Is Bonaire for us??

[crabbyfiddler]

I love the dive op at Divi Flamingo resort. Great boat dives, walkable to great restaurants on the island. The dive off the DIVI pier offered some fantastic finds: frog fish, nudis, etc. There is a casino there if you are in to that sort of thing. Wasn't for us, but many people who stay there seem to like it a night or two.

 

[Bas Harts]

Go to bonaire to dive, dive, dive, dive or go to Curacao and have some nice dives (similar to bonaire) while you are on vacation.............

 

[darook]

Agree with everyone that Curacao is a better destination for you. If you can get to Cozumel you may like that better as the dives offer a bit more variety.

 

[Damselfish]

I agree if you are intent on going to the Dutch Caribbean, Curacao might be a better match for you than Bonaire - I assume it's as easy if not easier for you to get there. While there is also a fair amount of shore diving on Curacao, including a bit from resort docks, it's more boat dive oriented and not as focused on shore diving. Curacao also has much more on land - restaurants, sightseeing, beaches, shopping, etc. I actually like the diving in Curacao better than Bonaire because the underwater topography is more varied. And I'm another one that prefers boat diving to hauling gear all over the place, so that aspect of Bonaire doesn't appeal much. One downside of Curacao is it doesn't have the great selection of real dive resorts you will find in Bonaire, so as a diver picking the right place to stay can be more challenging. It's also a bigger island with things spread around so while there's more stuff, you'll probably also have longer drives to stuff - sometimes much longer.

That said, if you really want to go to Bonaire, mostly boat dive, and do a few dives off your hotel dock - there's no reason you shouldn't, despite all the talk about shore diving around the island, and the many people who seem to think boat diving there is silly. You don't have to get a dive and drive package if that's not what you want. You can get a boat dive package, which will typically include unlimited shore diving tanks on your boat dive days. Boat diving in Bonaire is inexpensive so you may find Bonaire a great dive value, even if you only use a few of those "unlimited" tanks rather than several every day.

 

[diversteve]

What everybody else said, Curacao is a much better choice for doing some low hassle shore diving. Curacao is under-rated as a dive destination since most people go thru there to Bonaire for cheap shore diving. I personally prefer it both for diving and for other activities. As someone posted, good luck finding much else to do on Bonaire.

One thing no one mentioned is the entries. If you're not up for hauling tanks, you're going to hate hauling your gear - and yourselves - over the ironshore at most of the Bonaire dive sites. Most of the Curacao dive sites are also some of the better beaches. Any that require it have a dive dock also. At some they just built one to get you slightly closer to the reef. Compare entries in the pictures here: Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands You would want a car for the best access.

To make it even easier the Dive Bus offers guided shore diving - and they do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. And pick up at any resort in town. Welcome to the Dive Bus

Bas Harts who posted in this thread does also. There's also Relaxed Guided Dives and several others. Most of the better known shore dive sites on Curacao also have an on-site dive operator so you can make arrangements for a guide at most of them.

On Bonaire there's a few specialty guides like BasDiving who does the East Side from shore but at most sites you're on your own - none of the sites outside of the dive resorts have any sort of facilities either - none. Some of the larger dive operators do have guides available but that's typically at their site or one nearby. An example of this is Dive Friends - they're on the Cliff site so guide there on request.

I agree with Damselfish, IMO Curacao has slightly better diving - certainly more varied. And the better diving east in the Marine Park is all done from a boat. One of the best dives on Curacao is Watamula - it's a boat only dive all the way to the west. Go West Diving in Westpunt goes there - it's a good operation. And if you want to dive the famous Mushroom Forest site and the Blue Cave snorkel that's a boat dive only also. We did a dive at Lost Anchor - glad it was on a boat. There were about 4 vertical flights of stairs down to the water there.

The better diving on Curacao is not off Willemstad IMO except for Superior Producer and most shops do that via boat anyway. It's restricted because it's near the cruise Megaport so often done at night. Downtown on either side of the harbor is very congested during the day also.

There's some very good restaurants on Curacao. Some waterfront. Landhuis Daniel is one, Bistro Le Clochard is another. And a lot of beach bar/restaurant combos. They have real night life on Curacao also, dance clubs, jazz clubs, beach clubs - some pretty upscale. And at least a dozen casinos - the best is at the Marriott Renaissance near the cruise port downtown. And a lot of good shopping, the colored buildings downtown in all their ads are shops and there's a several block outdoor market behind them. The Rif Fort complex across the channel is another.

Many of the resorts/condo complexes on Curacao have their own dive operator on site also. So although they're not dive resorts you basically have the same access. A short list (east->west) is: Santa Barbara Resort, Sunscape, Atlantis Apts./Diving downtown, Scuba Lodge downtown, The Marriott or Hilton in Piscadera Bay. Blue Bay condo resort, Lagoon Blou condo resort, All West Apts. or Lodge Kura Hulanda in Westpunt <- a 45 min. drive from town. There's others also - most resorts/condo complexes have some sort of option. One I liked is Lions Dive Resort - it can be done as a package with diving/meals/car rental or any combination. A few minutes south of town in the Sea Aquarium area. Probably the only "dive" resort left on Curacao.

If you're going thru Amsterdam, KLM is adding more 2PM direct flights in November. Curacao: KLM announces more flights to Curacao from Europe

Curaçao , a unique Caribbean island paradise is a good source for most things.

 

[KeithG]

Hello all,
We are both CMAS* certified with 60+ and 30+ dives, and we have been investigating and reading about Bonaire...

We are not hardcore divers, meaning that we like spending some time out of water! Now, considering that

- we fly from Denmark
- we would only do some shore diving from the resort pier (not chosen yet), while all resorts offer unlimited shore diving (and some even a truck, which we are not really interested in - loading and unloading tanks...)
- briefly, we would do mostly boat diving!

We are wondering if it would be a waste of our money to go that far and use only minimally the potential of this place...

Thanks!
Maurizio

As many folks indicated, please go to Curacao and stay away from Bonaire...Bonaire is way too crowded...

Hang on a moment. Bonaire will work perfectly for you. What do you mean by a "waste of money"? Will you save any money going to Curacao?

Bonaire is the only place I know of that you can "get your moneys worth" regardless of what you spend. You are free to dive when and where you want.

You can dock dive your brains out.
OR: You can do 3 tanks a day via boat.
OR: You can drive your brains out (manual transmission only), lug all your gear and dive all over the island.
Your choice. All choices surpass even the best live aboard.

Some people get fixated on Bonaire shore diving and think the only way to dive Bonaire is via a rental truck. We dock dive off the Divi. My favorite profile is 90 feet for 90 minutes. At the end of the day (after the night dive!) we walk into town for a very nice dinner. Rinse & repeat.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
Some people get fixated on Bonaire shore diving and think the only way to dive Bonaire is via a rental truck. We dock dive off the Divi. My favorite profile is 90 feet for 90 minutes. At the end of the day (after the night dive!) we walk into town for a very nice dinner. Rinse & repeat.

Just to clarify my opinion, I don't think shore diving utilizing a rental truck is "the only way to dive Bonaire." I will acknowledge that a diver can have a fine dive vacation without a truck. But the concept of driving up and down the road in those rental trucks, going from one site marked by those yellow stones to another (even filling up at a drive-through air station!) is just so uniquely Bonaire--it's the island's hallmark. As far as I know, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Maybe instead of flamingo as the island's symbol they should use a rental truck!

But if the rental truck experience is not appealing to someone, then why recommend they visit Bonaire over somewhere else? Sure, if they have found a fantastic deal on a flight or resort, or if one loves wild donkeys or whatever, then by all means recommend they choose Bonaire over another dive destination. But absent a compelling reason to choose Bonaire over another destination, I would have to recommend choosing another destination if a diver is not interested in the shore diving with rental trucks. I love boat diving, but I can do that anywhere--it's no big deal. I have been to both Bonaire and Curacao, and if not for the lure of the rental truck dance, I would be going elsewhere. Outside the Dutch Caribbean, Cozumel is a fantastic option.

 

[Bas Noij]

Many thanks, folks.
I can see you both agree on the main reason to go to Bonaire.... which confirms our concerns.

To answer your questions:

It's quite convenient for us to fly direct from Denmark into the dutch Caribbean (unlike South-East Asia, or the extreme Paciifc islands)
We know Bonaire is among the top destinations for diving in the area.

Two good reasons for us to avoid unguided shore diving:
-the hassle of bringing the diving gear (I am a hernia collector... :confused4
-our certificate doesn't allow us to dive without an Advanced buddy with us

If we go there, after a 2-tank boat dive in the morning we wouldn't mind spending an afternoon idle, and/or we would probably dive from the local pier; we are even considering getting an Advanced or a specialty certificate, but it's more about the value for money....: you get there, you pay for a package you hardly use, and see a tiny fraction of the available reef?? Probably not worth, is it?

I do NOT agree with other posters that Curacao is a better option if you do not want to dive without a guide. Whether or not you prefer Bonaire over Curacao or vice versa depends more on other things. In my opinion:

- The diving is MUCH better on Bonaire
- There are more shopping and night life options on Curacao than on Bonaire
- The nature on Bonaire is much more pristine and the whole island vibe is extremely relaxed

If you want to be with a guide at all times that is very well possible. Obviously boat diving is an option and if you prefer to shore dive in a small group setting or completely private there are several dive operations (including my own) that can offer you an excellent guide who will do all the hard work for you. No need to haul gear and load trucks....just get yourself a dive butler

 

[Hintermann]

If you want to be with a guide at all times that is very well possible.

Do the guests get to choose the guides that they want to be with? :amazed:

 

[KathyV]

We have been to Bonaire several times and when we were younger we loved driving around and doing all the shore dives, but as we have gotten older it has become less attractive to haul all that heavy equipment; but we still love the boat dives and do shore dives from the house pier. You don't have to do the truck-based shore dives to enjoy Bonaire.

We still like renting a car and driving around the island, it is an interesting place to see and a very unique "diving community" to experience - there's no place else like it. Curacao is more developed and bigger but it also has some great diving.