I was in Bonaire last month, and fell in love with it. I did it more on the Frugal side (<$1200 including air for a week, with truck, studio w/kitchen, and free air/NITROX, but no meals included). The shore diving was just what I wanted. Lots of diving for little expense. I did 28 dives (had to abort one because of a cold and couldn't equalize). One guy in the group did 30. I don't have anything to compare it to, except snorkeling in Cozumel, but I didn't find the shore diving strenous. But, that's all so relative. It was between 10 and 30 yards from where we parked the truck to the water, usually easy walk or stairs (yes, the have built stairs to access some site from shore). Then another 20 to 50 yards (max) to the reef. We usually swam out on the surface to the bouy (I think almost every site is marked with a bouy), then dove down to conserve air. We usually went to 80-100 feet, swam up current (if there was any) then came up to 40-60 feet on the return, and then a final swim at ~15 ft for our safety stop. Then back to the shore. The hardest part was at some sites the rocks (coral) were very slippery, and there where some holes and then large rocks again deeper to navigate to. This was usually only 10-20 feet, and then we were able to float. I wouldn't trade this for boat diving - since I want to max the amount of time underwater to practice skills. Free unlimited shore diving versus $50-$75 for a one - two tank boat dive was a no brainer for me.
I don't think there is a water taxi to the Klien Bonaire (the island) since I don't think you can dock/beach there. All the trips I know of were boat dives. And, it's illegal to anchor a boat around Bonaire (but they have the bouy's at each dive site to tie to). I found no reason to do the boat dives since there was so much to do from shore, for free.
The place I stayed was wonderful (Eden Beach- with a nice beach) but it is kind of no frills. It has a full kitchen, so fully functional, and great people, but not 5-star material (which I wasn't looking for - do you see a thread here?). The Wanna Dive shop located on the property was wonderful, although I was with a group that included instructors and dive masters, so I didn't use them for that. The gear I rented was as good or better than what I rent from my LDS. I was quite impressed! I'm not sure I'd call it romantic though (I'm single too). Oh, did I mention all the free diving/air/NITROX for the week too?
I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have, remembering my relative inexperience with other scuba resorts. I plan to return to Bonaire if I go no where else, again next year.
