Since you're considering Coral Paradise - they use Habitat as their dive operator. The dive pictures on their site of the boats, dock etc. - those are at Habitat - just a short walk south. We actually dive Cliff - the site in front of Coral Paradise - from Habitat's dock. Habitat has a bar right above the dive dock. Pretty filled with divers in the afternoon. Although surprisingly it's the only place where I spoke with two different couples who were not divers - there and at Rumrunners one night. Buddy Dive is also next door, that's mostly divers also.
As John mentioned, August is low season. I was there a month earlier and although I had a buddy, I was also asked thrice if I needed one while waiting for him. Once at our condo rinse tank, once at Bonaire Dive/Adventure and an instructor asked me at Habitat. He was not one of their instructors so maybe freelancing off their dock. I'm not the most outgoing person either - usually keep to myself unless someone starts a conversation.
Most people buy dive pkgs. on Bonaire. Many include boat dives and unlimited air for shore diving. We were on the same boat for several mornings. We later saw some of our fellow pax at dive sites - one family we ran into so many times it was comical. Had we asked, I'm sure we could've dove with them also. My point is that you run into divers everywhere - restaurants, resort bars, the departure lounge in Houston if you take the Friday night red-eye. Most people on that flight are divers also. Who else would be that stupid...
My buddy only wears dive t-shirts so by the time they called our flight we had plans to meet up with two different groups to dive later that week. Schedules didn't permit but we did see them all at the Plaza's bbq one night.
Bonaire used to be - and probably still is - one of those places where available rooms exceed available flight capacity. So unless it's really a slow time - or the Kiteboarding Championship or Regatta week - most people on the island are divers or with divers.
Since the standard dive vehicle is a four door pickup most people have room for one more if asked. Although I haven't stayed there my feeling is that Buddy's bar is a social hub for divers. It used to be City Cafe downtown but they closed. Karel's overwater Bar is another spot.
The only downside to Coral Paradise is that it's a smaller property. So the pool of available divers for diving Cliff there might be smaller. Hamlet Oasis is nearby and there's a Dive Friends shop there.
Make an effort to find someone at a resort or bar in town etc. because the dive sites are pretty isolated. Many times in the afternoon we were the only people there. Since there's no facilities at any of them, people drive up, dive, then leave. Since you don't bring much with you due to theft - and August is a hot month. (it is after all a desert island) Unless you drive past the one way north of town, nothing is more than 15mins. away from any resort. I carry a credit card, c-card and $20 cash in a case around my neck and dive in a t-shirt/board shorts. So except for dive gear spread out loose on the backseat, all I bring is a towel and water. And dollar store sunglasses. Once you do the BMP orientation, your current tag is all the ID you need if you should run into the BMP ranger.
Post in this forum after you have a firm date. I read in another thread that there's at least two groups there in August. Most probably won't mind a tag along. If I run across the thread again, I'll post a link to it here. Bonairetalk.com is another source for finding a buddy - people post there frequently. If you're the least bit outgoing I don't really think it will be an issue.
There's also freelance paid guides on Bonaire - like Basdiving - if you absolutely couldn't find someone. The DM on our boat made it clear that he did also - paid him $25pp to dive Town Pier one night. (it's closed now) If you boat dive mornings, you'll either get an insta-buddy or dive with the DM. Most just locate stuff - we dove all week as a loose group of 8. Vis is so good that the DM's can keep track of everyone.
fyi -
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bonaire/478107-trip-report-coral-paradise-2-7-2-15-a.html
