Bonaire or Curacao?

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JeffMandell

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I've been planning to go to Bonaire for a while now, after reading countless reports and articles and hearing firsthand from friends about the diving there. But the only flights available to get there from Los Angeles are ridiculously inconvenient. The best of the lot takes about 16 hours. Now, interestingly, Bonaire's next door neighbor, Curacao, is reachable with just two flights in just under 10 hours -- gee, we'd even get there the same day we set out. (No you can't get a flight from there to Bonaire in any less time than it takes to go through any other route.)
I've read good things about Curacao, particularly in Rodale's, which says its got great shore diving and great boat diving. In fact, about the only reason that's kept me from booking it already is I never really hear about anyone else going there.
So, what's up with Curacao as a dive destination? Also, where should one stay and what dive op would you use?
 
There is another option you may not be aware of. There is a small carrier on Curacao called Divi Divi that flies between Bonaire and Curacao several time a day but you can't find it on any airline schedules. I don't know exactly what their scheds are or how to get in touch with them but I do know where to go the get the answers. Go to www.bonairetalk.com and ask there. Loads of good people on that board that will be happy to help.
 
If it hasn't stopped, there is also a ferry between Curacao and Bonaire that runs twice a day. It was about $55 for a round trip when we took it in January 2002. Its about a two to three hour ride and can be a little rough, but you don't have to worry about DCS. I haven't dove on Curacao, but Willemstad is a big city with lots of night life and could be a nice diversion while in the area and as it uses the same currency as Bonaire, it doesn't require any additional conversion.
 
Did you see the Delta/Air Jamaica flight option from LAX to BON?

It leaves at 10:30p and arrives next day in Bonaire at 2:30p (13 hours) with one stop in Montego Bay with a 5 hour layover.
 
We took Divi Divi from Curacao to Bonaire in May of this year. The flight lasted about 20-30 minutes. They flew to about 1500 ft. We did our last dive on Curacao at 2pm the previous day and boarded the Divi Divi flight the next day around noon. No one in our group experienced any problems. The plane is an 8 seater that was also the mail plane. They did try to charge us extra for our heavy luggage (camera equipment). We'd told them we were divers when we booked and hadn't been told of extra charges. We reminded them of this and they didn't charge us.

As far as the diving goes - Bonaire is better but Curacao has more top side attractions. The food on both islands was very, very good. If you can go to both islands by all means do. If not, then I would recommend Bonaire. Bonaire was dull for the one non-diver in our group but we enjoyed it.

Aquagal
 
I have been back a week from my honeymoon and we went to both Bonaire and Curacao. We loved both. I won't say that one is better than the other as we didn't really visited any dive sites other than the reef outside Buddy Dive in Bonaire. With the diving we did I actually kind of prefered Curacao. The reef on both islands seemed pretty healthy thought there seemed to be more fish on the reef on Bonaire. There were plenty of eels to be seen in Curacao and I get the impression that you are more likely to see big things there as well. Also the coral seemed a little more dense in Curacao. I don't think you can go wrong with either island.

BTW, you can not take luggage on the ferry between islands or atleast that is what I was told when I booked our flights between islands.

If you have any specific questions send me a PM and I will do my best to answer them.
 
Never been to Bonaire but have Curacao. Talking with the locals I understand the diving is pretty much the same. I bit more in the fish department in Bonaire say some but there are plenty of fish in Curacao. I dive with Atlantis Diving while in Curacao, you can reach Ingrid at this email - diving@cura.net. They only do shore diving so if you want to dive off a boat go elsewhere. There is no reason to boat dive in Curacao though since 3/4 of the dives are very accessible to shore diving.

Also Curacao has a bit more in topside entertainment, while Bonaire is a sleepy island. You go to Bonaire to dive and not much else.

IMHO, stay away from Aruba, not worth the trip.
 
I dove in Curazao, I think its beter than Bonaire, you can dive from the shore, many places are near, Superior Producer,Tug Boat,Sta. Barbara Beach,etc.. you not need a boat.
Curazao is one of the best places to dive.
Regards
Paco
 
I have been to both and loved both. Bonaire is charming, but as you state, hard to get there in a timely manner. My husband and I have done 6 weeks of mostly shorediving on Curacao, since we can spend 3 weeks there verses only 2 weeks on Bonaire due to flights. There are airlines that we choose to avoid, mostly because of reports of delays, lost luggage, etc that could get us a few more days on Bonaire, but Curacao is wonderful. We like to get away from crowds on vacation, so we stay at the west end of the island at Allwest Apts and use their diveshop. They have a great staff and dive boat that usually runs only on the weekends. Shorediving the westend of Curacao is fantastic, easy and there is so much to see. I felt that the entries were easier than what I had experienced on Bonaire. We do hope to return someday to Bonaire, but Curacao comes first for us. You cannot go wrong with either choice. Hope you have a great trip.
 
My wife and I are going to Curacao for two weeks - last of August first of September. The first week we traded timeshare space at Breezes and the second week we're with the Annapolis Scuba group staying at the Sheraton.

1. Could anyone suggest dive operators for us for the first week.
2. Dive sites?
3. Restaurants?
4. And anything else you can think of?

We'll have a car for the whole time and we've been diving since the 1970s.

Thanks TedJ
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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