First trip to Bonaire

[newmanl]

Hi Folks,

My wife and I will be going to Bonaire in April - staying at the Carib Inn for three weeks. We have a few questions both about the place and the diving and I was wondering if those that have stayed there would be able to offer some info.

We plan to pack very light - are there laundry facilities at the Inn or nearby?

We will also not likely have a vehicle for the entire time - are there grocery stores and resturants within walking distance?

For when we don't have the vehicle we will probably go on a boat dive or two - will the Carib Inn allow diving without the DM (I'm an underwater photographer and like to go slow - don't worry, my wife is into slow as well!)?

Finally, how is their rental gear? We could bring our own if that would be a better option (trying to save weight in the bags).

We are really looking forward to going - I've been hearing great things about Bonaire ever since I worked in Grand Cayman as a dive Instructor in '84-'85, but have just never had the chance or made it a priority until now!

Thanks.

Lee

 

[scubajcf]

Don't know much about the Carib Inn. Sorry.
However, I know there is a laundry near downtown.
Also, the supermarket in downtown is cheaper/better than the one by the marina.

Understand you will not have a car the whole time. I highly recommend having a car. The best thing about Bonaire is the freedom to drive, at whim, to most of the dive sites. Bonaire is famous for its shore diving.

If you are going to be diving for a few weeks, I would bring your own gear.

I've been all over, Bonaire is my favorite! We head back every year.

Have a great time.



///

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Depending on how much laundry you have or groceries to carry you may not need a car. You can see the whole town on foot in 45 minutes or so. Diving without a DM is the norm unless you are on some boats where they kinda like you to stay close. But once they see you know what you're doing it's ok if you are back at the ladder on time. Just let them know your plans. There are restaurants all over the area of downtown and kinda surrounding it. Not sure where the Carib is but you can also go to other resorts and eat. Your cash is good anywhere.

 

[Nanodiver]

Hi Newmanl-
My husband and I have stayed at Carib Inn several times, most recently last July. There is laundry service within easy walking distance, also several small groceries and one large one (Bonaire Warehouse), if you don't mind a slightly longer walk.

It is a short walk into town where you will find many, many restaurants. We have stayed at a number of different places on the island over the years, we find Carib's location the most convenient of any. We like the resort very much; it is our first choice, when they have space available. Excellent dive shop, also.

I can't comment about their policy re "follow the DM" on their boats- we only shore dive. Ditto re rental equipment- we bring our own, but since the owner Bruce Bowker is the go-to guy for equipment repairs, I'm sure his rental stuff is well-maintained.

I envy your three-week stay, I can only manage two weeks at a time, tops.
Best wishes for a great trip.

 

[herman]

I would also suggest you grab an Amstel or 2 and do a search on the board for post about Bonaire. There are hours of reading with lots of helpful hints, tips and suggestions. Never stayed with Bruce but if his rep is anywhere close to accurate (and I suspect it is) you should have a great time.

 

[RJP]

One piece of advice I'd offer to anyone going to Bonaire is to do the dives up in the national park. Nice dives and you'll be the only folks there. Get to the gate right when it opens and bring 3 or 4 tanks each plus lunch and drinks with you and make a half day or more out of your trip to the park.

The park road is one way and requires that you circumnavigate the whole park so it will eat up quite a bit of driving time just getting into and out of the park. Wish my buddy and I were given this advice. We only brought two tanks the day we went to the park and ended up losing a lot of dive time just driving out of the park after we were done with Playa Benge and Bisé Morto. If we had two extra tanks we could have planned our park trip better. Maybe done our second SI driving leisurely to the third site instead of trying to high-tail it out of the park to get back to the hotel for more tanks. After the third dive we could have spent the SI having lunch on the beach at Playa Funchi or Boka Slagbaai before doing a fourth dive.

If you only bring two tanks, you won't bother going all the way back to the park to do any more dives. Bring four tanks, and you wont have a need to go back!

I'd also echo the recommendation to rent a truck for the whole time you're there. Assuming you can swing the few extra bucks, it's well worth it to have the freedom to do what you want, when you want. This way you're not "stuck" doing whatever dive the boat is doing that afternoon, plus you can travel further for dinners or early morning shore dives.

In order to pay for the truck for the extra week, consider stocking up on bread and cold-cuts for sandwiches. My buddy and I spent $14 total for the week for lunch - loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter, jar of jelly. We also brought a few boxes of individual packets of powdered Gatorade with us. Mixed up some bottles for the hotel freezer each night and brought 'em with us to drink while out and about. Saves money as well as reducing environmental burden that would go along with tossing dozens of water/soda bottles in the trash all week long.

Lastly - I'll simply throw out there that in my mind 3 weeks is really too long a time to spend on Bonaire. It is possible to see "everything there is to see" diving-wise in Bonaire in one week if you "dive, dive, dive" like my buddy and I did (32 dives in a week) and by the end of that week we were struggling to find sites we needed/wanted to dive. There are lots of dive sites in Bonaire, but they are not tremendously diverse after a certain point. Bear in mind too that the vast majority of Bonaire dive sites are directly adjacent to each other, such that if you dive say Ol' Blue, heading right you've also essentially done Bloodlet too. If you do Ol' Blue heading to the left you will have effectively done Country Garden as well. Even at a much more leisurely pace than my buddy and I typically do I would think you'd be done diving Bonaire in two weeks. If you wanna just do two dives a day and then sit by the pool reading, I guess you could string it out for longer, but I don't see it. Certainly would help you afford the truck the whole time by trimming a week's worth of lodging and meal costs off the trip. (Hell, it would probably help you afford the better part of another trip, or maybe some cool new gear!)

 

[lmorin]

..............
Lastly - I'll simply throw out there that in my mind 3 weeks is really too long a time to spend on Bonaire. It is possible to see "everything there is to see" diving-wise in Bonaire in one week ....... There are lots of dive sites in Bonaire, but they are not tremendously diverse after a certain point. ............

So, you saw all 323 reported species of fish on Bari reef?

 

[newmanl]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the info - especially "Nanodiver" for the first-hand experience info with respect to the Carib Inn. We've poured over the forums and various websites and many a dark rum and coke have made the ultimate sacrifice to allow that, but have not found the answers to these specific questions up to this point. I do lots of homework prior to committing our modest descretionary income to a vacation!

We've been to the Cook Islands (once) and Hawaii (three times), all for two-week trips and found we wanted to stay longer. We both have stressful jobs (much like most people, no doubt!) and feel that three weeks allows for not only all the diving we can handle, but also some relaxation and a day or two of missed opportunities due to weather - which for some reason, we still can't do anything about!

We are both aquatic biologists and photographers, so slow and steady and repeated visits to a site gives us the best chance to see not only the number of species, but also maybe some of the behaviour most miss. Having said that, I'd like to try for at least three dives a day.

RJP - thanks for the suggestion on meals, my wife thinks that's a great idea, but I'm far too British to live on P,B and J for three weeks! I'm sure the only meal we'll eat out at least most/some of the time will be dinner. Also, the park advice sounds great! We'll for sure check out the park for a day or so. Is there a place to snorkel or dive in mangroves - or is that not encouraged/allowed?

Again, thanks everyone for the input so far. We very much appreciate it.

Lee

 

[driftwood]

Hi Folks,

My wife and I will be going to Bonaire in April - staying at the Carib Inn for three weeks. We have a few questions both about the place and the diving and I was wondering if those that have stayed there would be able to offer some info.

We plan to pack very light - are there laundry facilities at the Inn or nearby?

We will also not likely have a vehicle for the entire time - are there grocery stores and resturants within walking distance?

For when we don't have the vehicle we will probably go on a boat dive or two - will the Carib Inn allow diving without the DM (I'm an underwater photographer and like to go slow - don't worry, my wife is into slow as well!)?

Finally, how is their rental gear? We could bring our own if that would be a better option (trying to save weight in the bags).

We are really looking forward to going - I've been hearing great things about Bonaire ever since I worked in Grand Cayman as a dive Instructor in '84-'85, but have just never had the chance or made it a priority until now!

Thanks.

Lee

Hi Lee,

We have been to Bonaire several times over the last couple of years and we had the same questions you did our first time.

First, it is my understanding that there is one laundromat on the island and they do not have a reliable wash and fold service. I love the 'lavaderia' in Mexico, we can pack carry on for a week without a sacrifice. No such service on Bonaire so I would pack for a week to limit the number of trips (and time) to do laundry.

We have stayed at Buddy's and there you need a car. Some stuff is close enough but one thing you will find out about Bonaire is that grocery shopping often means multiple stops and you will still not find everything. The Warehouse grocery is pretty good and is where you will do most of your shopping. The Cultimara, downtown, is dark and depressing but carries different things. Even then you will be very lucky to complete your grocery list. If you HAVE to have it, bring it with you. Locals call each other when things like powdered Gatorade appear on shelves. I hate to tell you this, but the bottom line is that you will probably need a car, a truck is preferred, for your stay.

You need your booties for any shore dives since a sand beach is rare on the island. A shorty wetsuit, or two, is light and I always dive with my own regulator/computer. That kind of leaves your fins and BCD. For three weeks, I would take my basic gear including lights for night dives.

You already said that you have been to other sites and I don't mean to bore you but, get the book Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy by Susan Porter. Absolutely invaluable reference guide. Also the folks on Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire! are very helpful as well.

Have a great trip and Bonaire diving will spoil the rest of the Carib for you.

 

[Bosun]

We are Bonaire repeaters since 1999 and have done at least one trip there each year and the last 5 years we gone twice each year and had 16 or 17 night stays each trip.

I also don't like having a truck all the time and we use a taxi to stock up our fridge at the beginning of the trip. Then do a few days of boat and house reef dives at some point get a truck for a week and shore dive, then back to boat and house reef. Maybe then a 4x4 for the park.
We stay at Habitat so we eat within walking distance or get taxi when we don't have a truck and in Town when we do.

We went in Bonaire in March last year and the water was cool and we got chilly after 3 or 4 dives a day in 3mm full suits with a beanie hood. People were diving in shorties, but they got much earlier than we did. April should be a bit warmer.

Kit hire for three weeks appears expensive, I would ask Bruce for a quote as he may offer a deal.
Personally I like having my own gear, we are also underwater photographers (Housed Nikon SLRs) one each. Even with all our kit and a laptop we have a checked case under 30 Kilos each and about an 8 Kilo carry on.


We dont use the laundry service except for evening wear. Shorts, Tees and underware we wash with travel wash in the room.

I second BSDME by Sue Porter and you can research the restaraunts on BT etc. as posted above.

Enjoy your trip