Heading to Bonaire/Aruba in June

[drbill]

I had a free airplane ticket to wherever they flew so I chose to go to Aruba, arriving on my birthday (June 12). Will hope over to Bonaire for a week or so as well. Plan to be in the Ditch Antilles for two weeks, focused on diving (except as restricted by inter-island flights). In the process of selecting dive ops on both islands.

I've never been to this part of the Caribbean but am looking forward to capturing some more stock video footage from the region to add to what I have from Belize, Honduras and the Bahamas.

 

[diversteve]

Since you're likely to be solo shore diving on Bonaire - I'd choose a dive op with multiple locations both north and south for ease of tank exchange. Unless you get the package deal with your on-site operator since every resort, apt. or condo complex has a deal with someone.

The operator with the most locations is Dive Friends. Next is probably WannaDive. Buddy Dive has three locations, two north and one south. The Buddy's location has a drive-thru tank pick-up also. The south location at BelMar is right near the road. http://www.buddydive.com/

Really reasonable accommodations not waterfront are the Dive Hut in town or Coco Palm Garden which is is south of town in Belnem so you'd need a car for either. Most dive packages bundle a truck also. Coco Palm is about a block from Bachelor's Beach - a decent dive.

Carib Inn has decent rates for being waterfront and Bruce Bowker is the go to guy to fix anything. There's also this place - IDK much about it except it's located a few 100' behind where we stay. Not waterfront but a short walk to it across the road. Really decent rates. Bonaire Bed & Breakfast: Affordable Accommodation - Oasis Guesthouse Bonaire Hotel

Another option in town might be: Bonaire · Blachi Koko Apartments - adjacent to Carib Inn so you could use their facilties. Also their package is with WannaDive. I think you'd like Bart at WannaDive - he's very involved in reef/turtle conservation efforts there. From BK you could walk to most of the downtown restaurants. Karels Bar over water downtown is the divers bar not counting those at the dive resorts. Go to the Tuesday night Beach BBQ at Coconut Crash at the Plaza Resort also. Good food and a lot of divers will be there. At least it used to be Tuesdays before Van Der Walk took over.

We like BelMar condos but they make less sense for a single price-wise. Most of the waterfront resorts have a single supplement also. Nothing is particularly far from the water on Bonaire - it's not a big island.

hth,

 

[lmorin]

Bill--watch your timing going through Aruba to/from Bonaire and from/to US. The airport can be a complete disaster because it cannot handle the crowds that arrive in droves at certain times in the afternoon. PM me if you want more info. We have been the Aruba/Bonaire route about 8 times and have pretty much experienced all the problems.
Larry

 

[drbill]

Thanks for the advice above. I've chosen Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn for my 9 days on Bonaire. have known of him for years and the reviews were great. It definitely sounds like my kind of place. Haven't determined my Aruba dive op after that stay on Bonaire yet.

Larry, I will arrive in Aruba the day before my flight to Bonaire the next morning so I should have plenty of time, but thanks for the advice. I've heard a few horror stories! Are you by any chance related to Dr. Jim Morin who taught at Harvard and UCLA?

 

[lmorin]

..............
Larry, I will arrive in Aruba the day before my flight to Bonaire the next morning so I should have plenty of time, but thanks for the advice. I've heard a few horror stories! Are you by any chance related to Dr. Jim Morin who taught at Harvard and UCLA?

Nope. No relation, as far as I know. My family name is a common French Canadian last name and there are more of us in New England the closer you get to Quebec.

 

[jimw]

We will be at Habitat beginning on the 14th for a week. Come on over and dive out front with us!

 

[diversteve]

Nice thing about Carib Inn is you can walk to downtown. People do it from the Divi nearby all the time.

 

[drbill]

Looking forward to this trip and thanks for the feedback.

 

[tkaelin]

You may want to consider a dive with EastCoast Diving. Diving the windward side is a different experience. On our one dive we saw so many turtles (plus 25) that we lost count. You can find posts and reviews here and on Bonaire Talk.

 

[drrich2]

I'd recommend Bas Tol with Bas Diving if you'd like to shore dive the east coast; made a world of difference diving with him a few days ago, vs. when a buddy and I tried it quite awhile back.

The east coast of Bonaire is a 'different animal,' so to speak, and especially for the sort of work you're doing, a look at it would be interesting.

Richard.