Taking new divers to Bonaire

[travlbum]

I'm getting my mom and sister certified and will be taking them somewhere in April on their first diving trip. I've previously been to Roatan but not Bonaire, which is at the top of the list.

Is Bonaire a good place for them to finish up their OW (they'll have their eLearning and pool dives done) and then get their feet wet?

Or would it be better to take them somewhere like Roatan where we will have a DM, etc?

 

[DustyC]

You can do boat dives with a DM on bonaire as well. I'm a huge fan myself. I just got back a month ago from my second trip, planning trip 3

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Bonaire is a good training destination because the diving there is pretty easy. After your check out dives you can spend a lot of time diving on your own in very easy conditions and get a fair amount of practice in your own time. By the time you come back you would have logged over 20 dives in a week easily. Roatan is boat diving so normally you would return home with only half of that. It is possible to do more diving in Roatan but you will have to pay more for more boat rides. Cost wise, if your goal is to get a lot of practice then Bonaire takes it IMHO. Since Roatan is mostly boat diving, site conditions vary. Sometimes they take you to sites that have no current and other times it is has been all out drift diving. If I was not training then Roatan would be my first preference. It is way superior diving compared to Bonaire with so much more variation between one dive site and the other. I have seen sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, barracudas, eels so no comparison with Bonaire. My group got robbed in Bonaire so crime is also one factor to consider while going to Bonaire.

If your location is Bangkok why not take them to Phuket? That is a bucket list for those who dive Bonaire and Roatan quite frequently.

 

[travlbum]

Bonaire is a good training destination because the diving there is pretty easy. After your check out dives you can spend a lot of time diving on your own in very easy conditions and get a fair amount of practice in your own time. By the time you come back you would have logged over 20 dives in a week easily. Roatan is boat diving so normally you would return home with only half of that. It is possible to do more diving in Roatan but you will have to pay more for more boat rides. Cost wise, if your goal is to get a lot of practice then Bonaire takes it IMHO. Since Roatan is mostly boat diving, site conditions vary. Sometimes they take you to sites that have no current and other times it is has been all out drift diving. If I was not training then Roatan would be my first preference. It is way superior diving compared to Bonaire with so much more variation between one dive site and the other. I have seen sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, barracudas, eels so no comparison with Bonaire. My group got robbed in Bonaire so crime is also one factor to consider while going to Bonaire.

If your location is Bangkok why not take them to Phuket? That is a bucket list for those who dive Bonaire and Roatan quite frequently.

Interesting, so you would rate the diving in Roatan as better than Bonaire?

I could fly them out here, it's definitely an option. Phuket itself, the diving is pretty bad. There's a liveaboard trip up to the Similans which is good, but not great for beginners. There are a lot of good options to take them here that are good and cheap, but honestly I haven't been in the Caribbean in years. It's where I took my first big trip, it's easy diving, topside is pretty good (way better than asia), and it's a close flight for them (San Francisco).

For newbies it's great too. They value visibility and colorful reefs. I could take them to Lembeh, but I don't think they really appreciate digging around in black sand looking for critters the size of my thumb

Are there other Caribbean options I'm overlooking?

 

[tursiops]

Bonaire is a good training destination because the diving there is pretty easy. After your check out dives you can spend a lot of time diving on your own in very easy conditions and get a fair amount of practice in your own time. By the time you come back you would have logged over 20 dives in a week easily. Roatan is boat diving so normally you would return home with only half of that. It is possible to do more diving in Roatan but you will have to pay more for more boat rides. Cost wise, if your goal is to get a lot of practice then Bonaire takes it IMHO. Since Roatan is mostly boat diving, site conditions vary. Sometimes they take you to sites that have no current and other times it is has been all out drift diving. If I was not training then Roatan would be my first preference. It is way superior diving compared to Bonaire with so much more variation between one dive site and the other. I have seen sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, barracudas, eels so no comparison with Bonaire. My group got robbed in Bonaire so crime is also one factor to consider while going to Bonaire.

If your location is Bangkok why not take them to Phuket? That is a bucket list for those who dive Bonaire and Roatan quite frequently.

Agreed, Bonaire is a great training location.
There are boat dives in Bonaire and some shore dives in Roatan, but if the goal is shore diving, Bonaire is excellent. There is a fair amount of diving variety in Bonaire, especially if you do some boat dives. No issue there. Sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, barracudas, eels? I've seen them all in Bonaire, plus lots more. Crime in Bonaire? Yep; thousands and thousands of visitors, and once in a while somebody gets their car rifled through, so don't leave anything valuable in your car. Kind of like home, just sayin'.
I've done (or the resort has done) training for folks on almost all my trips to Bonaire; it works really well. The checkout dives can be a combination of boat and shore, and the pacing is gentle. AOW is great there: easy night dives, deep right in front of the resort, large sand flats for nav class, and a good wreck (or three). Tech training is easy too. the only problem with tech training is helium is expensive there.
Disclaimer: I've been to Bonaire 30 trips; Roatan once. I found no reason to go back to Roatan.

 

[pinshootr]

Cozumel!!!!

 

[travlbum]

Cozumel!!!!

How does it compare to Roatan/Bonaire?

 

[pinshootr]

Not been to Roatan yet, but to Bonaire. The shore diving in Bonaire can be a bit difficult/intimidating at times for new divers(i.e.. getting thru the surges without getting knocked over and cut up by the coral and rocks, giant stride off the 8' overhand at oil slick) Cozumel is drift diving and 80' to 100 plus vis off a boat for the most part. Easy and relaxing for beginners.

 

[Kharon]

Do not take novice divers to Bonaire. I would say that Roatan (particularly Coco View) is especially good for new divers.

 

[herman]

Having dove all 3 a number of times, Bonaire is your best bet. I was an active DM for a number of years and I never liked taking brand new divers on boat dives until they had a few dives under their belts. It can be pretty intimidating to jump off a boat and see nothing but water under you. Shore diving for their first few dives allows them time to develop their buoyancy skills and get comfortable with the gear before adding mandatory free accent and descents.

In Coz you are limited to 2 dives a day unless you want to pay more for them. All will be boat drift dives, depending on the OP, your new divers may be taken to inappropriate dive sites....too deep, over a wall and/or too much current. It should not happen but it does. IMO not the best choice for beginning divers. You see a few more turtles and sharks but the fish life is less.

Roatan is also mosty boat diving, the sites are usually new diver friendly IF the DM does not lead the group down the wall, which he is very likely to do. Its not a problem if you stay with them and guide the dive yourself. No clue about all the resorts but If you are looking at Roatan, look at Cocoview. 4 boat dives a day with a pretty good shore dive in front of the resort. I find the coral more varied in Roatan than Bonaire or Cozumel but the fish life is not as abundant.

Boniare is my #1 go back to place, trip 30 coming up shortly (Coz 6, Roatan 5). The diving is very easy and keeping new divers in a safe shallow diving area is easy. Boat dives are available but shore diving is the major draw. Bonaire has fewer large animals but turtles and rays are fairly common. On the other hand there is a lot more med and smaller fish. It is true the reef structure is not as varied on Bonaire as Coz or Roatan but you also don't have the deep walls and high reliefs that new divers are better not exposed to. To one possible down side is you will have to hire a DM if you are not comfortable leading your new divers yourself. I see this as a minor issue unless you are uncomfortable doing it yourself, frankly most of the DMs on Roatan and Coz are more guides than DMs anyway....leading the group around rather than closely watching a new diver, not saying they are not capable but rather their job is guiding the dive rather than closely watching new divers. . Finally, it's a lot easier to "do your own thing" on Bonaire. If your new divers want to stay shallow, looking at coral and fish they can do so.

After posting I see a comment about the difficulty of the shore entries on Bonaire. This is true IF you do not do a good job of picking an appropriate site for the level of diver. There are a number of very easy entry/exit sites as well as most resorts have piers. The "8 ft giant stride" comment is misleading, yes it exist, done it many times but what the poster is leaving out is there is a ladder and platform which is a very easy entry/exit 20 feet away from the overhang, the diver has his/her choice of entry.