lucia, Zach, and Brian at TDS (Technical Dive Services) Bonaire. They are located at Capt Dons. They have a great house reef there including a wrecklet and a really good wall, which you can access either via giant stride or stairs (be careful they are slippery) off their pier. Did my OW checkout dives in December with Lucia 1:1 and she was amazing. Brian did my advanced buoyancy class which was a blast. Spoons is all I'm gonna say. Was able to hop on Capt Dons boat a couple of times, which was reasonably priced, to fill in some downtime. They were doing 3 single tank trips a day. Also a great bar and decent restaurant right there for breakfast, lunch, or the end of the day.

They are primarily an SDI shop but I'm pretty sure Lucia at least, is also a PADI instructor. I was SDI so didn't pay a ton of attention to PADI but I honestly couldn't imagine a better experience. I enjoyed it so much after I moved resorts and had used up all my boat dives at Divi, I spent my entire time getting certs and diving all over the island with TDS.

You can get tanks including Nitrox from TDS or Capt Dons while you are there. As a technical dive shop I am sure they have smaller tanks. I know Lucia was filling pony bottles and deco bottles while I was there.

The first half of my 3-week trip I stayed at Divi, the second half was at Eden beach and then in an apartment. For my return flight, I did my antigen test at chocogo the morning of my flights. $40, less than 10 minutes, and results were back in an hour. My trip actually got extended due to a canceled flight so I had to take do it twice and both times same experience. You can book through the bonaire covid site.

I arrived right before the new rules were implemented. Airline didn't even check my covid test. Only immigration there did.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

 

[bdyslm]

Just checked with Lucia....she is a padi instructor so can do your sons checkout dives and maintain padi cert.

book with them...you wont regret it, perfect for your requirements.

Home - TDSbon

Technical Diving Services is located on Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean, also known as “Diver’s Paradise”.

www.tdsbonaire.com

 

[Jersey]

@scubadada
Didn't there used to be a dive shop at the little resort (Caribbean Club?) up that way. I think it has closed and the owners been selling off the units as condos. I think VIP was running the dive operation when we stayed in a house in El Pueblo in 2016.

The little resort is Carribean Club and until recently the dive shop there was a satellite of Buddy Dive. Buddy Dive is no longer involved, all units sold off and it became a HOA (Home Owners Association) of sorts.

I do think I saw somewhere that the shop was going to remain in operation, but not sure who is running it. That would probably be your closest location if you are staying near Oil Slick. Head south and Capt Dons/Buddy/SAnd Dollar/Den LAman all in the same stretch of pavement. I don't think there is a bad op or shop on the island. Add to the formal shops the independent instructors/hire a guide. You wont survive long on a small island if you aren't good.

LOL -travel in the pandemic. We were on Bonaire 3/2020 when the world shut down. Luckily my engineer minded spouse brought gloves, masks and disinfecting wipes even before they were 'a thing', that trip was pretty scary. A couple trips in 2021 Hawaii and Bonaire. Have your paperwork in hand - copies of test results, laminated copies of vaccine status cards, passports, entry/health declaration forms. On our Oct 2021 trip we went from PHL - Miami - Curacao - Bonaire. Had to complete forms for both Curacao and Bonaire, even though we were just using Curacao as a gateway. Carry on extra masks. I do like to bring disinfecting wipes and do the seat arms, seatback, tray table, etc. I always bring earplugs or noise cancelling headphones. On the red-eye from Oahu to Atlanta I took some Melatonin so I was able to actually get some sleep even with my mask on. Bring food and drink on plane - most carriers have limited food service, no longer sell snack boxes, didn't even get cookies on a couple legs!

We'll be back on Bonaire March, sounds like Omicron is receding and things are slowly opening up a bit.

 

[bdyslm]

thought this might have been you guys and then rechecked the dates