Roatan or Bonaire

[LStewart]

Hi all!
A group of mixed friends/family are planning a trip to dive/snorkel/bird watch/lounge/fish. Some divers (experienced and brand new), some snorkelers, and some beach lizards. Which of these would be best for a diverse group like this?

Thanks for the info!

 

[Dan]

Also consider sand flies (noseeum, Ceratopogonidae - Wikipedia). Bonaire is a lot better in that department.

 

[KeithG]

maybe somwhere in Belize? Or Aruba? Or Dominica?

Bonaire really does not have any beaches. Roatan has no see ums. Can you tell us why you narrowed it down to these 2 choices?

 

[matrixed82]

What time of year are you considering? Roatan can have much more rain in September through December.

Roatan has nicer beaches but as others have pointend out, the noseeums can get pretty bad at sunrise and sunset.

 

[LStewart]

giffenk - part of the group has been to Belize, part has been to Aruba. Hadn't considered Dominica. We started with Roatan since we've heard so much good stuff about it. Pretty much the same with Bonaire.
matrixed82 - We are going in April.

 

[drrich2]

Where at in Roatan are you considering? Others have noted the Roatan experience varies a lot by where you stay (e.g.: CocoView vs. Anthony's Key), probably more so than staying along Bonaire's west coast.

If you want 'Bonaire with beaches' and more stuff to do, did yo consider Curacao?

Richard.

 

[LStewart]

drrich2 - We have looked at AK and a few VRBO places on Roatan near Sandy Bay. Also haven't looked at Curacao yet

 

[KeithG]

giffenk - part of the group has been to Belize, part has been to Aruba. Hadn't considered Dominica. We started with Roatan since we've heard so much good stuff about it. Pretty much the same with Bonaire.
matrixed82 - We are going in April.

since you are a mixed group with non divers, i would suggest that going to dive centric places like CoCoView or AKR (or Bonaire) would not be a good choice for the non divers...

i am thinking you want a warm vacation that offers some diving, as opposed to a dive vacation that might have some other stuff (maybe...)

We just did CoCoView and have done AKR and multiple places on Bonaire. They are great for dive vacations. I would not recommend them as destinations for non divers.

Look at Bequia as well...

 

[LStewart]

giffenk - my wife and I are finishing our cert next week and doing our check out dives next weekend so we're the newbies in the group. It's kinda our trip since we're planning it and we're celebrating our 50th birthdays. All that being said .... I would lean a bit more toward a dive vacation with other stuff to do. We have another couple new to diving and another that are more experienced. 3-4 others may snorkel, fish, etc.
I looked at Dominica, and Bequia (which I'd never heard of) looks like all those either are expensive to fly to, require a short hop from another island, or take 24-30 hours to get to. Curacao wasn't too bad but the flight is still $300 higher.
Ahhh decisions, decisions!

 

[Kharon]

Bonaire is most probably not a good place for non-divers and definitely not a place to take inexperienced divers with poor buoyancy and trim control.