MantaSlap
Registered
Just back from two weeks in the ABC’s, and want to ‘pay it forward’ to those who helped me plan and those who will follow! Caveats: we are novice & casual divers, we plan trips based on the overall destination rather than solely by the diving. We bring our mask & fins but don’t own any other dive gear. Now that you have been suitably warned...
TL;DR Summary: This trip helped extend our diving confidence and capabilities (unguided dives, night dives, tricky shore entries). Both Bonaire and Curacao had amazing visibility, warm water, and lots to see. I would heartily recommend them both, Bonaire for the more dedicated dive trip and Curacao if you want nicer beaches and/or some city life to go along with your diving. I did not dive enough in Aruba to compare it to the other two. In what appears to be a minor miracle, neither of our Insel Air flights between the islands were delayed, cancelled, or resulted in lost luggage!
Bonaire - 6 nights, 7 dives
Stayed at Bruce Bowker’s Carib Inn and LOVED IT! The size and feel of the place made it perfect for socializing with the other guests. Our room #8 had a private deck for sunsets when we weren’t relaxing or BBQing on the shared patio. Location is good - supermarket and downtown within walking distance. Bruce is present for the day-to-day operations and scurries about to make sure guests get the most out of their stay and get their problems resolved.
We arrived at BON 2pm and were in the water for our checkout dive by 4pm, a great start! Each morning thereafter, we typically went out with the dive boat at 8:30. Additional boats were offered at 10:45 and 1:30 each day. Liked the simplicity of the dive boat signup system - just write your tank number on the chalkboard for the boat rides you want to go on. Guide JC had a great energy and we really enjoyed the one dive we did with him. Guide Linda, with whom we did most of our dives, was excellent at spotting creatures that we otherwise would have missed.
Other guests we met invited us to go shore diving with them; we dove the Hilma Hooker. Great actual dive, but being our first shore entry of the trip and without booties on our feet, the entry/exit had some anxious moments where we just didn't want to get hurt. While it would have been nice to do more shore diving with our new friends, we preferred the ease/safety of dropping in off the boat (with other new friends!).
Diving in Bonaire was as advertised - incredible water clarity, many healthy corals, and lots of different marine life, though mainly on the smaller side. Angel City in particular was a memorable site for its amazing corals. Salt Pier was also a highlight - in part because the pilings add some visual variety.
Our days generally mixed half diving and half something else - we scooted around to different places on the island - the Cadushy Distillery, the Donkey Sanctuary, along the northern coastal roads, Lac Bay for windsurfing & chilling at the Jibe City bar, around the south tip of the island, Washington-Slagbaai Park (in a jeep not a scooter)…if we were to do it again, we would do more days of multiple dives and 1.5 or 2 days of all non-dive stuff. Once we got the bill for all the diving (~250 USD per person), we realized we should have done more dives!
Curacao - 5 nights, 6 dives
Stayed at the Hotel t’Klooster - nice place in a good location for seeing Willemstad. Has a nicely furnished courtyard which would have been better for socializing had it not rained straight for three days. Booked via Airbnb which was slightly cheaper than hotel direct rate (but meant we did not get daily maid service, no bother).
We did 4 dives with The Dive Bus, spaced over 2 days (159 USD per person per day including the rental gear we needed). Nanne was excellent guide, going at a nice pace and taking time to point out all the interesting things that he saw. Mark at Dive Bus HQ was also very friendly and helpful. Both days with Dive Bus, we went to one location and did two dives - Tugboat and Kokomo Beach/Varsenbaai. Shore entries at both were super easy. Saw many eels, grey angelfish, a manta shrimp, and our first-ever seahorse!
We did a day of diving with Bas Hart as well (139 USD per person). Bas must be one of the most enthusiastic people about diving on the planet, he really kept the energy level high. Kevin guided us on the first dive of the day, and it was nice to have him ask for feedback following the dive - rare is the guide I’ve met who does that. We did shore dives a Playa Hundu and Porto Marie. Entry at Hundu was OK because we had booties, Porto Marie was sandy. Hundu had a nice variety of things to see including staghorn corals. We liked the ‘bowl’ reef at Porto Marie where we saw our second seahorse, a lobster, and got to follow a spotted eagle ray for a while.
Both dive ops were solid. Bas’ operation provided a bit more gear prep service and is more individual-focused; Dive Bus more about the collective group experience; I recommend them both!
Topside activities of interest: strolling along the swinging bridge while watching ships move in and out of the harbor, Maritime Museum > Anthropology Museum, sunset drinks at the Scuba Lodge, 5 ANG movies on Mondays at the local theatre, getting lunch at the Old Market, walking through Petermaai in the late afternoon to ponder the juxtaposition of colorful new high end residences/hotels right next to a derelict, boarded up, crumbling old building.
Last day we did a day trip to Klein Curacao with the Mermaid (113 USD per person). They arranged for hotel pickup/dropoff which was good since departure time from the dock was a brutal 6:45am. The rusty shipwreck made for an eerie sight and the lunch was a fantastic feast, but the snorkeling was not interesting (and they feed the fish) and it is a 2 hour boat ride each way to/from Klein. In retrospect we should have saved some money and gone to one of the Curacao beaches such as Kokomo or Porto Marie, which has a snorkel-able reef area right in front of a sandy beach with chairs and food service.
Aruba - 3 nights, 2 dives
Stayed at the Marriott Renaissance in Oranjestad - really nice property with multiple pools and its own island with private beach (and very domesticated resident flamingos). Gotta use those hotel points when you can!
Did one day of diving with SE Aruba Fly N Dive (120 USD per person including rental gear). At my request we did the Airplanes site which, despite strong swells and currents (was a very windy day), was a really cool to see a DC-3 underwater and to swim through the YS-11 (especially nice touch to leave the forward door departure stairs deployed). While the water clarity was not as good as Curacao, the size of the sealife was much larger - the angelfish, triggerfish and especially the eels that we saw were far bigger than anything we had seen on the trip to date (and any I have seen in my life….one free swimming eel about 6 feet long made me a bit nervous). Michelle the DM was an enthusiastic lead. Boat driver did a great job given the rolling conditions to safely get everybody back on board after each dive. The rental BCD and reg were a bit on the older side relative to the other dive ops we used during the trip.
Topside activities: Took the bus up the coast to Eagle and Palm beaches (5 USD per person round trip), where we enjoyed the Jolly Pirates snorkel/booze cruise - fun to snorkel around/through the Antilla wreck, and best part was attempting backflips off the boat’s rope swing. ATV tour was a good adventure with some nice vistas. Though we never had to put the ATV in 4WD mode, getting to the natural pool required some pretty rough riding. Aruba is far and away the most developed of the three islands, so if you are looking for more of a 'full service'/resorty kind of place in the ABCs, Aruba is it.
TL;DR Summary: This trip helped extend our diving confidence and capabilities (unguided dives, night dives, tricky shore entries). Both Bonaire and Curacao had amazing visibility, warm water, and lots to see. I would heartily recommend them both, Bonaire for the more dedicated dive trip and Curacao if you want nicer beaches and/or some city life to go along with your diving. I did not dive enough in Aruba to compare it to the other two. In what appears to be a minor miracle, neither of our Insel Air flights between the islands were delayed, cancelled, or resulted in lost luggage!
Bonaire - 6 nights, 7 dives
Stayed at Bruce Bowker’s Carib Inn and LOVED IT! The size and feel of the place made it perfect for socializing with the other guests. Our room #8 had a private deck for sunsets when we weren’t relaxing or BBQing on the shared patio. Location is good - supermarket and downtown within walking distance. Bruce is present for the day-to-day operations and scurries about to make sure guests get the most out of their stay and get their problems resolved.
We arrived at BON 2pm and were in the water for our checkout dive by 4pm, a great start! Each morning thereafter, we typically went out with the dive boat at 8:30. Additional boats were offered at 10:45 and 1:30 each day. Liked the simplicity of the dive boat signup system - just write your tank number on the chalkboard for the boat rides you want to go on. Guide JC had a great energy and we really enjoyed the one dive we did with him. Guide Linda, with whom we did most of our dives, was excellent at spotting creatures that we otherwise would have missed.
Other guests we met invited us to go shore diving with them; we dove the Hilma Hooker. Great actual dive, but being our first shore entry of the trip and without booties on our feet, the entry/exit had some anxious moments where we just didn't want to get hurt. While it would have been nice to do more shore diving with our new friends, we preferred the ease/safety of dropping in off the boat (with other new friends!).
Diving in Bonaire was as advertised - incredible water clarity, many healthy corals, and lots of different marine life, though mainly on the smaller side. Angel City in particular was a memorable site for its amazing corals. Salt Pier was also a highlight - in part because the pilings add some visual variety.
Our days generally mixed half diving and half something else - we scooted around to different places on the island - the Cadushy Distillery, the Donkey Sanctuary, along the northern coastal roads, Lac Bay for windsurfing & chilling at the Jibe City bar, around the south tip of the island, Washington-Slagbaai Park (in a jeep not a scooter)…if we were to do it again, we would do more days of multiple dives and 1.5 or 2 days of all non-dive stuff. Once we got the bill for all the diving (~250 USD per person), we realized we should have done more dives!
Curacao - 5 nights, 6 dives
Stayed at the Hotel t’Klooster - nice place in a good location for seeing Willemstad. Has a nicely furnished courtyard which would have been better for socializing had it not rained straight for three days. Booked via Airbnb which was slightly cheaper than hotel direct rate (but meant we did not get daily maid service, no bother).
We did 4 dives with The Dive Bus, spaced over 2 days (159 USD per person per day including the rental gear we needed). Nanne was excellent guide, going at a nice pace and taking time to point out all the interesting things that he saw. Mark at Dive Bus HQ was also very friendly and helpful. Both days with Dive Bus, we went to one location and did two dives - Tugboat and Kokomo Beach/Varsenbaai. Shore entries at both were super easy. Saw many eels, grey angelfish, a manta shrimp, and our first-ever seahorse!
We did a day of diving with Bas Hart as well (139 USD per person). Bas must be one of the most enthusiastic people about diving on the planet, he really kept the energy level high. Kevin guided us on the first dive of the day, and it was nice to have him ask for feedback following the dive - rare is the guide I’ve met who does that. We did shore dives a Playa Hundu and Porto Marie. Entry at Hundu was OK because we had booties, Porto Marie was sandy. Hundu had a nice variety of things to see including staghorn corals. We liked the ‘bowl’ reef at Porto Marie where we saw our second seahorse, a lobster, and got to follow a spotted eagle ray for a while.
Both dive ops were solid. Bas’ operation provided a bit more gear prep service and is more individual-focused; Dive Bus more about the collective group experience; I recommend them both!
Topside activities of interest: strolling along the swinging bridge while watching ships move in and out of the harbor, Maritime Museum > Anthropology Museum, sunset drinks at the Scuba Lodge, 5 ANG movies on Mondays at the local theatre, getting lunch at the Old Market, walking through Petermaai in the late afternoon to ponder the juxtaposition of colorful new high end residences/hotels right next to a derelict, boarded up, crumbling old building.
Last day we did a day trip to Klein Curacao with the Mermaid (113 USD per person). They arranged for hotel pickup/dropoff which was good since departure time from the dock was a brutal 6:45am. The rusty shipwreck made for an eerie sight and the lunch was a fantastic feast, but the snorkeling was not interesting (and they feed the fish) and it is a 2 hour boat ride each way to/from Klein. In retrospect we should have saved some money and gone to one of the Curacao beaches such as Kokomo or Porto Marie, which has a snorkel-able reef area right in front of a sandy beach with chairs and food service.
Aruba - 3 nights, 2 dives
Stayed at the Marriott Renaissance in Oranjestad - really nice property with multiple pools and its own island with private beach (and very domesticated resident flamingos). Gotta use those hotel points when you can!
Did one day of diving with SE Aruba Fly N Dive (120 USD per person including rental gear). At my request we did the Airplanes site which, despite strong swells and currents (was a very windy day), was a really cool to see a DC-3 underwater and to swim through the YS-11 (especially nice touch to leave the forward door departure stairs deployed). While the water clarity was not as good as Curacao, the size of the sealife was much larger - the angelfish, triggerfish and especially the eels that we saw were far bigger than anything we had seen on the trip to date (and any I have seen in my life….one free swimming eel about 6 feet long made me a bit nervous). Michelle the DM was an enthusiastic lead. Boat driver did a great job given the rolling conditions to safely get everybody back on board after each dive. The rental BCD and reg were a bit on the older side relative to the other dive ops we used during the trip.
Topside activities: Took the bus up the coast to Eagle and Palm beaches (5 USD per person round trip), where we enjoyed the Jolly Pirates snorkel/booze cruise - fun to snorkel around/through the Antilla wreck, and best part was attempting backflips off the boat’s rope swing. ATV tour was a good adventure with some nice vistas. Though we never had to put the ATV in 4WD mode, getting to the natural pool required some pretty rough riding. Aruba is far and away the most developed of the three islands, so if you are looking for more of a 'full service'/resorty kind of place in the ABCs, Aruba is it.
