Why shore diving?

[morecowbells]

I enjoy Bonaire for all the reasons above. I enjoy the freedom of drinking my cup of Joe, eating breakfast and following my own schedule. That being said, yes there is the schlepping of gear involved with shore diving. I am a short female who wears a thick wetsuit. Carrying around the extra weights can suck, but the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience.
Reading your post gives me the impression that you want to be talked into enjoying Bonaire. It reminded me of eagerly anticipating the movie 'Birdman' only to resent the fact that I will never get those 2 hours of my life back. Sure the critics and audiences loved it. I on the other hand was dumbfounded by the outpouring of accolades and hype. Different strokes. People shake their heads when I tell them that I do not like night diving. I also do not enjoy diving with a LDS or staying at a scuba resort. This may be puzzling for many, but it is just my traveling style. It sounds like you have visited many stellar destinations. If you are feeling reluctant(okay dreading) a vacation to Bonaire, save the money for a destination/milieu that is more your style.

 

[Kharon]

It wasn't the conditions that made the diving in Bonaire a disappointment. It was the condition of the reefs. Large spans of dead or diseased coral, and lack of marine life in general. I know, the marine life is a variable but not the condition of the corals. At least, not over short periods of time.

I was diving Bonaire November into December 2016 and I don't remember anything even vagely like that. Tons of fish and healthy coral. What sites were you diving.

 

[diver0008]

I was diving Bonaire November into December 2016 and I don't remember anything even vagely like that. Tons of fish and healthy coral. What sites were you diving.

I was there around the same time and I found the observation quite at odds with mine as well. Curious.

 

[tkaelin]

Bonaire has consistently been the fishiest location in the Caribbean I have dived over the years. There are things you can knock Bon on but the diversity and density of marine life is not one of them.

 

[cathycalg]

Unlimited diving 24/7. Some people want to relax on vacation.... but some of us want to do nothing but dive. And dive a lot. Yes flights suck and there not cheap, but for 2 weeks with airfare, rental truck, unlimited air and a 1 bedroom apartment I can do it for around 2000. That why I’m going again for trip # 27 in January.

Where do you stay??

 

[rek_diver]

I was diving Bonaire November into December 2016 and I don't remember anything even vagely like that. Tons of fish and healthy coral. What sites were you diving.

Just checked my logbook- the one site in particular I found to be a huge disappointment was Alice in Wonderland, the second of the two double reef system was devoid of healthy corals and marine life. Upon exiting the water and hearing other divers chatting about the nice dive, I said "what about all the dead corals and lack of fish"? The answer was along the lines of "I just don't look at all the dead stuff I focus on the nice coral and the fish are there if you look for them".

I guess its a matter of perspective.

 

[shurite7]

One thing that is annoying about boat diving is one has to get up early in the morning to eat breakfast and catch the boat, then deal with other divers on the boat. Leaving my gear on a boat, with the exception of a live aboard, for a week so that someone can take or tinker with it doesn't excite me in the least bit. Hooking up my own gear is easy and using a tail gate is just as easy as diving from a boat.

In Bonaire one can sleep in, wake up slowly, eat a late breakfast, go out diving during the hottest part of the day, come back and drink a frozen strawberry margarita at the bar while eating lunch, and then take a nap before heading out for the evening. Quite relaxing for a vacation.

 

[darook]

I already had plans for my 8th trip to Bonaire set for February but I am messing it up by making it trip 9. My wife and I decided to purge some frequent flyer miles and book a trip there in December. I was really Jonesing for Nitrox. This trip will be shore only which is my usual MO. We are staying at Bamboo Bali which means getting tanks at Wannadive. I was happy when we used them a few trips ago, best fills I have seen on the island. The STINAPA ranger that checked our tags at Salt Pier said the same thing.

Our trip in February is with our LDS and will be staying at Divi. A bunch of boat dives are included but I don't plan to do many. We don't have a lot of money into the boat dives and if they go somewhere cool like Rappel or Forest I'll hop on. Otherwise I will be diving out of the back of a Toyota Hilux. I am excited to show a bunch of my friends that are on the trip how to Bonaire right! The boats don't generally go south of Salt Pier or north of Karpata and are the missing some incredible sites such as Red Slave, Vista Blue, Invisibles, Candyland etc. Sure 1000 steps is easier from the boat but I have always enjoyed the whole experience of going down and up the steps from that amazing coral beach. The new coral stag horn coral colonies on each side of the beach are astounding.

I have been to Palau twice and the Maldives once. Liveaboards once in Palau and the only time in Maldives. The diving was sublime on all three occasions. I think all of the shore diving I can get in Bonaire makes me a much better dive when I am doing a premium location like somewhere on the other side of the world. Better air consumption, perfect buoyancy and good skills all around. I love the fact that in Bonaire when I get up I can go anywhere I want, dive the profile I want and I can be in the water with just a couple of buddies, not a line of 16 divers all crowding around to see something that the DM pointed out. If you are not seeing cool stuff diving from the shore you are just going too fast.

The great thing about diving is that there are all types of it. Some folks are passionate about tech diving wrecks in the Great Lakes, not my thing. Others like to cut a hole in the ice around here in the winter and go diving, hard pass for me. Find what you enjoy and get after it!

 

[darook]

Just checked my logbook- the one site in particular I found to be a huge disappointment was Alice in Wonderland, the second of the two double reef system was devoid of healthy corals and marine life. Upon exiting the water and hearing other divers chatting about the nice dive, I said "what about all the dead corals and lack of fish"? The answer was along the lines of "I just don't look at all the dead stuff I focus on the nice coral and the fish are there if you look for them".

I guess its a matter of perspective.

I think those sites close to Salt Pier are not very rich in growth due the crazy salinity of the water around it. It is my theory and mine alone but I am going with it. Get down to Vista Blue and keep going south and coral is wonderful. Get north of town and it is great too. I think the areas that are dived hard show the wear. Go to Tolo and keep doing sites to the north and you will see some of the thickest, overgrown coral you ever have. Spectacular.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Is there anywhere in the Caribbean that the coral is healthy? I'm not talking compared with the Pacific, but noticeably healthier than, say, Bonaire? Healthier enough that it's worth spending more money on a trip, if necessary.