Considering BONAIRE or COZ for Dive trip w Daughter - Advise?

Gentle dive folk.... I haven't posted in quite some time. I have been diving with my 21 yr old daughter and we are both AOW and Nitrox. She has about a 100 dives and I about 200. Two years ago we had a fantastic trip to Coz, staying at Hotel Cozumel and using Paradise. Now we want to have another great trip and we are considering either Coz or Bonaire. I haven't dove Bonaire and have no idea best approach for planning that trip.

Please make some suggestions here and I will also be reading the incredible amounts of data within this site, which I have missed browsing.

In planning Bonaire, Should I rent a hotel room? A house? A truck with tanks? I don't know where to begin. Any suggestions for nice places would be much appreciated.

My daughter is a ball, and a great natural diver. I look forward to diving with her again.

Dad

As everyone will tell you, Bonaire is about the shore diving. You can do boat diving, too, if you wish, but to get the most out of Bonaire, you should do at least some shore diving, even if it is just from the dock of your dive op. That said, you will need to rent a truck to schlepp your gear and to go sight seeing, if you wish. Stay at a place such as Buddy (resort), Captain Don's (resort), Divi (resort) or Plaza (resort), among other resorts. Sand Dollar and Den Laman are condos. The resorts listed and SD/Den Laman have on site dive operations that offer boat and shore diving. Of course, there are other locations I have not listed that do also. You will have to decide for yourself on this issue. Staying any place from which you can basically roll out of bed into your dive gear and then into the water is the way to go, IMHO. Use the truck for more far flung destinations. There are now some decent grocery stores on Bonaire, if you want to prepare your own food. Many folks dine out most meals.

Hi GaryT,

This sounds like a blast in the making. I am hoping to convince my Dad to come along for one of my two weeks diving in Bonaire next year.


About Me.
I have not yet dove Coz (Late 2014 or Early 2015 I hope). But I am returning to Bonaire for the second time in May. From all of my research, it seems like they are pretty different dive destinations sharing only that a lot of people really like to dive them.

Bonaire v Coz.
We really enjoy the being on our schedule thing in Bonaire and mostly doing shore dives with a few boat dives thrown in to get to Klein. If you loved the boat diving thing, then probably Coz is the better choice - though you could get a heavy boat package in Bonaire, but..... It also seems that Coz has the exciting drifts and the big stuff. Bonaire seems more geared toward coral and small stuff. Although it sounds like the wild side would help with some big stuff.

Bonaire logistics.
In terms of planning your trip, Bonaire has a lot of options, but does not have the nightlife of Cozumel. Do you guys want to meet a bunch of other divers or just be off on your own? (resort v condo) Do you each want your own bedroom, own bathroom? I think a place with a kitchen is nice to have to cut down on costs, but if neither of you enjoy cooking, probably a resort type place or at least a hotel close to town would be better. To really enjoy the Bonaire diving freedom a truck is a must. Are you guys all dive, dive, dive or 2-3/day and then do something different (truck v no truck)? Do you want/need ocean front?, ocean view? Are you looking for budget, middle of the road, or aren't worried about costs?

Thanks Diverjen,

Well...I think a resport sounds good. Probably too tired to bother shopping and cooking. So I guess a reasonable priced resport would be a good option. I also like the truck idea so we can just drive off and find a spot to dive. A couple boat dives would be fun too. So you made some good points. I am taking her for spring break so it will probably be 4 or 5 days of diving and I can drop the bucks on it if needed.

A resort equivalent to Hotel Cozumel level would be fine... So it looks like I need to search the resorts

Captain Don's or Buddy Dive are a bit north of town but have nice house reefs. Divi and Plaza are more central to town. Divi has a casino. Plaza has an all inclusive thing going now. From my research I think Buddy's and Plaza are a bit cheaper than Divi and Don's. They are all pretty well reviewed and liked. Most will have packages available with a truck and tanks. I hope that narrows your search!

Bonaire is all about the shore diving. You need to rent a truck. Get a home base hotel that offers multiple tanks (easy to check out) and just go. Don't forget to do the Park up north and take about 3-4 tanks (& lunch/drinks) so you can enjoy the day of diving. It's one way in and out so you have only one pass per day IMO.

Unless you make advance arrangements and make about $150 extra payment, figure on a manual transmission (stick) truck.

Get thick-soled boots for walking on iron shore, not 'booties.'

Richard.

Wow - I spent some time trying to figure out how to get there and its a mess. What US city flys direct into Bonaire? Any? I am looking at 4 connections from CT!

Thanks for the advice...I am getting pumped up. I was online looking at Plaza. But the website stinks...are the room rates posted there inclusive of all dives and a truck too? There is also a 150 dollar or so adder for "pickup every day" which is not explained in any way....what a crap site.

Gary from CT its tough but I do United from Boston to Newark on to Bonaire. Problem its a red eye. I am leaving on Friday arriving saturday. might be different timing depending on when you go. Is you daughter in the NorthEast too? United has a red eye out of houston too. Return leaves early following saturday. If you want to go for less than a week choose a different place. Curacao has some good diving too. Delta has early morning flight out of Atlanta on saturday. if that works for you its more civilized!

I am making a bit of progress now...Using Airtran from BDL (hartford CT) to Aruba with one connection ...then Isel Air from Aruba to Bonaire with one connection. total 400 bucks.