Bonaire, What did you wish you knew before you went?

[vladimir]

I wish we hadn't bothered with the boat package--I guess every first-timer would like at least a few, but 6 in one week was overkill. When you are in the shore capital of the world. you should SHORE DIVE!!

I wish I knew how slippery a lot of the shore dive entrances were.

I would have taken a boat . . .

I like the boat dive package. I usually do a few dives on Klein and do some of the regular west coast sites by boat, just because it's easier and I am lazy—particularly when I'm on vacation.

 

[drrich2]

Be mindful it's customary to tip on boat dives, including in Bonaire, whereas with shore dives that's usually not an issue. Over a week, that can rack up some cost. I'm not knocking boat diving, just saying that it will impact your budget, so be aware.

Richard.

P.S.: This may be a bit much to get into, and I haven't trained in it yet so I don't want to misrepresent myself, but I wish I'd know about recreational side-mount diving before. People who dive doubles generally dedicate a pair of tanks bound by bands and a manifold, and that's not so practical to do in Bonaire. Side-mount divers can grab a couple of regular 80 cf tanks 'off the shelf,' likely including in their dive package for unlimited shore diving, and use those. If you go through a lot of air faster than your dive buddy (or just like the idea of dives > 1 hour delightful but hard to achieve), side-mount could be your friend. A member of this forum pointed me to this; $31 direct plus a new regulator (much more expensive) & my old analog SPG, and I'm hoping to do 'side-mount lite' in Bonaire sometime.

 

[gypsyjim]

Be mindful it's customary to tip on boat dives, including in Bonaire, whereas with shore dives that's usually not an issue. Over a week, that can rack up some cost. I'm not knocking boat diving, just saying that it will impact your budget, so be aware.

Richard.

P.S.: This may be a bit much to get into, and I haven't trained in it yet so I don't want to misrepresent myself, but I wish I'd know about recreational side-mount diving before. People who dive doubles generally dedicate a pair of tanks bound by bands and a manifold, and that's not so practical to do in Bonaire. Side-mount divers can grab a couple of regular 80 cf tanks 'off the shelf,' likely including in their dive package for unlimited shore diving, and use those. If you go through a lot of air faster than your dive buddy (or just like the idea of dives > 1 hour delightful but hard to achieve), side-mount could be your friend. A member of this forum pointed me to this; $31 direct plus a new regulator (much more expensive) & my old analog SPG, and I'm hoping to do 'side-mount lite' in Bonaire sometime.

On our DNY Scubaboard group trip to Bonaire last year I think we had at least 3 folks doing sidemount. Being able to simply swap out for full 80's, instead of having to wait for your doubles to be filled was surely a benefit!

It sure got my attention, and I just spent $$ to start double!! I can see significant benefit for dive travel, going to sidemount.

 

[gert7to3]

Dragonfly,

There are some shore dive opportunities on the east side of the island. However, they can only be accessed at times when the wind has died down. There are some guides who take people over there as well. Finally there is a boat which goes out on the east side. It used to be called Larry's Wild Side (I think) though it changed hands a few years ago. If they are still running trips out there, that is a Bonaire boat dive which is very worthwhile.

 

[RJP]

On our DNY Scubaboard group trip to Bonaire last year I think we had at least 3 folks doing sidemount. Being able to simply swap out for full 80's, instead of having to wait for your doubles to be filled was surely a benefit!

It sure got my attention, and I just spent $$ to start double!! I can see significant benefit for dive travel, going to sidemount.

As mentioned above, just sling an extra 80. There are also kits that will let you double up tanks in the field and dive them independent (no manifold,)

 

[divingjd]

The most surprising thing to me was being able to do the checkout dive on my own, without a DM to supervise or evaluate. They didn't even care that I didn't have a buddy. They just wanted to know how much weight I needed. I did not realize that the checkout dive means you check yourself out to see if you're OK to dive.

It would be good to know that the availability of tanks at the Divi is great. I stayed there once and at Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn once. The Divi has its ups and downs and I'd generally rather stay at Bowker's but you have to put some effort into making sure you've got tanks available. At the Divi, tanks are virtually unlimited. A significant contribution to the famed diving freedom of Bonaire. Grab a tank and fall off the end of the dock, grab some tanks and jump in the truck, whatever. Bowker's has a limited number of tanks, so you need to plan things so you can get your assigned tanks filled in time. And no last-minute decisions to go for a night dive, or you won't have a tank. I don't think tank availability ever changed our dive plans, but it meant we had to plan a little more in advance.

The house at Bowker's is a great deal. It's just a few bucks more than the bigger rooms and you get a whole house. It's nice to have a place to sit that doesn't have a bed in it.

The Invisibles may be one of the most under-rated sites on Bonaire. It was so nice, we had to dive it twice, back-to-back. I think there's a lot of variety in Bonaire sites. Sure, Angel City, the invisibles, and Red Beryl have their similarities, but they are very different from Karpata. There's even quite a bit of difference between Witches' Hut and Karpata.

If the current's cooperative, try diving north first at Karpata. The current will generally dictate diving out south, but north is great if you can do it. There is some stag horn and elk horn coral growing there in the shallows and it's just basically a nice dive.

Don't lose your credit cards in Bonaire. Even if your credit card company guarantees replacement in 24-48 hours, they can't figure out how to send it to you. I went through this once. When i told them I was in Bonaire, they wanted to know where that was. I said it was the Netherlands Antilles. They said, "Oh, so you are in the Netherlands?" This was before the recent change in political status, so I was not actually in the Netherlands. Then they wanted to know the name of a town. I paused. I sighed. I said "Kralendijk" and then started to spell it. You can probably guess how far that got me. They admitted they couldn't get the card to me, because FedEx basically did not know how to find Bonaire.

The Wild Side dive is worthwhile. The Blue Hole/White Hole is interesting for about ten minutes, unless you've got a thing for tarpon. But the swim back to the boat over the hardpan wasn't bad at all. Lots of sea fans, dozens of flamingo tongues, and I think I remember some sailfin blennies. But the second dive, drifting along the slope (I'm not sure it quite qualifies as a wall) was really good. Eagle rays and turtles galore, lots of big stuff, different topography, it's very different from typical Bonaire diving.

Capriccio's is fairly good, but vastly over-rated and WAY too expensive. At the other end of the scale, El Fogon Latino looks a little dicey, but the food is good and cheap and the people were nice. Plazita Limona has some very good dishes, but really slow service, even by Bonaire standards. If you can go in a really relaxed mood and take it in stride, you can have a nice time. If you're going to be impatient at all, you should probably stay away.

 

[FrederiqueBonaire]

Sorry the restaurant in Washington slagbaai park is not there anymore, so bring the food too!!!

 

[djtimmy77]

The restaurant in Slagbaai was open a week ago friday when we were there....

 

[akirawut]

According to their page it still appears to be open: Slagbaai Beach Bar & Restaurant

 

[vladimir]

Don't lose your credit cards in Bonaire. Even if your credit card company guarantees replacement in 24-48 hours, they can't figure out how to send it to you. I went through this once. When i told them I was in Bonaire, they wanted to know where that was. I said it was the Netherlands Antilles. They said, "Oh, so you are in the Netherlands?" This was before the recent change in political status, so I was not actually in the Netherlands. Then they wanted to know the name of a town. I paused. I sighed. I said "Kralendijk" and then started to spell it. You can probably guess how far that got me. They admitted they couldn't get the card to me, because FedEx basically did not know how to find Bonaire.

Just for the record, Fedex knows exactly how to find Bonaire; Kralendijk is a selection on their website menu, after selecting Netherlands Antilles. If you mail a 1/2-pound envelope today from my old zip code in downtown Manhattan, you will get it on June 1, and it will cost $57.71. They can do it faster, actually (Fedex International Next Flight), but you'd have to phone them to get the full details.