Anyone dive w/ Captain Don's Habitat but not stay there?

[tkaelin]

I thought I did. Check out Madurodive.com for dive packages Bonaire. Caradonna.com list Bonaire packages as well.

 

[TT_Vert]

Sorry not sure how I missed this, looking into these two now. Wonder why these aren't show on the Bonaire tourism site of Dive OPs

 

[tkaelin]

and as a disclaimer I have never booked a trip from either site. I do get their emails and see their offers.

 

[TT_Vert]

Understood. My wife is on the phone w/ one of them right now. Seems caradonna's lowest offering w/ boat dives is well over $1600 for two divers so they are a bit out of our price range I think.. http://www.caradonna.com/Scuba-Diving-Vacations/Bonaire.aspx Ill give Maduro a look also.

 

[diversteve]

If the place you're staying is near Habitat - What property is it? - then you're also near a Dive Friends location as they have one a block north of Habitat (with a drive-in tank pickup also) at Hamlet Oasis and a block south at Sand Dollar Condos which is on Bari Reef. They also have 3 other locations for tank exchange etc. - 4 of their 5 locations are on decent shore dives also. The only issue with them for boat dives is they keep their boats at their Yellow Sub location in north Kralendijk so about a 5min. drive from where I assume you're staying.

Another option on the list you posted could be WannaDive. They're at Eden Beach which is just a little south of Sand Dollar which is the south end of Bari Reef - more of an upscale property - they recently added Spice Beach club there - plus just north of there now is Bamboo Beach - a man-made beach/bar/party venue.

WannaDive also has a location for guests only at the DiveHut in town - you won't find much in the way of cheaper properties - and a third tank exchange at Windsock Beach south of airport in Belnem where all the really good south shore dives start.

There's a lot of properties in that area - some like BelMar are waterfront and pricier (the other Buddy Dive shop is there) and some inexpensive across the street like Casa Oleander/Coco Palm - a series of small cottages in their own compound. From there I believe Buddy at Belmar is the closest shop - they have a decent but average house reef and Buddy's keeps a boat there on demand.

I really can't think of any property on Bonaire that doesn't have an arrangement with a dive operation. So I'd hit vrbo.com, airbnb and Sunbelt Realty's short term rental page if you're not set on the property you selected. Although $450 is a good price.

hth,

 

[TT_Vert]

The place we're staying is called
BnBBonaire

Kaya Zepher 2,
Kralendijk,
BQ



Speaking of Dive Friends, does anyone know if they include nitrox for free or if it's an addon? It doesn't state on their site and I'm still waiting to get an email reply from them on this and a few other questions. I'm thinking maybe airbnb for a room and dive friends for diving. .Also plan to do boat diving w/ dive friends and probably take their shore diving class prior to any shore diving. We're very competent boat divers but have done very little shore diving and i'm not as comfortable doing that w/o some basic training. Anyone else take one of these shore diving classes, was it worthwhile?

Thanks
Dave

 

[diversteve]

With that location Dive Friends Yellow Sub could be a good option. Your rental property is farther south than I thought so their main location at Yellow Sub is the lower blue arrow on this map - w/o gear you could walk there.



FYI look up it rains fishes for a nice meal there. You could probably walk - it's just a little south of Dive Friends - maybe 2 blocks? Excellent food, great harbor views but sort of on the expensive side.

I didn't take a shore dive class since we learned to dive in SoCal - a lot of that makes Bonaire look easy.

One thing I'd suggest if you go out on your own is plan your entries at first. Even some of the resorts are good dives - since you're diving with DF that means you could use the stairs/beach at Bari Reef - they also stage tanks there.

And a little farther north at their other location at Hamlet there's a decent (but more difficult) entry to the Cliff dive site. South of town Windsock Beach is an easy entry also to get started. If the tide is out, you step off the ladder onto a sandy beach at Bachelor's Beach also.

Farther south the Salt Pier is an interesting shallower dive - beach entry but there's ironshore just offshore so try to float as soon as possible. No diving if a ship is loading.

A couple other tips - if you see a man-made looking cluster of coral rubble at a site - that's the entry point marker. The parking area is not always the best entry point either - at some sites look for a sand channel that extends from the beach out to deeper water. That site is Vista Blue, good most mornings but the current there was ripping one afternoon on the reef - although the surface looked calm.

Unless you feel comfortable, don't do any of the Red "A" sites here alone. They're often difficult entries or swift currents. Bonaire Dive & Snorkel Sites | InfoBonaire
Also look for easier entries here - every site shows it: Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands
The brown stuff in the water just off the beach is the slickest ironshore because it's wet. No gloves allowed and the dirty brown stuff growing on the ropes and Salt Pier is likely Fire Coral. I've only seen it to the south.

 

[Lorenzoid]

As far as I can recall--and I've used Dive Friends several times--the price for a dive package is the same regardless of whether the diver chooses Nitrox tanks or air tanks. Since tank pickup is self-service, and nobody checks what you're picking up, there's nothing to stop any diver from taking a Nitrox tank. This is why I suspect most dive ops refer to their Nitrox as "free" or "no additional cost." As a practical matter, what else could they do?

 

[TT_Vert]

Thanks for the info! I would much rather err on the side of caution and do only easy sites. I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to things like this and I like to be over trained for everything I attempt. Are they usually dragging a SMB while they're doing these shore dives? We're going to have a rental pickup for the week so we can go nearly anywhere.

Lorenzoid, how do they determine if you have actually paid for a tank if it's self service?

Dave

 

[oldschoolto]

Nitrox is free at dive friends... same as air... They call it free upgrade to Nitrox.. I've used Dive friends and you will not find a friendlier place to use.

Jim..