newbie going to bon; guided dives?

[Texasdivechick]

Hey everyone! I will be going to Bon in April for my first dive vacation. Can't wait! I was wondering if there are guided trips for shore dives until we feel comfortable with the location. We're staying at Sand $, and we plan to take at least 1 boat dive. Are boat dives typically guided by a DM? Do we have to sign up for guided shore dives? Since my buddy and I are both newly certified I feel that it would be prudent to be super cautious for a day or so (well, really I plan on always being cautious). Thanks for any advice you Bon-veterans can give.

 

[jghflash]

Boat dives will be guided, so no worries there. The shore diving is easy on Boanire so you should be fine. Look for dive sites with an easy shore entry and stay shallow until you are comfortable with the concept of swimming to the reef, turning upcurrent (if there is any) and returning down current after half tank. If you do that, then magically you should be near your entry point. After a few dives you will understand what I mean, it's absolutely fabulous to be able to dive when and where you want to. Get a copy of Susan Porter's book "Bonaire Shore Diving Made easy" and start with the easy dives. Since they are ALL great, this will help you build you confidence. One you might try early on is the Front Porch. Very easy entry and more stuff than you can imagine! Go slow and look for the little critters, they are everywhere!

 

[Bosun]

I would do several boat dives until you feel more comfortable, you can pay a DM to do a shore dive with you, if you dive Salt Pier or Town Pier (these are great dives) you will need a DM to go with you.

 

[reefdiva]

Bonaire is a great place to build your confidence. Check with the dive shop when you check in to find out about one or two guided dives if that would help you to feel more comfortable. One of the great things about Bonaire is that you do not need to go deep or go far to see great things and navigation is very easy. The book Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy (as mentioned above) will be of great help. Check it out at www.bsdme.info. My husband and I did our first "alone" dives in Bonaire and were always comfortable. Biggest problem you will have is figuring out when to return -- it is addictive!

 

[diversteve]

Since you're staying at Sand$ do a REEF survey with BD&A. One of the naturalists will accompany you on the dive pointing out the different fish for you to record. You pay them but it's pretty minimal. It's also your BMP orientation dive site if you're diving with them. Then dive the site yourself later, it's a simple easy entry/exit and dive and the #1 site in the Caribbean for species diversity. We found interesting things there in less than 30' of water, 100 yards from the dive dock.

Another thing you'll find off Bonaire is that the water is so clear usually that as you're swimming back to your entry point, you typically see the mooring ball rope from about 50' away. Just don't touch it, especially in the south, it's typically covered in fire coral.

Salt Pier would be a good beginner dive also. There's a tiny sandy beach there that makes the entry easy, you have to do it with a DM now, and the pier structures start in under 20' of water with several of them under 50'. We found the best stuff at the 2nd pier and didn't exceed 30' there.

Another thing you can do is dive from the various resorts. Just about every dive resort is situated on a named dive site and all have docks with flat wide steps down into the water. Being beginners you shouldn't do any diving south of Pink Beach, the currents past there can be tricky.