Recent Bonaire Feedback Requested

[Safety Stop]

About nitrox, what's the % at Buddy Dive ...32%, 34%

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[Doctorfish]

32 if you are lucky.

 

[djtimmy77]

About nitrox, what's the % at Buddy Dive ...32%, 34%

In my two trips there (2012, 2013) we found it to be generally 31-33% with the occasional 34%.

 

[Jersey]

About nitrox, what's the % at Buddy Dive ...32%, 34%

It varies - 30, 31, 32. Boats have portable analyzers, tank rooms have multiple hanging units. (Buddy puts the tanks on the boats for you. You test mix on the ride out.) Sometimes a tank gets in tank room with dust cap on, despite being partially used or a short fill. People not listening at the orientation. I suggest checking all tanks for fill and mix. Nothing worse than getting to a remote dive site or Klein and discovering your tank at 1200 psi.

 

[dolesorchard]

My wife and I have been to Bonaire twice for two weeks each trip. We found vis to be outstanding each trip and the reef was in good shape the first trip, but very bleached the second trip as they had experienced very high water temps before we were there. The reef was visibly recovering over the two weeks that we were there, and friends were there several months later and said almost all of the bleaching was gone. Since our last trip, we have been to Roatan and Cozumel and the reefs in both places were prettier than what we experienced in Bonaire, but in Bonaire there was a lot more fish and interesting critters to see. Our favorites are Angel City, the shallowest part of the double reef and a night dive with Bas Tol at Lac Cai.

The other issue we had in Roatan is a cold front came through while we were there and for the rest of our trip the high temperature was about 70, pretty nice if you are dry and in the sun, but with no sun and gusty winds surface intervals on the boat were tortuously cold .

 

[Sue Sue]

As of yesterday visibility is good, (slightly cloudy to clear) , water temps slightly chilly, 79 F (this is February, not August for sure), and there are more schools of fish on the reefs than we have ever seen on previous Bonaire trips. Topside conditions are warm 85 F and breezy.

 

[T.C.]

I echo what Jersey said. Do not leave until you've checked the fill and pressure on all your tanks, and make sure your buddies do it too. The Buddy Dive drive through is pretty good; and have the pressure built into the analyzer whip, but make sure you have a good tank before the boat shoves off for Klein.

 

[Marge33]

It's hard to believe that someone thinks the diving on Bonaire is repetitive. There are so many options, depending on your interests. Fish diversity? Bari Reef. Lots of soft corals? Soft Coral Gardens. Big schools of snappers? Margate Bay. Double reefs? Alice in Wonderland, Angel City (probably the most shallow double reef), or my favorite: The Rock. Turtles and White Spotted Eagle Rays? Lac Cai (only do as shore dive when wind is calm or during a reversal). Interesting topography? Margate Bay or Karpata. Lots of interesting critters? Tori's Reef. And on and on and on.

I have a feeling that if someone thinks the diving is repetitive, they didn't venture very far north or south of "hotel row".

---------- Post added February 27th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ----------

One last thing: we started coming to Bonaire in 2003, fell in love with it, and came back a few months later and bought our place. Since then, we've spent 6 months a year on the island (total time on Bonaire: about 2,000 days). The only thing we've ever had stolen from our truck was a fly swatter. We always leave doors unlocked and windows down. Just don't leave anything in the truck to tempt someone.

And yes, some of the reefs don't look as good as they once did, but some of the reefs are still very pretty. In general, the reefs in front of town and "hotel row" don't look as good as other sites north and south, but they are better than in many other places in the world.

 

[Mikko Ilari Laakkonen]

Not Bonaire but I was a in curacao few weeks ago. The diving should be quite similar and in my experience it was ok/good but not amazing in respect of corals, marine life, wrecks. Not bad but I've had better.

- Mikko Laakkonen -

I love diving and teaching others to dive.

 

[T.C.]

It's hard to believe that someone thinks the diving on Bonaire is repetitive.

Yeah; soooo repetitive. Get up, eat, dive, see totally something new, drive to another site, dive, see a fish I'd never seen and have to go look up, go eat, dive (again), see a fish behavior I don't understand and have to research, drive somewhere else, dive (again, really?) look at the amazing reefs, eat again, dive, admire the different fish and behaviors at night, drive home, sleep. REPEAT.







I can't wait to do it again.