Thread: diving in Bonaire

If you are going with 3 couple your best bet would be a condo. Sand dollar is nice, and the restaurant has the best cheeseburgers on the island. I have also stayed @ the Divi Flamingo which was good. Diving in Bonaire is all about the shore diving. Rent a dive truck (which is a 4 door toyota pickup w/ a wooden rack in the bed for the tanks. Although with 3 couple you might need a van or 2 trucks) and drive along the coast. There are yellow pieces of coral that have names on them, and you pull into a parking lot, and you will see bouys in the water usually 20-30 yards out. Don your gear, wade in and the dive site is all yours. Sometimes you may see a parked truck or pass other dives coming and going. When you shore dive you dive when you want to, no worrying about catching a boat. During your interval you can sightsee, go to luch, take a nap, etc.. You are not stuck on a boat with a bad sandwich. My wife and I dove the Hilma Hooker, a 70 meter cargo ship all by ourselves. This was astonishing to us because we have been on the cattle boats with up to 30 other divers. You can get tanks just about anywhere, it is about $15 a day for all the air you want. You drive up to a shed and drop off the empties, and pick up full ones. If you want to dive off a boat, The staff @ the Divi was good, and Bruce Bowker's were good. Make sure to dive the Hilma Hooker, Salt Pier, and Old Blue, Our favorites. There are alot of Bonaire websites that are helpful. There is even a website with a underwater camera that show the 100+ ft. vis.

Have a great trip.