Two questions about LDS Bonaire Trip, please

[bubba105]

Check their Nitrox tester against the reading you get on your machine. If they're reading is close, use theirs. I did 10 days my first time in Bonaire. It takes a couple of days to get your bearing. You might want to look into getting a copy of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, BSDME, Author Susan Porter
The shore diving is a blast. If you dive by the lighthouse bring booties with hard soles, short walk but very rocky. Everything else has been covered well.

My only other Bonaire advice for you is in the airport. When we got the truck, the woman at the counter told me I was responsible for $250 if the radio was stolen from the truck & would I please sign here. I asked her to remove the radio. She gave me a kind of blank stare & said "never mind" after a few back & forths. I had never heard of anyone getting their radio stolen from the truck on Bonaire but I was planning on leaving the windows open & no way was I paying for something I wasn't going to use anyway. Somehow I got the feeling she knew the guy who was going to steal the radio & that radio would have been back in the truck as my flight home lifted off.

FWIW, LBB to IAH could be scrapped if you got 5 of your closest dive buddies & rented a stretch limo. Nothing like starting & ending a dive trip with a smile on your face. And, no layover. Hangover yes, layover no.

 

[LittleFish0505]

Don, My husband and I just returned from Bonaire on Saturday. I can't say enough great things about Buddy's and the diving on Bonaire. We had a group of 58 people and there was another dive group at the resort with around the same number of divers. We never had any trouble with getting tanks at the dive-thru or at the docks. We had no trouble with having anything stolen out of our trucks. Buddy's is a great operation. Your email you received from Augusto is only the beginning. The entire dive operation seemed to become our second family. Mama Lou in the dive shop would greet us everyday with a warm bon dia. John and Suzie at the digital photo shop worked with us to perfect our underwater pictures.
So far, I know my comments are a little different than your original questions. We paid 1200 a ticket ATL to BON on Delta. We stayed in a one bedroom, double- I think the cost was around 1200 pp. This included a truck, breakfast every morning, unlimited boat diving, and 7 boat dives. I think the departure tax was $35 US per person. We didn't use all the boat dives, but Klein Bonaire, in my opinion, should not be missed.
If you decide to go, I hope you have a great trip. We sure did! Every place we have ever been diving has some negative, but the positives always seem to outway the negatives.

 

[DeputyDan]

Doing trip # 3 in two weeks.

It won't be the last one (I hope)!

 

[herman]

...... The entire dive operation seemed to become our second family. Mama Lou in the dive shop would greet us everyday with a warm bon dia.

I find the people all over the island are like that but the staff at Buddy more so. After a bunch of trips to Bonaire, most of them at Buddy it's more like going back home than on a vacation. Last year I did not make it 20 ft from the airport shuttle until I was being hugged by Mama Lou.

I am so ready to be back on island, DD have you started packing yet?? I got my " need to take that" suitcase out last night and it's starting to fill.

 

[DiveMaven]

We're still on Bonaire (leave on Saturday....boo!) and have already been talking about coming back. Although we're not "shore dive lovers", we're Bonaire dive lovers and find the shore diving to be easy and effortless. Even 1000 steps wasn't that bad and the dive was well worth the effort.

Next time we come, we won't bother with buying boat dives as part of a package and instead will buy them "ala carte" when/if we want them.

 

[DeputyDan]

I find the people all over the island are like that but the staff at Buddy more so. After a bunch of trips to Bonaire, most of them at Buddy it's more like going back home than on a vacation. Last year I did not make it 20 ft from the airport shuttle until I was being hugged by Mama Lou.

I am so ready to be back on island, DD have you started packing yet?? I got my " need to take that" suitcase out last night and it's starting to fill.

Not yet - I have a week long business trip to Atlanta before I can start.

 

[gypsyjim]

I am so ready to be back on island, DD have you started packing yet?? I got my " need to take that" suitcase out last night and it's starting to fill.

Me too!

Just got in the replacement for the lost exhaust port on my alt air and a new skin (no more lugging wet suits to Bonaire! Who needs 'em?) and was going over my gear bag this AM for our trip! Counting down the days, checking the cameras, gear, etc.

Had to break down and a order a new BCD yesterday to replace Melissa's, that US Air misplaced (rental for the trip would cost half of new), and if they can't locate her gear by this coming Wed we'll have to replace everything else too.

Can't wait for the 19th!!!! I need this vacation. See you all soon!