First Trip! A few random questions..

[RJP]

Slagbaai park... worth doing once... The vistas on the East side are beautiful. I wish you could turn around at Malmok. The road from Wayaka back to the entrance is literally a pain in the a**.

The "pain" of the drive is reduced - or amortized, really - if you get there when the park opens and bring at least three tanks each. Bring lunch and make a half-day of the trip. Given the need tor surface intervals between dives, the drive through the park can be a useful diversion rather than simply "the ride out" of the park.

 

[AdivingBel]

The "pain" of the drive is reduced - or amortized, really - if you get there when the park opens and bring at least three tanks each. Bring lunch and make a half-day of the trip. Given the need tor surface intervals between dives, the drive through the park can be a useful diversion rather than simply "the ride out" of the park.

There's plenty of entertainment along the coast from the vistas, diving, snorkeling etc. etc., but I didn't see any of that on the hour plus long a** drag on a dirt path from the west side back to the entrance. Like I said earlier, IMHO it's worth doing once. If I could skip the west side I would do it every trip just for the east side vistas. They are beautiful. There are lots of other sites to dive. YMMV

 

[gbf]

Dry day?? DRY DAY???? We don't need no stinking dry day.

We do 2 or 3 dives the morning before we leave finishing before noon. That leaves enough time to rinse and dry gear to pack for a 7 am flight. We keep the dives in the 20 to 35 foot range on EAN32 and our Oceanic computer clear all gas loading in 12 to 14 hours.

Yea, we used to do that "pedal to the metal" thing on Friday also.

But I have mellowed with age.

now we go for longer and move a little slower overall. Sometimes none, 1, or 2 dives in a day is enough.

Our dry day is when we do some, none, or all of the following: take photos, shop a little, visit friends, eat a leisurely lunch, get ready to get ready for sundowners(that would be a nap), get ready (put some beers on ice/mix a pitcher of libations), enjoy sundowners, then maybe dinner or weave off to bed.

Thats the the wonder of Bonaire... Do it the way you want.

 

[boat sju]

just dive nukove.

 

[LiveTheDream]

Yea, we used to do that "pedal to the metal" thing on Friday also.

But I have mellowed with age.

now we go for longer and move a little slower overall. Sometimes none, 1, or 2 dives in a day is enough.

Our dry day is when we do some, none, or all of the following: take photos, shop a little, visit friends, eat a leisurely lunch, get ready to get ready for sundowners(that would be a nap), get ready (put some beers on ice/mix a pitcher of libations), enjoy sundowners, then maybe dinner or weave off to bed.

Thats the the wonder of Bonaire... Do it the way you want.

I absolutely agree. We just did our first trip to Bonaire and were really settled in and enjoying it by the second week. There was a bit of a learning curve.

We wanted to go balls to the wall, dive dive dive -- and did some days, then realized we could take a day off, relax and it would all still be there. We enjoyed it much more after we slowed down to relax a bit.

We enjoyed many of the restaurants at lunch and GASP! took an afternoon nap just because we could.

We're already looking at booking a return trip around the first of the year. Okay, I won't lie. We're counting the days already until we go back.

 

[Doctorfish]

For us, taking it easy means a few dives at the house reef or by boat.
We usually do 3 tanks daily +/- a night dive.

Our family has had the good fortune to be able to go to Bonaire annually and we hope to continue to do so. As we age, the plan will be more boat and house reef diving and less shore diving from the truck.

 

[scuba127]

Yep...been diving Bonaire for around 15 years now...usually do two single tank dives with the wife...if I want more I clip into a couple of aluminum 80 side mount tanks and solo to my heart's content.....its awesome not having to meet a boat schedule....or get busted for solo diving...3 days and a wake up....