DeputyDan
Contributor
Do both and then report back on your findings !
Roatan vs Bonaire
- Thread starter Kharon
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Doctorfish
Contributor
I've been to Roatan twice and Bonaire more than 10 times.
That sums it up for me.
I never felt relaxed on island in Roatan.
On Bonaire, you can drink the water, eat the food and not worry about gastroenteritis.
Both islands are inexpensive once you get there. In my opinion, more macro life and healthier reefs on Bonaire as well. Seemed to be more fish as well. Bari Reef has more species than anywhere else in the Caribbean. It's not by accident that Ned and Anna Deloach spend so much time there.
Night shore diving on the house reefs on Bonaire at places like Buddy Dive and And Habitat is awesome. Roatan night diving was so so.
If you want big animals, the East side of Bonaire has sharks, rays, lots of turtles and morays.
You are comparing apples and oranges. It all depends on what you want. If you want dive freedom, Bonaire is the place.
That sums it up for me.
I never felt relaxed on island in Roatan.
On Bonaire, you can drink the water, eat the food and not worry about gastroenteritis.
Both islands are inexpensive once you get there. In my opinion, more macro life and healthier reefs on Bonaire as well. Seemed to be more fish as well. Bari Reef has more species than anywhere else in the Caribbean. It's not by accident that Ned and Anna Deloach spend so much time there.
Night shore diving on the house reefs on Bonaire at places like Buddy Dive and And Habitat is awesome. Roatan night diving was so so.
If you want big animals, the East side of Bonaire has sharks, rays, lots of turtles and morays.
You are comparing apples and oranges. It all depends on what you want. If you want dive freedom, Bonaire is the place.
- Messages
- 10,949
- Reaction score
- 4,153
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
You've gotten some interesting replies. I have been to Bonaire many times, and as far as Roatan goes- I have been diving off of every shore area- South, West, North and even the Eastern flats.
Your OP lumps "CocoView or other areas" into a convenient package for responses. CCV is unique on Roatan, as it is in the Caribbean. I have spent maybe 60+ weeks on Roatan, diving with most stable operations, day-dive and AI, seen all the various reef types, been around it a few times. I always have booked my stay at CCV.
I can understand your disinterest in (Caribbean?) wrecks, but understand that the 45' deep wreck that lays intact in front of CCV was placed there to be a critter magnet, which it is. The two nearby walls and the Wreck are loaded with macro. Some may decry that you'll see these wall dives so many times in a week. Arguably true. Very boring if you can only see architectural shapes in the walls. You can dive CCV Wall and Newmans Wall 5x each during a week. If you vary your depth, or wait 2 minutes, everything changes. If you can't see what you are looking at, the walls at CCV do become pretty boring. It's a form of advanced diving, in a way.
The other wrecks of Roatan were also placed wrecks, but because of the storm surge, the wrecks of the North/West are quite deep (110') in a futile attempt to avoid destruction. The remnants are deep, on the dark North exposure, and are comparatively devoid of live as compared to the prince Albert or Mr Bud (South shore).
Some may decry the Roatan AI dive resort experience (like CCV) claiming to find less expensive deals on the west End, etc. It is a false economy, at least for divers who want more than 2 dives per day. If you start buying dives 10 at a time, ala carte (as in West End) does work out cheaper. If you want any more than 10 dives in a week, or if you want one night dive, CCV being an AI becomes very reasonable in terms of cost. Figure 27 dives in a week. When I am doing 3 dives a day, cooking or going to restaurants can really add to the stress factor of what some call "vacation". I prefer the food to be put in front of me, now... when can I go diving again?
I do like one very interesting unique facet of Bonaire- the unique food offerings. I would prefer to pick a different restaurant and cuisine every night. You are required to have a car on Bonaire to do anything other than the included few resort based dives- so you have transport and lots of dining choices.
On Roatan, driving a rental vehicle of any kind is a well discussed and largely discouraged endeavor. Even if you were within walking distance of the concentration of West End restaurants, suffice to say, if they were in business back home where you live in "Upstate New York", they wouldn't be for long. They only survive because of the view of the Ocean. No great shakes.
The shore diving on Bonaire is why you go. (That, and the town pier, but you must hire a DM). The entries are well marked, with parking lots. The entries are, for shire dives, are not toward the easy end of the scale, a lot of broken coral rip rap and more than common wave and surge. OK for moderate experience level divers in good shape and without any physical issues, bad knees, that kind of stuff. Most divers buy their resort package with a one boat/two tank trip each day (either in the afternoon or morning), and then go off to do one shore dive.
The howling on the internet about the vehicle burglaries in these lots is overblown, but understand that you should leave the windows rolled down and nothing worth stealing. Well, leave nothing at all. I don't attribute much of a negative factor to a Bonaire visit over that overblown internet fretting.
They're both good, the country of Bonaire compared to CCV. Is there some rule that allows you only to experience one of the two?
Do both.
I will add that the people who say "Do both!" are not being flippant. There is a reason why Bonaire and Roatan (and Cozumel) are the most talked-about Caribbean destinations on SB. We like those places! But each has its own unique characteristics--it's difficult to compare them with each other. I have returned to all three multiple times, and I don't have a clear favorite. However, finding myself increasingly interested in macro life, I think I would not return to Roatan unless it were for CocoView.
victorzamora
Contributor
What's funny is that Roatan is where I was introduced to macro! We had a guide (AWESOME chick!) that pointed out blennies and sea slugs and nudis and all the other little, tiny stuff and she got SUPER pumped about it all. It was my wife's first pre-cert dive, so she didn't enjoy the macro stuff as much b/c she was fighting buoyancy and stuff and was still stunned by the big stuff. I had been diving for years and never realized there was anything that small worth looking at, so I was thrilled! For me, Roatan is a decent place for Macro while Belize is great for the big stuff.....but I like the environment in Roatan, the attitude. Next time I go, I'm staying at Splash Inn (maybe Luna Beach) and only getting in a car twice.....to and from the airport.
On the topic of "Do Both" I couldn't agree more. They're better in their own ways. I love Roatan because you don't need a truck and you don't really need to go anywhere. Others love the freedom that a truck grants them.
Macro stuff can be found most anywhere, but if you're doing boat dives from a resort, the DM often leads the group at a pace that's not conducive to the macro fans in the group. I suppose if everyone in the group is into macro, the DM can tailor the dive. A good DM who's into the small stuff like you apparently found is rare, from my experience. In a group with mixed interests it can be frustrating. On our last trip to Roatan, my wife and I stayed at AKR, and we were extremely frustrated in our attempts to slow down and look for the small stuff--the DM just kept rushing the group along because that's what the majority of divers in the group seemed to like. Unless a dedicated macro dive can be arranged, shore diving is really the best way to see macro stuff. And as far as I know, CocoView's shore dive, with its abundance of macro life, is unique on Roatan. On Bonaire, every dive can be a macro dive if one wishes to make it so.
I've been to Bonaire a few times for a couple weeks at a time. I totally loved it. However, I thought I would like to get a little variety, try an AI (I cheap it out on Bonaire), and CCV seemed to fit the bill. I was just in Grand Cayman with my scuba club and was sorely disappointed (not GC fault - it was the sites the group went to). I didn't want to be disappointed again is the reason for the question. Dosen't seem like I would be at CCV.
Seeing the same reef over and over (2nd dive drop-off) wouldn't be a problem for me. On Dominica I snorkeled the small reef at our bungalo multiple times every day and never once got bored in 2 weeks. As far as the food being ho-hum. You should see what I eat on Bonaire - what ever I can throw together easiest & fastest. Food is just not a priority on a dive trip. I have to eat to keep my strength up to dive, so I have to take the time. lol
Sounds like CCV is a go. Now to look decide on a time and look at air options.
---------- Post added November 14th, 2014 at 10:34 AM ----------
Actually, both sound wonderful to me.
P.S. I agree all the bruhaha about Bonaire vehicle problems is so overblown. Also, my eyes are not so great. Really tiny stuff is often nothing but a blur.
Damselfish
Contributor
Doc - how does Cocoview decide who to put on what boats, is it completely random other than groups? Given the number of boats and divers, mostly arriving on the same day, it seems possible they could ask divers a basic preference as to going slow/looking for more macro stuff, vs covering more ground or seeing bigger stuff, and assign boats somewhat accordingly. Could be an interesting experiment anyway. (Another of my disappointments at Cocoview was after hearing so much about the macro life there and critter spotting DMs, the one we had most of the time - while a real nice guy - either couldn't find the small stuff or wasn't inclined to bother for some reason. Showed us lots of seahorses which is nice, but that was about it. In hindsight we might have tried to do something about it, but it was our first time there so just getting familiar with the place and all that.)
- Messages
- 10,949
- Reaction score
- 4,153
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
Groups usually get on the same boat. Altho the boats are theoretically capable of hauling 32 divers, as any previous visitor knows, they usually are assigned 12 divers each... lots of room. When groups arrive and insist upon stuffing all of their members (like 18+) on one boat, they're on their own.
Otherwise, from my experience, the grouping of other guests appears fairly random. Repeat guests are likely to specify certain DMs or Captains, but they are all equally adept and skilled at their jobs, that just becomes a matter of ongoing and long term friendship.
Yes, you should have either told him or any management person.
I have seen this kind of "DM Disappointment" occur all over the world. We arrive in paradise, most of us come to see the one highly localized "holy grail". In the Galapagos, the DMs are hunting Hammerheads, they won't even point at the Nudibranchs. Same thing can happen, even at my personal "macro heaven", the shores in front of CCV. The DMs can accede very easily to the wants and desires of the visiting guests. That's the case here, as finding Sea Horses is an advanced skill and time consuming- a lot easier for a DM to point at the hundreds of other "less exciting" camouflaged critters.
Because of CCV'a annual Sea Horse Festival (in November) and the number of such images attributed to guests at CCV, a lot of people are getting the Sea Horse Jones. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just that there is so much more to find and see.
At CCV, you can give the DM a list of the kind of endemics you want to check off of your list. Crack open the Paul Humann book and point at what you want to gawk at. (They likely have the non-scientific names in their memory files). This work-around applies well to any locale, anywhere in the world. Talk to your DM, failing that, talk to their boss. A non-responsive DM would not likely be working at CCV, at least not for long. They train-up the "yard boys" to become DMs over a ten year period- they pretty well know who they're getting.
The best advice I can give anyone... go very slowly, stay shallow on the South side of Roatan, no deeper than 65', even that deep only after being called to look at something. The good stuff (micro/macro) is at 45fsw and less.
What most divers do not understand: The DMs do not really find the critters. They find the specific niche environment. Once you find "their home", it narrows down the search area considerably. ASK THEM what this geography/flora/fauna specific area is for X Y Z specific macro invisible creature.
When it was my week to teach at Sea Horse Festival 2014, my main thrust was to explain to the guests how to find the elusive Sea Horse. I showed a series of images that depicted the very specific kinds of happy places that the sea Horses liked to dwell. Once you are looking at the right place, it is easier. If you want to leer at College Girls, don't spend time at Harbor Freight, check out Victoria Secrets. The same thing applies to micro/macro. Learn and find the specific niche environment.
This can be put into practical application by any diver on the "drop off" dives. At CCV, you can do dive #2 and #4 after the morning (#1) and afternoon (#3) boat moored dives. Many divers use these dives as a race. We milk them into 1hr+ BTs. We only go in to the shore exit because we want food or drink. Use these drop offs to go shallow, go very slowly, use a flashlight, examine each niche environment they have so far learned. Many divers have learned to bring a glass magnifier. (So common that the dive shop often stocks them)
The first thing I like to show noobs is the Wire Coral Whip Shrimp (I'm no better at names than many DMs). Them things, you know. It's stupid easy to find the Wire Coral, there's a minor technique to spotting the Shrimp, akin to hunting Squirrels. A flashlight is a plus, a magnifier is a bonus.
This is a very very easy thing to teach someone to find.
Then, forevermore, they will never ever pass by a Wire Coral without having a peek.
You have then started someone off on a life of enjoying diving, able to see something beyond their SPG's, able to see something smaller than a chrome breadbox.
---------- Post added November 16th, 2014 at 02:06 PM ----------
I'm running a small group down for a week on May 16, 2015.
Call 800 510-8164 and tell 'em you want on Doc's trip if that works for you. We're going to do a few night dives with UV/Black Light, a lot of magnifier dives.
Than, there's "naked day".
Last edited:
Similar threads
