Bonaire has sites for newcomers and also more seasoned divers.
You need somebody to drive stick; your rental truck probably will be. Traffic's not bad and the speeds aren't fast by U.S. standards, but the road signs are foreign. Going with a group your first time is wise. It's a pretty rustic island and getting around seems pretty easy (I ride; I don't drive stick).
For a typical dive, here's what a buddy & I do.
1.) Walk to about waist deep water.
2.) Put on fins (do reverse coming out - do not try to 'duck walk' in, including backward, wearing fins from shore in Bonaire).
3.) Swim out to reef (surface backswim if it's going to be aways).
4.) Head north or south (right or left) & cruise down to around 50 - 70' deep.
5.) When I get around 1500 PSI, give or take (I'm the air hog), turn & amble back, but move up to around 30 - 40' deep (makes air last longer).
6.) Do a 3" 15' safety stop.
7.) My buddy's a decent navigator, but if need be, pop up, stick your head out of the water & look to see where you want to exit. You're not going to get badly lost. The reef drops at about a 45 degree angle, you're not far from shore, and most beginner sites don't have much current.
8.) Tool around in the shallows near the exit while I run down my air (preferably not all the way!!!). You can see some neat stuff in the shallows, & the less filtered light makes for better pics. In the shallows along Oil Slick Leap I've seen a pair of Rainbow Parrotfish (huge!), and a large and a very large porcupine fish.
For non-diving activities, spend half a day or more driving through Washington-Slagbaii Park taking photos. Head over the Jibe City on the East side & watch the wind surfers. In fact, just drive around the island's coast one day and get all that in. On the southern west end, watch kite boarders. Maybe visit the donkey sanctuary. One night if you're in an oceanfront resort, take your dive lights & walk along the beach shining lights into the puddles and where waves wash over rocks - you may see small chain moray eels, gobies, crabs, out into the water on a rocky shelf young spiny lobsters, a variety of things.
Richard.
