Bonaire Dive Recomendations - Shore Dives??

[J&KCruiser]

will be in Bonaire on Jan 17th from ship and interested in getting in some dives. Any recommendations.

 

I have been researching the following

 

- Dive Flamingo

- Buddy Dive Resort

- WannadiveBonaire

- Bonaire Dive & Adventure

- Toucan Diving

- Dive Friends Bonaire

 

Port time 7am till 2pm (not much)

Have a Buddy.

PADI OW cert

 

Will need to rent some equipment (BC,Reg) along with the tanks & weights they provide.

 

I will be returning to Bonaire in Nov 2014 also.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

John

[Laurie S.]

We dove at Captain Don's Habitat last year and loved it. We plan to go back for two weeks and stay there.

[smokinmike]

We always use Buddy Dive - you can dive their house reef. Never been there on a cruise ship though - always go for at least a week. They have a great operation.

[Colorado Kat]

We've used Dive Flamingo. They were very good.

[Capt_BJ]

ummmmmmm

 

Bonaire is the best shore diving/snork' island I know .. however ...

 

you do need to know how the system works.

 

If this term: YELLOW ROCK

 

means nothing to you

 

I suggest you do more research about Bonaire .... other than THIS site

Edited November 30, 2013 by Capt_BJ

[jimw]

will be in Bonaire on Jan 17th from ship and interested in getting in some dives. Any recommendations.

 

I have been researching the following

 

- Dive Flamingo

- Buddy Dive Resort

- WannadiveBonaire

- Bonaire Dive & Adventure

- Toucan Diving

- Dive Friends Bonaire

 

Port time 7am till 2pm (not much)

Have a Buddy.

PADI OW cert

 

Will need to rent some equipment (BC,Reg) along with the tanks & weights they provide.

 

I will be returning to Bonaire in Nov 2014 also.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

John

 

Divi Flamingo Resort is closest to the cruise ship, downtown Dive Friends is a little further as is Toucan at Plaza Resort to the south. The shore dive at Toucan/Plaza is not the best by a long shot. My personal favorite resort shore dive is at Capt Don's Habitat which is next to Buddy's to the north a mile or so. I think they still charge 5 bucks to use the facilities--I've done that when staying elsewhere--Plus equipment and tanks/weights. Most others charge nada to use the facility--but of course charge for equipment needed.

 

I think what I'd try to do if it was my 1 day on Bonaire--is get on someone's morning dive boat for 1 tank at Klein Bonaire--then shore dive in front of the same resprt the rest of the day. If nobody is going to Klein, then maybe skip the boat and dive out front..........Trust me--most all of'em are going to Klein with at least 1 boat-could be full with there own guests. Flamingo, Dive Friends, Buddy, Habitat. Dive Friends has one of their several diveshops next to Habitat that's a great shore dive--the same one I like from Habitat's dock--could simply take a taxi there and back. Or the same at Buddy or Habitat. Flamingo would likely require a taxi as well--none of these diveshops and sites is a more than 2 miles away from the ship, including Klein.

 

Email a few and see what can be arranged..............It may be that they won't commit to a boat so early--so keep trying if needed......

[Capt_BJ]

More than 80 dive sites have been marked with the best reefs found within the protected leeward side of the island where the reefs have a narrow, sloping terrace extending seaward with a drop-off at 33 feet, followed by a slope varying from 30 feet to a vertical wall of 100 to 200 feet deep. Excellent walk-in dive sites are "Thousand Steps" and further north at "Ol' Blue." All shore diving sites accessible from the main island are marked with yellow stones long the road showing the dive site name.

 

 

Bonaire Dive Orientation

If you are planning a trip to Bonaire that includes diving, you will be required to attend a Bonaire National Marine Park Orientation/Briefing prior to your first dive on the island. Check with your dive operator for times. One of the Bonaire Marine Park Regulations is for all visitors to do a check-out dive as part of the briefing process before taking off on their own to shore dive or going on a dive boat. The main reasons for this are to have each diver check buoyancy so that damage to the reef is minimized or eliminated and also to check out their dive equipment, whether it be rented or owned. Also, every diver on Bonaire must purchase a Marine Park Tag valid for one calendar year. Orientation procedures vary from dive center to dive center, so it's a good idea to check in early.

 

http://www.infobonaire.com/divemap.html

 

http://www.bonairedivingpro.com/diving.html#d

 

dive site information: http://www.bonairediveguide.com/images/10/240.pdf

Edited December 1, 2013 by Capt_BJ

[Laurie S.]

Captain Don's didn't require us to do the checkout dive. Since my dive buddy is an MSDT with 5,000+ dives and I'm his DM, I guess they figured we wouldn't be bouncing off the coral or surfacing where we shouldn't be.

[lunula]

Just got home from a week at Captain Don's - house reef there is really fabulous. We had a truck rental so we were able to hit a lot of different sites and didn't really have a bad experience at any of them. Good thing about going to Captain Don's (or Buddy Dive, etc.) instead of a random dive shop and trekking to a dive site is that you can use their facilities to rent/clean/set-up gear and you won't have to worry about renting a car to drive all over. Not sure how you'd hit up the shore diving there from a cruise ship without having a car. At least you could get a taxi to/from one of the facilities with its own house reef.

 

Also, you can grab some food between dives and go for multiple dives in your limited time there. Honestly, we saw something different every time we went out on Captain Don's reef - really beautiful.

[rum bar]

Ditto what jimw said. The advantage of shore diving from Buddy's or Capt. Don's is that the house reef is by far better than those at Plaza or Divi. Dive Friends is also a good operation and has locations at Hamlet Oasis and at the Sand Dollar Condos. Those are also good house reefs. Every time I have been to Buddy's we were allowed to do our own "check out dive"....essentially just a buoyancy check. Enjoy!