SCUBA diving in Bonaire

I've been searching for recommendations for a dive service while in Bonaire. DW and I are both divers. She is not nearly as experienced as I am but she is very comfortable in the water. We will be stopping in Bonaire while on a cruise next March. We are looking for a reputable dive shop/guide that caters to experienced divers and not-so-experienced as well. I've been seeing a lo of recommendations for shore diving. Is the shore diving that good? Do we not need to do boat dives?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Bonaire is the Shore Diving Capital of the WORLD.

Most people who go there to dive on land vacations (we have done it twice) do more shore diving than boat diving. The reason is easy...the reefs are so close to shore in Bonaire that you literally walk into the water and by the time water is over your head depth, you are on a beautiful reef. Some shore entries are easy, some have a bit of wave action, some have ladders off piers.

There are lots and lots of dive ops on Bonaire and I have never heard anything bad about any of them. Since the diving is so easy in Bonaire, reefs so close, very little current...it is good for all experience levels.

Who to recommend? We have only used one place - Buddy Dive. We love the hotel, the dive op is right on the pier, and you can walk down stairs into the water for what is probably the best shore dive site in the Caribbean.

Here is my video:

this is the shore diving from our last trip, multiple dives at that same site.....but it gives you an idea of what Bonaire has underwater. Most dive sites are similar topography and fishlife.

robin

I second Buddy Dive - they have a good house reef.

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Can I use Buddy Dive if I am a cruise ship passenger or do I need to be staying at their resort to dive with them?

Can I use Buddy Dive if I am a cruise ship passenger or do I need to be staying at their resort to dive with them?

You don't have to stay with them to dive there.....but if you want to boat dive, you need to book it ahead of time. They have 2 morning dive boats (single tank) and one afternoon boat dive (single tank). All the boats fill up as soon as the sign up sheet is posted at the resort. Cruise ship people will probably be able to book with them for their own boat from what I have heard, but as I said, we always stay there.

The shore dive.... you would need to rent gear at their dive shop, right at pier. Anyone can do it. Just take your C-card. They have air tanks as well as nitrox available if your certified for it.

They also have a restaurant there overlooking the ocean, so if you decide to go, you can spend most of the day. Their website is buddydive.com where you can see everything but here are a couple of photos:

If you decide not to use Buddy Dive, then as I said, there are dozens of other dive ops. They are the only one we have used so I can't tell you anything about the others. BUT we did have an equipment (we own and travel with ours) while there last time, and just went into a dive shop to find a replacement part. The guy there we had never met before, but he insisted he could fix it. He jumped on his scooter and drove somewhere to find some parts. Came back and fixed my reg. It was awesome. In an hour we were back on our way to next dive site. He only charged us replacement parts cost, so we insisted on buying about $100 stuff from his shop to compensate him. What a great guy.

robin

Had a similar experience during one of our land vacations on Bonaire while staying at BD.

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Having never been to Bonaire before, I have no idea about where the best dive spots are. I guess I'm looking for what I would call a typical dive excursion. In most ports you get on a boat, they take you to a dive location, tell you about the dive and then they guide you around the reef. After that, you take a short break and then move to another location and repeat the process. Does Buddy Dive offer this type of service or do I need to take a morning dive and then an afternoon dive?

Having never been to Bonaire before, I have no idea about where the best dive spots are. I guess I'm looking for what I would call a typical dive excursion. In most ports you get on a boat, they take you to a dive location, tell you about the dive and then they guide you around the reef. After that, you take a short break and then move to another location and repeat the process. Does Buddy Dive offer this type of service or do I need to take a morning dive and then an afternoon dive?

Not really. Since the reefs are literally just off shore, and so close to dive ops piers, most dive ops only do 1-tank boat dives. They go back to pier between dives, people can get off if they want, while the crew takes off the empties and puts back on full tanks. Its just the way they have done it there forever. Most people do a mix of shore and boat dives so this system works well.... That said, we have done a 2-tank trip with Buddy's but it was set up that way for our group, taking us up north end of island where there is no shore entry to certain dives. We had to sit on the boat between dives.

I think some dive ops, like Divi Dive, does only 2-tank boat dives but most on the island do single tank dives.

We like the single tank so we could do a boat dive, then drive our truck off around the island doing various shore dive here or there afterwards. Many people don't do any boat dives when they stay on Bonaire just because the shore dives are so accessible and really the same reefs that people access in boat dives. There are very few dive sites on Bonaire that are "boat access only"....most can be reached from the shore.

One of our favorites is called Oil Slick Leap....its up north end of island but you drive there. Set up gear, then you jump off a cliff into the water (only about 15' but feels much higher!) You climb back up a ladder that is built into the wall. It is a really nice reef, also, with great coral.

Another really popular shore dive spot is up north also, called 1000 steps. It really isn't that many but you access the beach from a long staircase.

Oil slick leap

10000 steps

I forgot.... you have to do a boat dive to get to the sites over at Klein Bonaire, so sometimes you can book a 2-tank that will do a site there and then back at the main island.

If you like boat diving best, then by all means contact a few different dive ops. Bonaire diving is easy and really really good fishlife and coral structures.

Two more concerns. 1.) I will be arriving in Bonaire on a cruise ship. If I am going to be diving from shore, will the dive shops pick us up at the pier or do we need to take a taxi? 2.) If the reefs are close to shore, how deep does the water get on the reefs? How far from shore are they? Is there any concern with losing your bearings and not being able to make it back to where you started?

Dive shops do not pick you up and take you to dive sites. You have to get there on your own, rental car/truck is the usual means. OR you dive from the shore at the dive shop. You have to go to the dive shop to rent tanks and weights, etc anyhow.

How far out are the reefs.....as soon as you get in water over your head, then you are on a reef. Some of the reefs are a gradual slope, so they don't get deep until far out, some are more of an inclined wall, so they get deep quickly.

You need to know how to use your compass. Most people pick a desired depth, say 60'. So they swim directly out to that depth, then they go left or right staying at that depth. Go until you use 1/3 of your tank air. Turn around, go back same way. When you think you are back where you started, then you head towards shore. If you are not sure, many people will slowly go to surface, look for their entry point, then drop back down.

If you are diving from a resort's pier, they will have a line run out to the reef from the pier, and you just follow it back in. That is what we always did at Buddy Dive. Follow the chain out, do our dive, then find the line and follow it back.

IF you aren't comfortable doing this, then I would rent a DM guide to take you on a shore dive. Lots of people do this their first time to Bonaire.

Thanks for the posts about diving in Bonaire! We are going to look up the outfitter you recommended.

There are dive shops within walking distance from the port. If you follow the boulevard North, it's a beautiful walk and would take about 20 minutes. They're one of many locations for Dive Friends Bonaire and they also have staff with certification to assist disabled divers. If you walk South, there's another dive shop that's about a 10-minute walk from the pier. I've also heard great feedback about every dive operator on the island, you just can't go wrong. The only thing written previously that I don't agree with is that you're on a reef after you get in over your head. The entire area North and South of the pier, you are on the reef as soon as you dip your toe in the water. At Plaza Resort, my daughter was literally knee deep and taking pictures of tons of fish while I was out further wondering what she was doing standing there and not coming to join me!

Contact VIP Diving for the best personalized service. Very highly rated and phenomenal group of professionals.

Yes, they will pick you up at the port, take you on your dive(s)and return you right to the ship.

Oh, we loved the island and the people so much we have recently moved to the island year round (yes, it’s that good).

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