Bonaire + Curacao, or just Bonaire?

[thecovetrix]

Thanks so much for the wide diversity of opinions!

And for making the decision so easy for us...

 

[kmcneer]

I did things backwards. My first trip to the area was to Curacao for 6 days and 2 in Bonaire. The next time Bonaire only. I think there is some diversity to diving Curacao. Some spots take a little longer to get to but you can still do 3 a day easy. There is not a diving day lost to the flight because it is nonpressurizd. We did it no prob only abut a 20 min flight. Although you will have to deal with getting a car and the mess that comes with that. The beaches in Curacao are beautiful there is nothing like it in Bonaire. I recommend Porto Marie if you go. Double reef great beach and none of the beaches are crowded. It is quite abit larger than Bonaire so may be 2 days are not enough, there is a lot to see and a lot of great dive sites.

 

[Damselfish]

There is not a diving day lost to the flight because it is nonpressurizd.

What altitude do they fly at? Non-pressurized just means they're low enough that they don't have to pressurize the plane (so they're probably below 8000ft which is what most commercial jets are pressurized to.) But they still might not be low enough for post-diving purposes (DAN's guideline is 2000 ft.)

Given they probably carry a lot of divers maybe they do keep it that low, but don't know?

 

[CLEAR BLUE]

Bonaire - 8 days won't be enough to do all the diving you will want to do there!