Collaborative discussion: Logistics of diving in Bonaire

[SelfDiver]

The purpose of this thread is to collate experience for some of the considerations for first timers in Bonaire.
Feel free to add or argue your own experiences and suggestions.
I freely admit that this is based on my experiences only and I want to learn from the community.

1) Getting there:
Unless you are sailing to Bonaire, you are flying to Bonaire Flamingo Airport BON
Direct flights from Toronto, Canada YYZ and Amsterdam, Netherlands AMS do not transit through the US.
Direct flight from EWR Newark, New Jersey and IAH Houston, Texas- United Airlines
Direct flight from ATL Atlanta, Georgia - Delta Airlines
Direct flight from MIA Miami, Florida - American Airlines
Direct flight from BAQ Barranquilla, Colombia - Zair
Divi Divi air flies from Aruba and Curacao.

2) Taxes, fees
Entry tax is $75 and there are several SCAM websites when searching online. The official site right now is: Bonaire Visitor Tax Official Page
You can pay at the airport, but most people have the QR ready.
The marine park fee is currently $40 and can be paid Bonaire Nature Fee | STINAPA - STINAPA . You can pay this at any dive shop but most people pay it online.
The currency is US dollars and almost everyone takes credit cards. There are several ATMs as you will need some cash for the food trucks that are amazing and totally worth it.
The majority of businesses run with European dutch efficiency. "Island time" does not exist in the business side of Bonaire.

3) The arrival
Bonaire airport is small. There are no jetways.
Large planes will deplane from the front and rear doors. Plan your overhead carry on accordingly.
The plane doors open to 80-85F and full sun down metal stairs and a walk across the tarmac to the passport/immigration line that is also outdoors (the passport line has shade).
The walk is 1,000-1,500ft, depends on where the plane parks, it might be quite short, and there are no bathrooms until after you clear immigration.

There is no A/C. There is decent free WIFI.
The baggage claim is one belt in a room behind the passport control. There are plenty of free luggage carts and a single bathroom.
Once you collect your checked bag, you can exit through the customs corridor.

4)Transportation:
Rental cars come with your room at some resorts.
The large building across the parking lot is the Avis rental car office. You can roll the luggage cart right up to the counter and then to the car. There is no fast lane, even if you are Avis super duper preferred.
Budget and Hertz offices are in the building on the left.
Other car rentals either send a driver or have the car waiting in the parking lot.(I think, but check me if I'm wrong))
There are very limited taxis and some resorts offer airport transfers that are either free or exorbitant. There is no Uber.
Take your time and be prepared to take pictures/video of the rental pickup. Check the tires, ask for a dive rack (It is a wood ladder looking thing that helps organize your tanks), open every compartment, document mileage and fuel, take pictures of the undercarriage and anything you can think of. Be thorough because the insurance does not cover a lot of things, even the one you get from US credit cards.
Most pickups are manual(Stick shift) so if you never drove manual, this is a good opportunity to learn!
There are a few gas stations on the island. Ask the rental car company what color the fuel handle is for your vehicle.

Getting around is easy. Google maps works offline and there is cell reception in most of the Island.
You can bring an older phone just for navigation and you can leave it in the car when you dive, if it gets stolen, it is not your real phone.

5) Gear
Regular Scuba gear rental is available in all the dive shops. Most shops have jackets and standard regulators.
If you bring your own stuff, the tanks and weights are part of the unlimited package.
Most shops have drive through tanks and most are standard Yoke AL80. Some dive shops are all convertible PRO valves (You drive right up, and load tanks on the truck.)
The PRO valve needs a tool to take out or install the insert. Most shops have these keys and inserts where you pick up tanks.
There is some limited availability of smaller tanks and more of AL100s. There are not that many tanks set up specifically for sidemount (left and right side with the big post), I recommend learning to rig standard tanks for sidemount and bring a DIN-Yoke adapter.

There are at least three Technical dive shops that offer anything from open water jacket style BCD to full Trimix sidemount/CCR/Twinset/stages/long hose and DPV gear rental. They also have rental 3Liter tanks for CCR with 100%O2 and any Diluent you want.
Area9 Mastery is the northern most technical shop. It sits on the "Oil Slick Leap" dive site and offers GUE training. The training is run by "Mr. G"
TDS Technical Dive Services sits inside Captain Don's and offers TDI/SDI training. It is run by Zack.
VIP Tec Diving is colocated with VIP diving and sits close to Sebastian's restaurant offering PADI training. The tech side is run by Maarten.
Four: there is a technical dive operation at Buddy Dive

Some shops offer after hours accessible lockers that are super convenient for night dives. Some shops offer after hours tank rental. Some shops offer plastic crates for carrying gear in the back of the truck (I really like these plastic crates).
Some hotels and villas offer dive lockers and gear washing stations on site.
All shops require that you check in and perform a weight check because the natural park STINAPA requires it. No exceptions, Even if you are an internationally renowned instructor trainer. Diving
There are no gloves allowed unless you get prior medical authorization from STINAPA.
Dive boots are highly recommended since most diving is from shore on rocky entries. Make sure they have thick soles
A safety sausage is recommended for all divers. You will probably not need to deploy it but plenty of dive sites have surface traffic.
Reef safe sunscreen is available everywhere for purchase. Bonaire is only 12 degrees north of the equator so the UV index is high.

 

[Outbound]

Great info. The only thing I’d take exception with is how fast the line moves at BON check-in. Whenever we fly Delta it goes pretty quickly. Whenever we fly American it’s a sweaty wait-fest. Then we usually end up with a problem with our connecting flight at MIA, but that’s because American Airlines absolutely sucks.

 

[tursiops]

The marine park fee is currently $45

$40, not $45.

The walk is 1,000-1,500ft

Depends on where the plane parks. It might be quite short.

Transportation

Rental cars come with your room at some resorts.

You can bring an older phone just for navigation and you can leave it in the car when you dive, if it gets stolen, it is not your real phone.

If you do this, wipe it clean first.

most are standard Yoke AL80.

Most have convertible PRO valves. And there are AL100s lots of places too.

There are at least three Technical dive shops that offer anything from open water jacket style BCD to full Trimix sidemount/CCR/Twinset/stages/long hose and DPV gear rental. They also have rental 3Liter tanks for CCR with 100%O2 and any Diluent you want.

Four: there is a technical dive operation at Buddy Dive.

Dive boots are highly reccomended

Make sure they have thick soles.

A safety sausage is required for all divers.

Recommended, not required.

The water temperature at 90 meters is 75F 24C and 82F 27C at the surface. At night too.

At the surface it can get to 90F; always above 87F.

Almost all dive sites are marked with rocks painted yellow with black lettering.

That iis how the STINAPA sites are marked.

Most diving on Bonaire is shore diving

There are LOTs of boat dives. It is the only way to dive Klein Bonaire and many of the northern sites.

Karpata is the northren most dive site that is reccomended.

Northmost STINAPA site; there are other site north of Karpata.

There is a dirt path that goes to Candyland and Playa frans

And to Taylormade (or Tailormade or Taylormaid...). These ae great sites but difficult to navigate, espeically getting back.

Ostracod dives are a hit.

They start displaying about 45mins after sunset. The days following (but not immediately after) a Full Moon are best.

By far, the majority of undeserved hits are due to dehydration.

And to fast ascents, especially from the Safety Stop.

Expect to pay 30% higher prices for everything.

Not everything, and some things are cheaper (and better).

 

[Rob9876]

Lots of good info here. Here's my 2 cents (we were there the last week in July) on some of your items (using your numbers):

3) Airport - one of the many good tips I got from Kevin and Liz Grogan's videos is that the Airport has a decent restaurant that can be accessed without having to go through security. This was handy not only when our flight from Miami arrived at 2pm, but also as it was one of the easiest and quickest restaurants to get to after diving south of town - we had a few lunches from there.

4) Transportation - Yes, the majority of trucks are manual transmission, but there are plenty of automatics also. Not sure if you were joking about learning to drive stick there or not, but personally (as someone who's constantly owned manual cars for 36 years) I would not suggest learning on these unless you're with someone who already drives stick. Our truck was a Changan truck which, although relatively new, steered like a 1980's Oldsmobile and lacked any hill assist brake -- which can make starting off in 1st gear on a sloping sandy surface near the water a bit challenging for the uninitiated.

5) Gear - when discussing the DSMB you mentioned boat traffic. While I always carry a DSMB, and deploy often at places like Cozumel, I didn't deploy once in Bonaire. Actually, we only saw boats at maybe 2 of the dive sites, and I was surprised actually at how few boats we saw even at a distance compared with other islands -- all this to say be mindful that there may not be many boats to see you if you should venture too far out.

I also agree with @tursiops that boots with fairly thick soles are a good idea. Some of those entries are pretty rough to me.

6) Diving - resources - Yes, Kevin and Liz Grogan's videos were super helpful -- and one game-changing piece of advice from them was to buy collapsable trekking poles/hiking sticks for entries and exits that you can secure to your tank with 2 bungies (have your buddy insert it after you're chest deep or so). This helped tremendously. Buy the kind with clamps rather than twist to tighten (ours were $25 for a 2-pack on Amaz0n), and we use tank-banger bungies since they are designed to fit tanks (but you can make your own with bungee cord if preferred).

Also, while I'm sure the Reef Smart slates are good, the Reef Smart **book** guide to Bonaire is really good and has good diagrams and good narrative advice. Between the written info there (including parking, suggested entry, suggested dive route, etc.) and watching the Grogan's videos, it made self-guided diving pretty easy. I have a 3-leaf slate that I made short notes on. Eventually realized that 90% of the time I was just navigating a similar oval going south from the entry/buoy, then deeper west, then heading north at depth for a maybe 25-30 minutes depending, then looping more shallow east, then heading back south a while near the top of the reef area until back at the entry point/buoy.

8) Restaurants -- you mention plenty of restaurants, and while that is certainly true in a broad sense and in town, there are not necessarily that many places to grab a quick bite in between dives at sites south of town (say you just dove Salt Pier and then want lunch before diving Hilma Hooker). Many people mention the food trucks, but at least when we were there in July many of the trucks were not around. We ended up only having one meal at a food truck (found at Bachelor Beach) which was really good fish sandwiches, but pretty expensive and it took over an hour to order and get our food. As I mentioned above, the restaurant at the airport can be quick, fairly cheap, and pretty good food for that situation -- though after a few days we just started making sandwiches at our apartment and bringing them with us to avoid the hassle (you might want to bring a small soft cooler).

 

[SelfDiver]

6) The diving
Most diving on Bonaire is shore diving
The water temperature at 90 meters is 75F 24C and 82F 27C at the surface. Even at night.
Air temperature is above 85F always and reaches 90f most days.
There is no need for a drysuit.
Tropic Lens shore diving collection has a bunch of videos for Bonaire dive sites

TropicLens

Follow us (David and Leslie) as we pivot from being productive corporate employees to productive retirees. We hope to encourage and inspire other people to start diving or try diving in new places by documenting the sites we visit and, in the case of shore diving, how to dive those sites as well.

www.youtube.com

Kevin and Liz grogan have a bunch of videos with tips on diving in Bonaire

Kevin and Liz Grogan

We provide travel destination tips, tricks, advice and reviews all geared towards making YOUR trip easier and more enjoyable! We've got a particular passion for sunny, tropical locations where we can scuba dive, with an emphasis on Bonaire shore diving. You may also get an occasional, random...

www.youtube.com

Pay close attention to the video about vehicle break-ins and theft.
The reefsmart guides offer slates for purchase

Bonaire - Reef Smart Guides

ISBN: 978-1-988818-01-6 Language: English Authors: Ian Popple, Otto Wagner, Peter McDougall Dimensions: 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches Description: Waterproof cards printed on plastic or laminated synthetic paper Shipping: Shipped from our distribution center within seven business days. Shipping time...

reefsmartguides.com

Almost all dive sites are marked with rocks painted yellow with black lettering. This is how STINAPA sites are marked.
Almost all the information in the reef guides and videos stop at 40 meters.
You can dive independently without a local guide. You do not need to approve dive plans before or after the dive (unlike Egypt for exaple).
Look at your insurance coverage for depth limits as some European dive accident insurance companies have limits for coverage.
If you are planning on going deep or perform decompression dives, reach out to experienced divers for more information.
The last dive site before you need to do the northern loop is Weber's Joy. Beyond that, you are committed to the one way loop through Rincon.
Karpata is the northern most STINAPA dive site that is recommended. There is a dirt path that goes to Candyland, Taylormade and Playa frans, check with the dive shop if they are open before you dive there. The BOPEC (the big oil storage facility) area is closed off.

Night diving is easy and accessible.
If this is your first night dive, go to Sebastian's, buddy dive or some other place with a well lit exit/entrance.
Enter the water right after sunset. It is an easy ramp, a bit slippery, but with no rocks.
The dock is lit up so it is easy to find the way out after the dive.
Other dive sites are darker and can be more difficult to find the exit and get out in the rocks.
Take at least one spare flashlight.

Ostracod dives are a hit.
Look up the sunset time and aim to see the sunset and immediately gear up.
Descend as the light is getting dimmer and by the time you are coming back up to your safety stop it should be really dark and the ostracods pop off.
Turn off the lights and sit at the shallows until the light show ends. Easy sites for this are "Angel city" and "The Lake"
The start displaying 45 minutes after sunset for about 20 minutes. The days right after full moon are the peak.

There are plenty of boat diving opportunities to some of the sites that are only accessible by boat. It is the ONLY way to dive Klein Bonaire

The Bonaire recompression chamber is right next to the hospital.

Recompression Chamber Bonaire

Bonaire hyperbaric Center

o2bonaire.com

By far, the majority of undeserved hits are due to dehydration.
The water in the taps is excellent. Drink...a lot.

7) Supermarkets
Van Den Tweel is open 8am-8pm 7 days/week - This is the my favorite
"Warehouse" and "Lucky" are across the street.
Expect to pay 30% higher prices for everything.

8) Restaurants
There are plenty of food options at various price points.
Nothing is cheap, some of it is really really good.
The correct Gelato is Gio's Gelateria (cash only). In my opinion it is better than Luciano.

9) Departure
The airport check-in is outside and the line usually goes fast.
You can show up 30 minutes before boarding and you will probably make it.
All the US airlines monitor every carry-on and checked bag for weight and size restrictions.
Do not argue at the counter, the agents have zero empathy or flexibility.
Bring your medical device paperwork with you.
Walking indoor to the terminal after check-in, there is a single security line and metal detector leading to the passport control.
The Airport has one big waiting room with anemic A/C and can get crowded when there are two flights going at the same time.
There is free WIFI, a tiny duty free shop and a tiny kiosk. There is no business lounge, one bathroom and limited outlets.
From the gate, you need to walk outside to the plane and up the stairs, similar to the arrival.

 

[SelfDiver]

$40, not $45.

Depends on where the plane parks. It might be quite short.

Rental cars come with your room at some resorts.

If you do this, wipe it clean first.

Most have convertible PRO valves. And there are AL100s lots of places too.

Four: there is a technical dive operation at Buddy Dive.

Make sure they have thick soles.

Recommended, not required.

At the surface it can get to 90F; always above 87F.

That iis how the STINAPA sites are marked.

There are LOTs of boat dives. It is the only way to dive Klein Bonaire and many of the northern sites.

Northmost STINAPA site; there are other site north of Karpata.

And to Taylormade (or Tailormade or Taylormaid...). These ae great sites but difficult to navigate, espeically getting back.

They start displaying about 45mins after sunset. The days following (but not immediately after) a Full Moon are best.

And to fast ascents, especially from the Safety Stop.

Not everything, and some things are cheaper (and better).

I incorporated most of your edits and split the post to 2 due to hitting the character limit
Masha danki

 

[5280NoCoDiver]

For our first trip we used an all inclusive dive resort. That made it very easy and convenient to figure out how everything worked on the island. The next time we pieced it together. Both trips were a blast can't wait to get back.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

4)Transportation:
Rental cars come with your room at some resorts.
The large building across the parking lot is the Avis rental car office. You can roll the luggage cart right up to the counter and then to the car. There is no fast lane, even if you are Avis super duper preferred.
Budget and Hertz offices are in the building on the left.
Other car rentals either send a driver or have the car waiting in the parking lot.(I think, but check me if I'm wrong))
There are very limited taxis and some resorts offer airport transfers that are either free or exorbitant. There is no Uber.
Take your time and be prepared to take pictures/video of the rental pickup. Check the tires, ask for a dive rack (It is a wood ladder looking thing that helps organize your tanks), open every compartment, document mileage and fuel, take pictures of the undercarriage and anything you can think of. Be thorough because the insurance does not cover a lot of things, even the one you get from US credit cards.
Most pickups are manual(Stick shift) so if you never drove manual, this is a good opportunity to learn!
There are a few gas stations on the island. Ask the rental car company what color the fuel handle is for your vehicle.

Getting around is easy. Google maps works offline and there is cell reception in most of the Island.
You can bring an older phone just for navigation and you can leave it in the car when you dive, if it gets stolen, it is not your real phone.

Can confirm that some will leave the truck in the short term parking, along with the ticket. Also, a plug for Prins rentals for automatic transmission options. Thanks @drrich2 for that tip!

7) Supermarkets
Van Den Tweel is open 8am-8pm 7 days/week - This is the my favorite
"Warehouse" and "Lucky" are across the street.
Expect to pay 30% higher prices for everything.

Should add Zhung Kong Supermarket to this list. Located across from Hamlet Oasis, in Hato, they’re a bit more limited, have more American options, but, mainly, more convenient if you’re staying north of town. On arrival day we grab some things to get us through the next morning because we don’t want to go to Van Den Tweel on Saturday afternoon with everyone else. Also, Zhung Kong has better crackers for the cumin gouda cheese that you’re going to buy at Van Den Tweel. Thanks @scubadada for that tip!

Erik