First time to Bonaire July 10-17th

[katydiver]

Wife and I are taking our oldest son (18) already has some diving under his belt and our youngest (10) just certified to Bonaire. We are staying at a villa on the water in the southern part next to the belmar hotel I think the guy said. A couple of questions I have are:

1. who is the best dive center to go with.
2 water dive sites are good for a 10 year old to see some big things and be comfortable

3. Best place to buy food for the week for cooking at the house.
4. good inexpensive resturants for maybe a nighly dinner or daily lunch if we choose.
5. any verterans of bonaire going to be done there the same week as us.

 

[helimvee]

There is a rental house right next to BelMar. If this is where you are staying, then you might as well use BelMar's dive operation. I have seen other people staying at that house using it as well. It is very convenient for picking up tanks which are kept in a cage outside the dive shop.

If you use BelMar, the staff there are great and can direct you to the grocery stores (Warehouse, Cultimar and others) when you do the dive orientation.

As for your other questions, there are lots of posts with good information.

Have a great trip.

 

[DiveMaven]

Wife and I are taking our oldest son (18) already has some diving under his belt and our youngest (10) just certified to Bonaire. We are staying at a villa on the water in the southern part next to the belmar hotel I think the guy said. A couple of questions I have are:

1. who is the best dive center to go with..

If you're next to the belmar, use their dive op. I'd stick with an operator close to where ever you're staying for convenience.

2 water dive sites are good for a 10 year old to see some big things and be comfortable.

The only really big thing to see diving Bonaire is the Hilma Hooker! Seriously though, you're not likely to see anything bigger than the 6' Tarpon that hang out near Buddy Dive or on the wild side. You might see Hawksbill turtles and Eagle rays as well, but neither are necessarily what I would call "big things". Bonaire is far better for macro creatures and juveniles IMO.

3. Best place to buy food for the week for cooking at the house.

IMO the Warehouse has a better selection than Cultimara. For deli stuff (for lunches, etc), Eli's is probably your best bet across from Den Laman and Sand Dollar.

4. good inexpensive resturants for maybe a nighly dinner or daily lunch if we choose..

Definitely try Buenos Aires, $10naf lunch specials and you can buy a whole chicken and fries for dinner for like $15naf (if I remember correctly). Cactus Blue has an excellent early bird special from 5:30-6:30 (only $18naf). Pasa Bon Pizza has good pizza and very yummy lasagnes (buy extra to reheat for a dinner or lunch later). Bobbe Jans is the place to go for BBQ, we always buy extra chicken for sandwiches later. Rib City has good prices and good food. And a lot of the resorts have weekly specials, so ask around.

5. any verterans of bonaire going to be done there the same week as us.

We'll be there at the same time, but we're up at Den Laman which is the other side of town from you.

 

[DiverVince]

1. who is the best dive center to go with.
2 water dive sites are good for a 10 year old to see some big things and be comfortable
.

3. Best place to buy food for the week for cooking at the house.

4. good inexpensive resturants for maybe a nighly dinner or daily lunch if we choose.

5. any verterans of bonaire going to be done there the same week as us.
Well we'll be down the block at Bellevue about 2 weeks after you've left.

#1.. Easy..That would be Buddy Dive @ Belmar.. ask for Chrissie!
#2 Don't know about "the big things" but the entire west side of Bonaire is good. Pick up Susan Porter's Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy for specifics. I have noticed that the large tarpon are in abundance if you chose to dine out on the seaside patio at Habitat
#3..I prefer The warehouse right on kaya Industrial. They will now be opened 7 days a week effective July 1.
#4 Far too many for me to list here. Ask around; everyone has favorites.
#5 Well we'll be down the block at Bellevue about 2 weeks after you've left. Enjoy your trip!

 

[DeputyDan]

Belmar is affiliated with Buddy Dive as far as the dive ops go.
I agree that you should use them and that Chrissie is your contact.

This also allows you to do a tank swap at the Buddy Dive location as well as at the Belmar!

 

[boat sju]

Not sure if you'll have your computer with you, but I like this site:

Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands

 

[katydiver]

Yeah I have been looking at that site as well,but the day in kinda ruined thanks to diversdirect.com. I ordered a brand new Sealife 1200 elite camera kit and look at what they sent me. does not look brand new to me.

 

[DiveMaven]

That is CRAZY!!! I'd be having quite the phone conversation with someone at Diversdirect.com and demanding either an exchange or my money back. There's no excuse for sending you used gear.

 

[katydiver]

That is CRAZY!!! I'd be having quite the phone conversation with someone at Diversdirect.com and demanding either an exchange or my money back. There's no excuse for sending you used gear.

Yeah I talked to them this morning; tim and joe over there came up big time on this. They took 20% off the purchase plus they are sending me a new camera. it kinda made the day come back in good standing. I will shop there again in the future for sure.

 

[DiveMaven]

now that's good customer service!! Good for them, and good for you that you'll have the right camera in time for your trip.

If you're interested in learning to become a better photographer, or just want to know how to use your new camera better, I can highly recommend a photo course with Tim at Fish Eye Photo. He has courses that are anywhere from 1/2 day to 3 days, and he tailors them to the needs of the customer, so no "canned" course. Included in his courses is a dive with him on Bari Reef, so the entire time isn't spent in the classroom.

We did the 3-day PADI Digital Photography course with him, and even that wasn't "canned". My husband will be spending a 1/2 day with Tim on this trip as a refresher and to learn to use his new camera to its best (its a little different than his old one). It'll definitely be time well spent and I know we'll see a difference in his photographs immediately.