First time divers need to figure out best destination for us - help please
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Ok so we got back a couple weeks ago. Here are my thoughts in no particular order:
Pros:
amazing sea life at Bonaire -- a million fish of a million different colors, and beautiful colorful underwater plants too
crystal clear water
warm water -- I used a 3mm shorty but towards the end of our trip I just went with swim trunks
relatively cheap as far as vacation destinations go
nice people, felt safe
great snorkeling
great warm weather with only one short-lived shower when we were there
cons:
pretty much dead topside, other than the national park hike, there is basically nothing to do other than dive and snorkel
maybe this is how it is no matter where one goes, but after the first 3 or 4 dives, we pretty much saw the same thing
airport is very primitive, our return flight was delayed 12 hours
Overall our sense was that Bonaire is great for diving, but subpar for anything else, which is pretty much in line with what y'all said here. It was a good trip though and we enjoyed it.
Thanks to all of you for your helpful input
Pros:
amazing sea life at Bonaire -- a million fish of a million different colors, and beautiful colorful underwater plants too
crystal clear water
warm water -- I used a 3mm shorty but towards the end of our trip I just went with swim trunks
relatively cheap as far as vacation destinations go
nice people, felt safe
great snorkeling
great warm weather with only one short-lived shower when we were there
cons:
pretty much dead topside, other than the national park hike, there is basically nothing to do other than dive and snorkel
maybe this is how it is no matter where one goes, but after the first 3 or 4 dives, we pretty much saw the same thing
airport is very primitive, our return flight was delayed 12 hours
Overall our sense was that Bonaire is great for diving, but subpar for anything else, which is pretty much in line with what y'all said here. It was a good trip though and we enjoyed it.
Thanks to all of you for your helpful input
diverrex
Contributor
Bonaire tends to be very similar in topography from site to site, more so than most other desitinations. Aside from Hilma Hooker and Salt Pier it's mostly a 45 degree sloping reef. Lots of fish to look at but most sites do tend to be alike.
Many people who love Bonaire love going there for the shore diving freedom and like to dive all day long, 4 - 5 dives a day. My wife and I love diving but are happy to do 2 - 3 dives a day and then like to something different in the afternoon. For those like us I wish there was just a little more to do on Bonaire topside. I still have not found the place that I consider has both great diving and lots of interesting topside activities for the afternoon. Dominica probably comes closest, but many of it's better topside activities take all day. Curacao has more to do topside than Bonaire, but I like the diving in Bonaire better. Everything is a compromise.
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