Hey everyone-
So I'm looking to take a trip sometime in September with 2 other friends to someplace in the Caribbean for about a week of diving. Bonaire seems like a good choice as one my friends is a pretty new diver, and I've heard the shore dives in Bonaire are fairly easy dives. Would you guys agree with that? From the reviews here and on TripAdvisor, is seems like Coral Paradise Resort is a good bet and is something we were looking at.
I know airfare to Bonaire is a bit more than to some other places in the Caribbean, but does anyone have any suggestions for some sites that might be a little cheaper or better? As I said, one of my friends is fairly new to diving, so the easy shore dives may be a big plus, even with the higher airfare. Unlimited shore diving seems like a pretty good deal, but I've also heard good things about Curacao, and Turks and Caicos.
Any input is appreciated.
Curacao is a bigger version of Bonaire with more to see/do topside. The dive sites are also more spread out. Either island requires a vehicle to get around. The reef is fairly close off Bonaire which has means there's ironshore and coral rubble at many of the entrances. So good treaded boots are a must. It's slippery and hard to climb over - esp. at some where there's sort of an ironshore shelf just off the beach. Many have sand channels nearby so look for those. At some sites previous divers have piled up coral rubble indicating a good entry point. So that might be a factor for your new diver.
The same reef is off Curacao it's just typically a short swim out from a beach or dive dock. Many of the dive sites on Curacao have some sort of dive operator/beach operator/snack shop onshore - none of the dive sites outside of those at the resorts on Bonaire do.
The site entry pictures here:
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/index.htm show it better than I can describe it.
The dives off either island are fairly easy as the water is often very clear and the reef parallels the shore. So about the only choice is direction based on current - if any.
I would pick Buddy Dive for your
dive package also as they have a street-side drive thru tank pickup that's handy if you plan to do a lot of dives.
Also you'll be told this but at any of the non-resort dives don't leave anything of value in the truck - there's some theft in some areas while you're in the water. Most of the trucks are small 4-dr's so the back seat is a good place to stow your gear loose. Tanks can stay in the back and won't be touched - no operator will fill another's tanks. On Curacao we were told to hide/lock anything of value. Since we mostly dove sites with an on-site operator this wasn't an issue for us.
You'll drive more between dive sites on Curacao. Many require a 5-10 min. drive in from the main road - especially out west. Some sites on Bonaire run back to back - esp. in the south - you can see divers at 3-4 adjacent sites often. So if you're trying to do
a lot of dives Bonaire is easier.
The diving is very similar - some sites it would be hard to tell which island you were on. Otoh, there's nothing like the Mushroom Forest on Bonaire. Not that it's worth picking Curacao over Bonaire for. I personally think the best single shore dive I've done on either island is Playa Kalki off Westpunt Curacao. Some of the others were just average though.
IDK if it's important but depending on where you live travel time might be a factor. We can get to Curacao by about 2pm leaving at 6am. Bonaire either requires the United red-eye through Houston or an overnight for us. As mentioned there are the regionals between Curacao and Bonaire - if you can get to CUR by about 5-6PM that's an option - but we never were able to make that work w/o an overnite on Curacao on the return.
http://www.infobonaire.com/airlineinfo.html usually has current options - some of the airlines cancel flights during their slow seasons annually.
There's really no shore diving in Turks/Caicos. Except maybe off 1-2 resorts on Grand Turk - not sure. A lot of excellent wall diving however. And you'll see more sharks and other big stuff than you will off Bonaire or Curacao. It's also way more expensive than either of your other choices...
