Airplane tickets - When to Buy
- Thread starter ljwillia
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Kharon
Contributor
I understand that some are so fond of Bon that all else fails to compare and I get that but others who have not been and read some of these posts trying to learn about Bon need IMHO a more balanced perspective. I love Bon. I hate the airfares. There is a lot to love about Bon, but you are just as likely to see a Manta and eagle ray elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The marine life you find in Bon you will find elsewhere. It is the dive freedom that IMHO makes Bon unique. CUR is right around the corner and to suggest that there is marine life found in Bon that is not found in CUR seems to me to be a bit off. The post before mentioned specifically mantas and eagle rays. I have only seen a manta once and that was in GCM. Mantas have been seen on both CUR and BON. Eagle rays are more common and I have seen them on Bon, CUR and the Caymans.
I am not trying to be "argumentative". I am trying to post a different opinion and perspective, especially for someone who has not been but is doing the research.
Kharon
Contributor
Not sure (at least the cost for me) is any better going to either Cur or GC. Flights to GC aren't a whole lot less for me and once on the ground the cost of diving is much higher. Same with T&C and many other places. Once you count the entire cost of the trip there just ain't much difference (for me). Airfare isn't the whole cost. But, please feel free to dive elsewhere. The more people that go someplace else, the smaller the crowd on Bonaire.
I am not trying to convince you or get you to change your mind. That is not going to happen, you are set and that is not the point. The point again is to provide a balance of information for other divers looking for information on where to dive looking for information on Bon and other options. Bon is wonderful but if you are flying out the NYC area, you can get to other places that are also wonderful for 1/2 to 1/3 of the airfare. Please no need to tell your story again about your preferences and what a PITA it is for you to travel from upstate to a city airport. We got it.
I think the point is to balance the entire cost of the trip, not just the airfares. If you don't include the accommodations, local transportation, food, and diving, then you are deluding yourself by looking only at airfares. Another scaling is the cost per dive. You can have many more dives in a week in Bonaire than pretty much anywhere other than a liveaboard, especially if you dive from your resort. For some, it is time-in-the-water and total-trip-cost that matters, not just the airfare.
Of course and I have not suggested here or anywhere else that cost of airfare is the only factor. I am talking about the cost of the entire trip and with Bon air 2x3 times what it costs to travel to other comparable dive destinations it makes Bon more expensive than some of those other destinations.
I planned and taken 21 family dive trips in the past 10 years I can tell you from this experience that there are other places to go where the diving is comparable and the trip is less expensive than Bon and the one cost that stands out is airfare. We had a trip for six divers in Jan to Cur for less than just what the air would have been to Bon. We are going to GCM next month and the trip will be less than the same trip to Bon. I may not be as detailed as some others on SB but I plan the trip carefully and have the experience and information to know what I am talking about. I have done the math.
Yes for a solo diver, solo traveler, staying in budget accommodations diving and dining by yourself for 7 days in BON, paying 2x3 times more for a ticket doesn't affect the bottom line on the total trip cost the same way traveling with 4 or 6 divers does. At $1,200 to $1,800 a ticket, we can do a trip in CUR for less than just the air to BON and can do GCM for less than the total costs for BON.
I am not deluding myself or others. If you are willing to pay more or don't believe you are more power to you.
Yup - paid $268 roundtrip from JFK to GCM last summer and paid $401 this summer. I'm going to Bonaire in November and it would have been $793 - but I'm using Unilted points.
It also appears that there are more flexible dates and nonstops to GCM as well.
I'll see, first hand, if Bonaire lives up to the hype (I hope it does) as GCM diving is really good (esp. North Wall and East End).
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