We're mostly interested in boat dives, which appear to be more common than Bonaire.
I've been following your thread and mulling this over. I agree, Curacao has more diverse topside engagements, though one could be entertained for a week on Bonaire (e.g.: kite boarding, wind surfing, walking around the quaint capitol, a half day at the park, visit the Donkey Sanctuary, drive around the island). I've been to Curacao once (10 boat dives in a ScubaBoard Surge event) and to Bonaire 10 times.
I hit Bonaire repeatedly because of the shore diving. Bonaire has what I consider good general Caribbean sloping wall coral reef diving, pretty good reefs (quite good in the far southern sites with lush gorgonians in the shallows, and Karpata to the far north also quite good), decent amount of marine life, and a lot of small and medium things (not a lot of big stuff, though tarpon, green morays, cubera snapper, tiger grouper and barracuda are fairly common).
But if I were going for boat diving only, and since I've been before so checking it off the bucket list isn't a concern, this would be my thought process:
1.) From what I saw at Buddy Dive Resort years ago, it was common for boat diving to be single tank trips, so if you want two dives, you go out twice. I don't like that. I like out, dive, floating interval, dive, come back. This is what boat diving with Ocean Encounters in Curacao was like, and I preferred it.
2.) Bonaire is good, but it's not the best boat diving. Little Cayman, I imagine Cayman Brac (only 2 dives there, on the
Keith Tibbetts wreck), the outer atolls of Belize, I'd rate better. If I weren't shore diving, Bonaire wouldn't be my 1st choice. If I wanted mainly boat diving supplemented by shore diving the house reef, I'd think about CocoView Resort in Roatan.
3.) If you've seen the recent threads on the coral disease outbreak in Bonaire, they're asking people to disinfect after each dive and I think not dive different regions right after each other, to slow the spread. I'm a lazy diver and I don't like added hassles.
I'm not saying you can't enjoy a 'boat only' dive trip to Bonaire, and it is a neat island in its own way.
I'm thinking of going to Curacao for a week. I know it doesn't have the walk in entry points like Bonaire, but I think that's more attractive to me. I know it is for my dive buddies.
Others pointed out Curacao does have walk-in points for shore diving, though shore diving sites are said to be farther/more-of-a-drive apart, but your statement confused me a bit so I'm asking for clarification.
Why would the perceived absence of walk-in entry points be more attractive to you? If you don't want to shore dive I can see they're not an asset, but are they a liability? Are you concerned others might push for shore diving if it's obviously convenient?
What is it that's more attractive about Curacao for your dive buddies?
For that matter, how did you guys come to focus on Curacao and Bonaire as your two main options for your trip?
I took a look at your profile, and I believe you listed this in your dive history: "Dive locations include: Hawaii (Kona and Maui), Nassau, Costa Rica (pacific side), Belize, Cozumel, Turks & Caicos, Key West, Florida Panhandle, Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, Jupiter, FL, and Bonaire."
You've been to Bonaire before?
Richard.
