I visited both locations (Bonaire a full week summers of 2004 and 2006, Cocoview, full week, summer 2005) I have some good memories and glad I experienced both locations, but have never sought to return to either place again. If you think Coz is too much work, you will definitely hate Bonaire! I felt like I was in the military, basic training, it is the polar opposite of a nice live aboard. You will be schlepping LOTS of tanks, weights, scuba gear all over the place, over ironshore/urchins, in the hot sun, roasting in your wetsuit until you can finally hit the water. Any sort of even relatively modest wave action makes sore entries/exits impossible in many places. You'll be issued a rusted out 5-speed manual transmission mini-pickup truck, and you'll do a lot of advance scouting on foot to plot out safe entry/exit points for divers and to avoid getting the truck stuck. Gas prices are 5X what we pay here in the USA (a liter there costs what a gallon costs in the USA) . We ended up preferring signing up for the dive resort boat trip packages over doing 100% shore diving to ease up on the 'military style' diving. Bonaire has an ongoing reputation for property crime that the police are either unwilling or unable to control. On the 'plus' side, I don't remember the locals as being unfriendly or anything, standing on shore the surrounding waters were breathtakingly beautiful varieties of aquablue/aquamarine, and it's unique to experience a desert island (cactus) environment in what you'd normally expect to be a green rainforest/tropical place. Grocery shopping in Dutch stores was interesting as well, their foods (and their flavors) are not always what you expect compared to 'back home'. I thought the diving and reef conditions and visibility were pretty good, but that was 13-15 yrs ago, and reliable sources (Undercurrent.org for one) state reef/fish life conditions have declined dramatically (I understand Bonaire has caught the cruise ship/ over development disease with it's inevitable results).
Cocoview is much easier diving than Bonaire, but even way back in 2005 it was totally fished out. The reefs seemed fine but animal/fish life was strangely absent, I can't even imagine how empty it must be these days, 14 years later. Cocoview vis isn't in the same class as Coz (much more murky/smoky) due to jungle rain sediment runoff, but again, my biggest takeaway at Cocoview was it's totally fished out. (did a Belize live aboard in 2011, also completely fished out) Cocoview has an easy, well oiled diving machine, but it's pretty repetitive and animal life is extinct.
