Belize or Bonaire

[lmorin]

I've done both, although not as often as Damselfish who loves liveaboards. My wife and I went the other direction and bought a condo on Bonaire. You really can't miss with either choice (except, of course, if the weather is bad). Bonaire is an outstanding dive destination with easy access to most of the sites. That is one major reason we like it. A number of dives on our Belize Sundancer trip were truly gorgeous and among the top 5 we have experienced. On the other hand, Bonaire's Angel City in full sunlight with a huge baitball of boga being herded by a bunch of horse-eyed jacks is pretty nice, too. If you want to take a trip to just dive with minimal worries about equipment transport or cooking, then a liveaboard will be great. We did most of the dives offered, but across the week, the necessary schedule regimentation began to get to us. Of course, you can go to Bonaire and enjoy your own schedule-less plan with some naps or reading thrown in around your dives or you can go gung-ho and utilize every reasonable minute jamming in more dives than you'd get on the liveaboard.

[potato cod]

I'm with Damselfish on this one. Hauling gear around for shore diving isn't really my idea of a vacation. Eat, sleep, fall off the boat to dive, climb a ladder to a warm shower on the dive deck, a cup of tea, and a waiting snack, then dive, snack, dive, eat, dive? Yeah, that's my idea of a vacation. Did the Belize Sundancer last March also and it was wonderful! I hear great things about Bonaire--they guys at our dive shop love it--but I guess my husband and I are lazy and always opt for boat diving.

[BikerManiac]

I just came back from Belize on the Sundancer 2 days ago.

Goto to Bonaire. Marine life and the reefs are so much nicer in Bonaire. I would rate Belize a 5 in terms of diving and Bonaire a 7 on scale of 10.

[parrotheaddiver]

I agree with Damselfish I have done both...a liveaboard is the life for me....I am not a fan of shore diving don't like schlepping gear back and forth through sand...different strokes for different folks...whatever you choose I am sure you will have a wonderful time....

[JM309]

I have been to both places, 3 times to Bonaire and twice to Belize. I am not a big fan of live aboards, I like getting off the boat and going to a restaurant or bar at night. Both have great diving but the Bay of Honduras offers a more diverse diving experience. Bonaire has about 60 shore diving spots. If you have not been to either place yet I would go to Bonaire. You can probably get in 4-5 dives a day plus some night dives.