Who to dive with in Bonaire

[flipflopgal]

Hi, sailing Sunday on The Emerald Princess and looking to dive in Bonaire. Any recommendations on who to arrange it with ? Also would be great if our non diver friends could snorkel same place. Will need gear.

 

Oh and I should mention hubby prefers a one tank only which is often hard to come by.

 

Other ports include St Thomas, Grenada, Dominica and Aruba. Any recomendations on which of these to also try and get a dive in on and with whom ? Aruba is after Bonaire and Ive read that may be a let down, but what about Dominica ?

 

 

Thanks in advance

 

Chris

[BlueC5Kitten]

I had great service with Bonaire Dive and Adventure just over a month ago. They are a full-service shop and have some great folks working for them! They also have a nice little sand beach (little being the operative word here) from which your snorkeling friends can enjoy a variety of great reef fish just off Bari Reef...probably the most diverse reef in Bonaire, if not the Southern Caribbean! It was truly incredible to dive there. Saw frogfish, Southern Stingrays, Spotted Eagle Rays, one seahorse, several spotted eels, a couple of green morays, a chain moray...the list goes on!

 

As for one tank, they have dive packages where you can do one-tank boat dives using an AL80...they also have 63 cu.ft. aluminums (which I prefer to dive since I am only 5'1"), as well. Nitrox upgrades were free (though it may have been part of our package) and we had unlimited shore diving, too. While Bonaire is renowed for its shore diving, the boat dives are great too because Klein Bonaire is not readily accessible any other way (unless you plan to rent a boat).

 

If you can pick your DM for the boat dives, I strongly recommend Jerry. He's a naturalist and can point out some really amazing sealife both on Bari Reef and Klein Bonaire. I'd go back in a heartbeat if I wasn't doing a couple of cruises (one of which will take me to St. Thomas in Januray, but that will probably be too late to report back to you) and Utila next spring!!!

 

Happy diving!

[Diver Deb]

We have also used Bonaire Dive & Adventure on a land-based trip to Bonaire, but for our upcoming port call on the QM2 we received a good offer from Buddy Dive. They offer a 2-tank boat dive (including pickup & dropoff) for $55. Gear rental & marine park fees are extra. Contact Rob Verschoor <divesunrentals@buddydive.com

 

Dominica has excellent diving! Dive Dominica (using the Fort Young Hotel dock almost adjacent to the cruise ship pier) is convenient, but for a smaller, more personalized experience I can recommend Nature Island Dive.

 

Grenada has some good advanced wreck sites, but we've also had mediocre reef dives there. We use Aquanauts.

 

Hope this helps!

Safe diving and enjoy your cruise...

[louden]

I posted most of this note in a separate posting.

 

The purpose of this letter is to comment on a shore excursion booked for me by Princess with dive operator “Yellow Submarine” at Bonaire.

 

The excursion I was on had 25 or 26 divers departing from the ship. Upon getting our equipment at the dive shop we were divided into two groups of 16 and (9 or 10). I was in the group of 16. The boat assigned for this group was very crowded. Getting everyone into the water for the first dive took over 15 minutes from the entry of the first diver. This was partially caused by equipment failures. On the second dive I lost my weight belt due to a faulty buckle. I had discovered the buckle was a problem on the first dive but thought I had found a solution to cope rather than disrupt the other divers. The loss of the belt in the early part of the second dive caused an uncontrolled ascent that could have had significant medical implications. I was dismayed when I was required to pay for the loss of the weights. Considering the fact I was issued faulty equipment I don’t think I should have been fully responsible for the loss.

 

I spoke with several of the other divers following this dive. They all agreed that they did not enjoy the dive because of the crowding and delays in getting everyone in the water. Since this was the most expensive of the dives offered during this cruise I don’t think the divers got value for money. I suggest that Princess contract with another dive organization for dives in Bonaire. The following day, I participated, along with some of the other divers from the previous day, on a dive in Aruba. We all agreed that this dive, with Red Sail Sports, was all that we had anticipated and was a wonderful experience. This is a dive organization to recommend.

[jimw]

Most boat dives taken at a resort on Bonare are 1 tank as everything is so close. Shore dives are easily accessible, of course. Maybe take a taxi to a resort offering diving immediately offshore( almost all do ).

 

See http://www.infobonaire.com

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are only going to be in Bonaire from 7 - 1 this May. Several of us will be snorkeling with Renee, but my DB wants to dive there. What would be your recommendation for the best dive experience in this short amount of time. He does not want to go on a ship's tour.

[kwfl]

Bonaire is perfect and beautiful for diving.

If you are comfortable diving without a guide/group go it alone!!!!!

You can rent gear as soon as you get off the boat at every resort in Bonaire. I'd recommend: Plaza Resort, Captain Don's or Buddy Dive.

Make a shore dive- none suck. You may take a taxi to get on a boat that wil take you back to a spot you could have easily acessed from the shore!! You swim out less than 2-300 yards and can begin dropping down the wall. When it's time to turn around, go back along the wall- impossible to get lost! You can get gear and take a taxi to somewhere more remote like Salt Pier, but you don't have to to have an enjoyable dive.

[jamga02]

Divi Dive in Bonaire is within walking distance of the pier, (get off the boat and turn right). However, the reef there is not in the best condition now due to the storms late last year. We went on a 1 tank dive to Klein Bonaire (an island off of Bonaire), and loved it!!!