Should Bonaire Even Be Considered For Solo Travellers?

[JDelage]

Half way through my first Bonaire trip, so I don't have a lot of experience but one thing I can contribute is that in the low season you might find it difficult to find enough boat dives. I'm with Dive Friends, and they seem to have only a few boat dives running this week for example.

 

[Doctorfish]

Never had that problem with Buddy Dive, Habitat or Divi.
Sometimes, size matters.

 

[Kharon]

Never had that problem with Buddy Dive, Habitat or Divi.
Sometimes, size matters.

Dive Friends is no small operation. They have five or more operations and (I think) just aquired two more.

 

[KeithG]

Dive Friends is no small operation. They have five or more operations and (I think) just aquired two more.

How many boats do they have?
I think they service the cruise ships so those days there may not be any boat availability. How many cruise ships have been through?
And they will attract a different clientele: mostly shore divers.

 

[jimw]

Habitat goes thru times where they say no outside divers--and other times where outside divers are welcomed---soooo call (or go by) the dive shop, not the hotel. Check with the dive shops at other ops as well. ie:Buddy, Bruce Bowker's Caribe Inn, Divi, etc.

 

[Trailboss123]

Half way through my first Bonaire trip, so I don't have a lot of experience but one thing I can contribute is that in the low season you might find it difficult to find enough boat dives. I'm with Dive Friends, and they seem to have only a few boat dives running this week for example.

How is your stay and diving going @JDelage ?

 

[JDelage]

How is your stay and diving going @JDelage ?

So far, pretty good. Just did 1000 steps and had a great experience: 3 schools of squids, 2 morrays, 3 turtles, 1 pompano, 1 sharptail eel! I'll do a more complete report at the end. I'm going to do 1000 steps again though.

 

[Trailboss123]

So far, pretty good. Just did 1000 steps and had a great experience: 3 schools of squids, 2 morrays, 3 turtles, 1 pompano, 1 sharptail eel! I'll do a more complete report at the end. I'm going to do 1000 steps again though.

Sweet! Looking forward to that report! Keep having fun!

 

[Ironborn]

I usually travel the world solo to dive and have never had any problems since I usually do boat dives where I either follow a divemaster or get buddied up with another on the boat. I do NOT plan to dive solo.

So with this in mind, should I even consider Bonaire as a dive destination? I realize that much of the diving in Bonaire are shore dives. If I went to Bonaire not intending to dive solo, I would think that I would be limited to the boat dives unless I can find a dive buddy down there - I don't know how easy it is to do this when I arrive there.

I just returned from a solo trip to Bonaire and had a fantastic experience that demonstrates the feasibility of traveling solo to Bonaire without diving solo. I will be posting a trip report in the near future.

 

[JDelage]

I've found it very easy to ask people at dive sites if they would mind if I joined them. Nobody's turned me down and they seemed perfectly happy to have me tag along. I've paid my dues by showing them critters. This strategy only works when there are other divers though, of course, so it's easier at the most popular sites.

Big storm today, so I'm indoors.