First time in Bonaire - May 24th through 31st

[DeltaWardog]

Just booked a flight on Delta that actually arrives and leaves at a decent hour unlike most of the other airlines, and we are headed to Bonaire next month, WOOHOO! Staying at the Golden Reef Inn and just absolutely can not wait until we get there. Is it May yet? How about now? Now?

This will be our first time there and I have been devouring this forum for a couple days doing research. Now that we've pulled the trigger I'll have to read even more! Thanks everybody for the informative posts here, it went a long way towards us making our decision on where to go this trip.

We'll be taking a scuba refresher course locally before we go; it's been a year since our last dives. We're also taking a Nitrox course... I figured since we'll probably be doing more dives per day than we've done before with the abundant shore diving possibilities, we might feel better in the long run if we do our dives on nitrox, and it's so cheap to upgrade to nitrox fills at most places in Bonaire it was a no-brainer.

This is our first time shore diving so I ordered the book from Susan Porter a few days ago. Any other resources I should look into?

Anybody else going to be there around that time? It'll be just the two of us and other than our anniversary night (Monday) we'll be up for dinner or just hanging out pretty much any other night.

Also looking for things to do on the last afternoon since we can't dive. I read somewhere that there is a cave you can snorkel through, is that any good?

Matt (& Lila)

 

[300bar]

Hope, and I know you will ,have a lot of fun on Bonaire.
As for the last day,(be sure you rent a pickup)go to the national park and have a great drive throu the park.It's lot's of fun and you can even wrack the car in there,I know I did
Be there early(best in the morning)and take the long tour.It takes some slow driving and good stearing,but it was great fun(for me)

have a blast.

cheers

 

[Rynomar]

The nitrox will come in handy. The last time I was there we did 27 dives in 6 days on air and we were pretty well exhausted by the end of the trip. My wife and I did our advanced course in Bonaire and the class really helped us get comfortable shore diving on the island.

On the last day, I agree that the national park is cool. There are also snorkel trips you can do to some of the caves and also in the mangroves. We did the mangrove snorkel on one trip and I thought it was nice. It was very easy and got a little boring at times but there are a ton of juvenile fish that live in the sea grass and around the mangroves.

As for other resources, check out Bonaire Talk. That is a great site for good info.

Have fun.

 

[DiveMaven]

Bonaire Talk is a great resource on the net for everything you might want to know about Bonaire. We're heading to Bonaire for 2 weeks in July and can't wait! Make sure you write a trip report when you get home of all the great things you do and see.

 

[jfproul]

i am sure you'll love Bonaire ..so relax ... we been there in april 07 , nov 07 and jan 08 and we booked again 2 weeks ago for next july for our summer vacation ... sooooo
easy diving there , water could be rough sometimes but you'll get use to it !

 

[reefdiva]

Even after ten years of going to Bonaire we like to spend the last afternoon driving slowly around the island with our camera and taking all the land shots that we did not take when the camera was in the housing for dives.

Have you made a plan for your anniversary dinner? My husband and I love to celebrate occasions at Wil's Tropical Grill. Of course we love Wil's even if it is not an occasion!!

 

[DeltaWardog]

We do not have any plans for our anniversary dinner... we figured we'd probably be able to eat wherever during the off season, and even if some places are crowded we are pretty easy to please. I'll check out Wil's. Anyone else got tips for a fancy dinner in Bonaire?

 

[cowfish]

-hope you have great time- i live in canada(quebec area) and make it a point to hit Bonaire at least 3 times a year(i'm retired and go on a lot of dive trips) I love it there- it never gets old!!

 

[reefdiva]

We do not have any plans for our anniversary dinner... we figured we'd probably be able to eat wherever during the off season, and even if some places are crowded we are pretty easy to please. I'll check out Wil's. Anyone else got tips for a fancy dinner in Bonaire?

My friends who live and work in Bonaire say that the "high" season has been busy and right now shows little sign of slowing down in May (other than the end of cruise ship season) so if you do decide on a spot for your special dinner you may want to make a reservation. Another nice spot is on the sidewalk at La Guernica ... very pretty on the water at night. Others like Mona Lisa and Capriccio -- I am sure you will have no trouble finding a great spot for your special evening. I think all evenings in Bonaire are special!!

 

[jfproul]

Hi Cowfish , welcome on the board ...i am from vaudreuil-Dorion and
i also go to Bonaire as much as i can ... where do you stay in Bonaire ?