Cozumel or Bonaire?????

[dive nut fred]

Just curious if anyone who has been to both places has a strong opinion on which is better diving. My wife and I have been to Bonaire and loved it. We are trying to pick our next trip and are considering Cozumel......or Bonaire again.

 

[herman]

Depends on what you want to do. Coz is more of a vacation where you dive some...you do a 2 tank dive in the morning and whatever you like the rest of the day. There is a little shore diving but not much, you are usually stuck at the resort you are at...if it has a beach. You can at times do afternoon/night dives but at a cost. Unlike Bonaire that is a dive vacation, you can dive as much as you like, whenever you like.

Also the dives themselves are different. Coz is almost all drift diving, you jump off the boat, ride the current with the group and get back on the boat when you are done. Dive times are somewhat limited, 45-60 minutes. Photography is somewhat limited in Coz, esp macro. You are traveling with the group so you don't have time to stop and shoot as you like, you have to do a quick snap and haul to catch up with the group.

Bottom line is if all you want to do is a couple of dives per day, don't mind staying with a group and having your bottom time limited Coz is nice. If you want to do a lot of bottom time, night dives or want to spend a lot of time with an UW camera, Bonaire is a much better choice.

 

[BDSC]

I agree with Herman. If this is to be a "dive vacation" then go to Bonaire. Another great place to consider is Little Cayman if you haven't been there. I like the diving there even better than Bonaire.

 

[Mark Derail]

Grand Cayman & Cozumel - quite touristy. Good if with family, or like me, I travel to be a tourist that dives. Not traveling to just dive - I don't plan on ever going on a live aboard.

Bonaire / Little Cayman - adult only w/focus on dives - I agree.

 

[TXreefer]

We go to CZM every year, stay on the southern part of the island in a condo. Rent a car. Buy groceries. Do a few dives. We go with family and friends to relax and have a good time. The diving is really good, but we usually only do 4-6 in the week; they are all boat dives. Sometimes we play golf. We also take the ferry over to the mainland, rent a car, drive to various cenotes to snorkel and some Mayan ruins like Tulum, Coba, Chichen Itza, etc. I would love to take a cavern course over there someday, but that's another story.

I went to Bonaire last year and am going back again this Friday with some friends this time. It was great last year and I wanted to take them to a place where we could get a lot of diving in.

So I usually go somewhere other than CZM for a straight diving vacation and go to CZM for a variety of activities and relaxation.

 

[dive nut fred]

Thanks all.....that was my gut feeling. I loved Bonaire last year. Did all shore diving and got some shots i am really happy with. My wife and I do like to spend as much time as possible underwater on vacation. Good diving to you all, and thanks again for the input.

 

[herbdb]

We have been to both. Water clarity at Coz is the best I have seen. I like to go slow and look for things so the drift diving for me is not great. A week at Coz was good for 15 dives, I have done as many as 28 in a week on Bonaire.
I really like Cozumel, but I travel to dive and you can't beat Bonaire for that.