Night Diving and Dinner Reservations

[quacknutz]

Heading to Bonaire in late March. Curious how folks manage night diving with dinner reservations. Best to make dinner reservations earlier in evening around sunset and then go night diving or is it realistic to go night diving first and then be able to have dinner at one of the great restaurants?

 

[tursiops]

Heading to Bonaire in late March. Curious how folks manage night diving with dinner reservations. Best to make dinner reservations earlier in evening around sunset and then go night diving or is it realistic to go night diving first and then be able to have dinner at one of the great restaurants?

The better restaurants are not fast, and I would want to have some wine with the meal.
So, for me, dive first, eat later.
Just don't try and eat TOO late; many restaurants are not open late.

I do not try and mix night diving and good restaurants; I don't do either every night, so can alternate...

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Totally agree with Tursiops.

Wife and really like what we call a "dusky" dive where we enter the water right before sunset and it transitions to a night dive during the dive. That usually gives time to get back to the room for a quick shower or pool dip before dinner... To be honest one of our favorite restaurants is Capt Dons. Get a nice table by the water for an amazing view and watching the tarpons in the rock bank lights.

 

[NDL_Diver]

What Dwag said,
Use house reef if possible, gear up at green flash, dive, clean up gear, shower and enjoy dinner. Maybe a little later than normal night but on Bonaire you make your own dive scedule for the next day with a later start.
Just eat where convenient that requires no reservation like Donner station or Eddies....

 

[Doctorfish]

Who wants to dive on a full stomach?

IMO better to dive and then eat. Sunset in April Bonaire 6.45
When we night dive we tend to dive the house reef and eat at restaurants near the hotel.

 

[tkaelin]

I do my night dives in the early morning just before sunrise.

 

[Damselfish]

I prefer to dive first. If I eat first I get lazy and crawling into a warm dry bed starts to be too appealing.

 

[tursiops]

If I eat first I get lazy and crawling into a warm dry bed starts to be too appealing.

I have no idea what you are talking about. /s

 

[cgills]

I do my night dives in the early morning just before sunrise.

Interesting, how would you compare marine life activity during those hours say to usual nite dive hours, say 7:00-9:00 pm?? I have noticed that larger critters say octopus, channel crabs, lobsters, eels, tend to head out early for the hunt, while we have better luck finding the smaller nudibranchs and such if we wait and go later into the nite, 8:00-10:00pm.

 

[arew+4]

We adjust our eating habits on Bonaire, light breakfast fruit and a pastry or egg, small snack between dives 1&2, biggish lunch longer interval between 2&3, twinight or night dive, light supper or dinner out if we skip dive 4.