General questions before first trip to Bonaire.

[Doctorfish]

I've been to Bonaire several times have stayed at Buddies, Plaza and Divi. Of the 3, Buddy dive is my preference due to quality of dive op, house reef and diving convenience. Their package includes nitrox, breakfast and a truck. There is room variability but I think all are pretty much renovated by now. not luxurious but clean and functional.

We stopped staying at Divi because the cruise ships moor right in front and the house reef is so-so.
At Plaza, it's a mile from the dive shop to the house reef.

The diving on Bonaire in my opinion, is pretty good for a Caribbean island. Relatively healthy reefs, lots of macro critters, no big stuff except on the wild side.


I have never personally had a problem with theft on Bonaire or at Buddy's except for out of the rental truck parked at a shore dive site.

Overall, I prefer Bonaire to Coz, Grand Cayman, Roatan and Utila. The island is civilized, you can eat the food and drink the water. Never gotten sick there, maybe just lucky.

 

[djtimmy77]

We were very happy the last two trips with Coral Paradise. Smaller resort, well kept. We cooked most of our meals, but you can arrange to have breakfast at Capt Don's next door if you like. We used Buddy Dive for tanks both trips so we had the convenience of the drive through. They have the trucks waiting for you when you arrive. We will be going back there on our next trip.

 

[jameseg]

FIST, if you haven't already, check out Den Lamen. It's a 16-unit apartment/condo complex just down the road from Buddy Dive. My wife and I stayed there for a week last November and would definitely go back.

The house reef, Bari, is terrific. There's a dive op on site, so tank pickup is easy. Nitrox analyzers were always available and in good working condition. If you're diving Bari, there are additional tanks on the dock, which is nice for night dives. Our package included a truck and unlimited diving. The onsite restaurant was closed when we were there, not sure of its status now. But wasn't a problem - there's a great deli/cafe less than 100 yards away that we hit most mornings for a quick coffee and roll. Good lunch spot, too. Or you can buy a few things at the grocery store, as the rooms all have kitchens.

We enjoyed driving through the national park and stopping a couple places for dives. Also went down to the southern tip of the island and climbed the lighthouse, which gives a good view of the salt flats. Lots of great restaurants in town.

James

 

[divezonescuba]

The restaurant is now open below Den Lamen. You can get package meal prices if you want. While we only had one meal there, it was fine and moderately priced. They did not yet take credit cards as of last week. The breakfast shop around the corner is Between 2 Buns. The breakfasts are good. However, the lunch hamburger tasted off from any other hamburger I have eaten either on Bonaire or elsewhere. Between 2 Buns is not open for dinner. There is also a small convenience store next door. Across the road on a side street is a huge dollar store.

We visited both Captain Dons and Buddy Dive and concluded that Den Lamen and Bonaire Dive and Adventure was more personal, relaxed and convenient.

 

[FIST]

Thanks for all the replies. This is definitely a lot of valuable information.

 

[texas23]

We stayed at Caribbean Club Bonaire. It was great. Free nitrox upgrade, analyzer on site. They are partnered with Buddy Dive so you can use BD drive thru for tanks or get them at CCB. It is the northern most hotel, so kinda far away from town. But the island isn't very big anyways, so its not really that big of a deal. Topside we visited the Indian inscriptions (a little bit of a rough ride but worth it) & the Cadushy distillery. Next time we are going to kayak the mangroves & visit the donkey sanctuary. Breakfast, truck rental & tanks were included in the price of the room if you get the dive & explore package. I usually don't visit the same place twice but was so impressed that I have already booked our next trip to stay at CCB.

 

[Thook]

Do the Hooker - it really is very cool and accessible.

WOW... She has quite a history... The vessel was built at the Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, Netherlands, for the shipping company Scheepvaart En Steenkolen Mij. N. V. She was launched on 21 May 1951 and named Midsland. In 1964 the ship was sold to Caribbean Association Traders of Panama, and renamed Mistral. She was sold again in 1967 to the Bahamas Line and renamed William Express. On 18 July 1975 the ship sank off Samaná, Dominican Republic. She was refloated and sold to Benjamin Catrone of Panama and renamed Anna C. The ship was soon sold again being bought in 1976 by the Seacoast Shipping Corp. of Panama and renamed Doric Express. Finally, in 1979 she was sold to the San Andrés Shipping Line of San Andrés, Colombia, and renamed Hilma Hooker.^[1]
[h=3]Sinking[edit][/h]In the summer of 1984, the Hilma Hooker had engine problems at sea and was towed to the port of Kralendijk, Bonaire. It was already under surveillance by drug enforcement agencies. Docked at the Town Pier, local authorities boarded the ship for an inspection when her Captain was unable to produce any of the ships requisite registration papers. A false bulkhead was discovered, and held within was 25,000 lb (11,000 kg) of marijuana. The Hilma Hooker and her crew were subsequently detained while the local authorities on Bonaire searched for the vessel's owners, who were never found.
The ship languished under detention as evidence for many months and through general neglect of her hull she began to take on considerable amounts of water. It was feared that she would sink at the main dock on the island and disrupt maritime traffic. After many months of being tied to the pier and pumped of water, on September 7, 1984 the Hooker was towed to an anchorage. As the days passed, a slight list became noticeable. The list was even more obvious one morning. The owner was still not coming forward to claim the ship and maintain it so the many leaks added up until on the morning of September 12, 1984 the Hilma Hooker began taking in water through her lower portholes. At 9:08 am she rolled over on her starboard side and, in the next two minutes, disappeared.^[2]
[h=2]Dive site[edit][/h]She came to rest on a sand flat between two coral reef systems in an area known to divers as Angel City. Her wreck has subsequently became a prime attraction for scuba divers visiting Bonaire. She lies in approximately 100 feet (30 m) of water, and at 240 feet in length provides ample scope for exploration. However, relatively little of the wreck involves penetration diving.
She is regarded as one of the leading wreck diving sites in the Caribbean, "Scuba Diving Travel Magazine" in their article "World's Best Wrecks" April 2007

 

[Johnmpcny]

Just back from 10 days in Bonaire and 30 dives. Took my 18 yo son and he cannot wait to go back. I agree.

We stayed at the Caribbean club in a 2 bedroom villa # 302 right by two pools. The place is run by Buddy Dive. We did our check out and 3 boat dives at the Buddy main site them. Very happy with the place and Buddy Dive. We love to cook so over 10 days only ate dinner out 3 times. The staff was great and we saved a good amount of money this way. Very easy island to drive, if you can do a stick. Bonus son now can drive stick and I did have to lose a transmission on my truck teaching him <G>

Capt Don's and Buddy are right in the same area. You can dive both no matter where you stay. Our local LDS goes every year to Capt Don's, CCB is about 5 miles from them

Here is a link to a bunch of reviews Caribbean Club Bonaire - Resort Reviews - TripAdvisor

The thing I think I did not grasp before going is there really is no one dive site on Bonaire. The whole island from north to south has one long reef, (maybe a few gaps, but you get what I mean) the dive sites are really just markers where you can get in and out. Some places are private or commercial activities and cannot be dove. Other than that if you can get in and out you can dive it, or take a boat to it. I cannot think of a simpler way to do 4-5 dives a day. The guys we dive with loved the free Nitrox upgrade on Bonaire.

We loved the dives up north as they were more pristine but harder to enter and exit. We grabbed 3 tanks each as it is one way so your not going back and forth. As for big fishes we saw a large manta ray on one dive it appears up and down the mid town to upper north sites and if your lucky you will catch it. Ours we saw at La Dania's leap, alone with squid, 3 turtles and octopus all in one dive with all the other normal creatures.


The flights are long and if you miss a flight you can be days getting there. One family was a hour delayed out of Denver for their the Houston fight and went to Europe and back overnight to get there. Best part their bags made the org flight. To do more than a week (Dec 19th - 30th) we had to book United Syr - Dulles - Houston with a midnight flight Bonaire on the way down and Bonaire- Newark- Syracuse on the way back. As it was the holiday season cost was $800pp rt. Option was Delta out of Atlanta for 50% more.

Each time we had 3-4 hr layovers, this is my airline tip. Airline VIP rooms, they not only have showers and free drinks (beer wine soda), free snacks , they have the ability to change and re book your flights, so no waiting in lines if you run into issues. I buy the passes on ebay for any airline $15- $20, you can buy them for $50 - $75 dollars at the door. If you have amex platinum card many clubs are free. Spent over 3 hrs relaxing in Houston and on the way back 3 hrs in Newark. Less stress, better class of people, yes I am willing to say I am a bit of snob when it comes to my comfort. Met other divers in Houston one, we ended up diving a few times with. BTW I saved over $15 in the first hour with the free beer alone.



http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40

 

[FIST]

Nice summary. Thank you.

 

[TexasSnowcat]

Lots of dood info in this thread! We are also booked for our first trip to Bonaire ( just a few days away now). We are laying it out and weighing it up, which is always fun. I was wondering on the battery situation on the island. AAA's and C's for 7 divers adds up to a lot of weight. If the prices are reasonable i would prefer to save the weight and buy batteries onsite. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks