Going to Bonaire end of october, boat dives

[DECKHAND]

I will be on Bonaire by the end of October and I will like to do a couples may be more of boat dives the question is ,is it worth paying the extra money for boat dives can I dive better or only accessible sites by boat or should I do only beach dives. Burbank Dive Club - Welcome!

 

[El Orans]

Klein Bonaire can only be done by boat, the rest is easily accessed from the beach.

 

[Jetwrench]

Stick with shore diving and if you want a boat dive make sure it's to Klein. A few apex predators have been seen over there lately so it might be worth it. Over 2 weeks I'll do at least one boat dive, but rarely more than 2. M2C

 

[Walter]

I recently returned from my third trip to Bonaire. The first two trips, we made boat dives. This time, I stuck with shore dives only. I dived more and had a better time diving on this trip. In my opinion, unless you've already dived everything you can reach from shore, there's no reason to schedule boat dives in Bonaire.

 

[diversteve]

We did about 7 boat dives which seemed like maybe 2 too many. But it depends on what you're looking for.

Rappel is a good dive on Bonaire that you can't do except by boat. If you did Jerry's Reef off Klein first, it would be a short trip across. And there's often dolphins in the channel. We also saw Turtles under the rocks inshore from the mooring at Jerry's. I know they're other places but that's the only site we saw them at all week.

Almost every other divesite on Bonaire is shore-accessible.

Two good dives off Klein Bonaire are Hands Off - drift dive and Forest - it's a forest of Black Coral at 70'.

Some dive operators will do Karpata, 1000 Steps or even the Hooker from a boat. At any of them you'd likely meet shoredivers on the site. Although I might prefer doing 1000 Steps by boat instead of that walk back up...

Also, the boats seem to be less crowded in the afternoons. We came back in from 2 morning dives and on the signup sheet they were asking for 2 more divers for a 2PM dive. I paid $18 to be 1 of 4 divers on that boat. The DM just floated along blowing bubble rings till we all emptied our tanks.

There's 25 divesites off Klein and 60+ divesites off Bonaire so you decide...

 

[reefdiva]

It really is a matter of personal choice. I prefer shore diving because I can keep my own schedule and not have to worry about getting to the boat on time, etc. If you do not yet have a copy of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy you might want to think about purchasing it before your trip at Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, BSDME, Author Susan Porter (the author's website) or on island from one of the dive shops or at Chat and Browse. It is a great resource for choosing among the many shore sites.

 

[dvrliz1]

Hi!

IMHO, living and diving on Bonaire, definitely do a couple of boat dives over to Klein Bonaire. The ease of shore diving is amazing. There are a couple of dives that are on the Bonaire that are Boat dives and not accessible by shore. I HIGHLY recommend you get a copy of Shore Diving Made Easy by Susan Porter (I think her member id ON SB is CUNDERBON...or something like that). It is excellent, tells you all about the dive sites....

Liz

 

[DeputyDan]

If you have not done it Larry's Wild Side is one of those things you put in your log book as a been there done that!

I agree with Jetwrench's post!

 

[RJP]

If you do not yet have a copy of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy you might want to think about purchasing it before your trip at Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, BSDME, Author Susan Porter (the author's website) or on island from one of the dive shops or at Chat and Browse. It is a great resource for choosing among the many shore sites.

People should really stop calling it a book. It's a pamphlet at best. B&W Microsoft word document, printed and stapled with a cover. No photos whatsoever, in case that's what people might expect from a "guide book." I know I was completely underwhelmed for my $17.95.

 

[reefdiva]

RJP ... I don't think that either Liz or I used the term book ... but no matter what you call BSDME (book, guide, pamphlet, non-fiction text, informational material) it is a great resource for folks new (and not so new) to shore diving Bonaire. The information on entries and exits is helpful and having ideas about the sites from someone who lives sure was helpful to me! Just my 2 cents worth.