Bonaire & Dive Guides?

[kerrycorcoran]

As I sit here, pouting (in Cozumel) as the port was closed this morning and I will not get to dive today, I am looking at potential Bonaire trips.

The wife and I have approximately 70 dives a piece, however I am confident I would not be able to talk my wife into shore diving without a guide or Dive Master to accompany us. I thought about boat diving in Bonaire, but wonder if we'd truly miss out on what Bonaire is all about.

My question, does anyone offer guided shore diving in Bonaire?

Thanks,
Kerry

 

[Kharon]

You wouldn't miss out on anything boat diving on Bonaire, you would just be paying a lot for what you could get for free by shore diving. Navigation is totally simple, there is no current most sites, and you don't need to go deep to see things.

I would take your wife to Yellow Submarine (Dive Friends in town) and dive from their Training/swimming area and get an easy feel for what it's like. Then go to Tori's Reef for an easy entry and repeat. She will probably lose her fear of shore diving. I find it easier and certainly more fun than diving from a boat.

 

[herman]

There are a few dive guides on Bonaire but IMO you will miss out on a lot of what Bonaire is all about, dive freedom. The diving, depending on the spots you pick, is very easy and pretty much impossible to get lost. My biggest complaints about Coz, was there last week, is that loss of freedom. I have to follow the guide, I have to be at the boat at a certain time, I have to dive so deep (to stay with the group), I can't stop for 10 minutes to watch something that interest me, the list goes on but I think you get the idea. Granted with your own guide on Bonaire you can do some of that but still, they are on a time line. If you get a guide for a dive or 2, have them choose easy sites I suspect you will not have any issues with your wife after that. You can always opt for boat diving if the shore diving does not pan out, its similar to Coz with a lot less current and typically not as deep....just no reason to.

 

[AdivingBel]

There are several sites with easy entries/exits and navigational aids (some intentional, some not). For example, the Cliff, Buddy Dive, Captain Don's, Yellow Sub, Windsock, etc.. Try these first, then move on to more challenging sites (or not 'cause these are nice dives) or mix in boats if you're not comfortable. There are plenty of "easy" sites to keep you happy for a week without lots of repeats. Even the repeats are nice since you can do them on your own schedule and on your own dive plan.

In answer to your original post about guided shore dives... Bonaire Shore Diving - Dive Friends Bonaire

There are plenty of other shops and resources that offer guided dive options.

 

[howswedeofme]

You could get a dive guide through a number of dive ops, but you'd miss out on the awesomeness of Bonaire which is the freedom to dive whenever/wherever and on the cheap. I was pretty terrified of shore diving when we got there (only 15 ocean dives under my belt at that time) and we started out at Yellow Sub. It's a very easy, and marked, entry and exit. There isn't any current, and the reef is nice and sloping most of the way around, so it's quite easy to find your way back to shore in general, and if you overshoot, just go back down 15 feet and swim back to your spot. We overshot twice (1000 Steps and Salt Pier), and popped up, reset the course, then swam back to our exit point. I loved boat diving on Klein Bonaire, but am very glad I didn't let my nerves get the best of me. We plan on doing shore diving in Grand Cayman this year instead of just boat diving now that I have some shore diving experience from Bonaire.

 

[wwguy]

My question, does anyone offer guided shore diving in Bonaire?

VIP Diving specializes in this and has a great reputation. You could hire them to take you out for the first couple of days and give you some pointers on self-guided shore diving. Once you discover the independence and flexibility of self-guided shore diving you'll be hooked. There's no better place to start than on Bonaire.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Is your wife's hesitation due to concerns about the safety of shore diving, or is it more about the effort involved in having to pick a dive site, drive a pickup truck to the site, gear up out there, haul yourself down into the water, etc.? I guess it's the former, since the effort part would not be lessened that much by having a guide.

My wife and I were strictly boat divers (each around 200 boat dives) before our first trip to Bonaire and were intimidated by the idea of shore diving without a guide. But we read up on how to do it (there are many old threads here in the Bonaire forum) and gave it a try. Since your first "shore dive" can be right off the dock of your resort, where you walk down steps into the water and do a leisurely lap around the house reef, it can be less intimidating than you might think. Do a couple of those, then go out to a more remote site, and you may be surprised at how quickly you build up confidence. After you have dived the house reef and realized it's really not difficult, you may feel less of a need for a guide.

The navigation thing is surprisingly easy. Because most sites start out sloping very gradually and then abruptly transition to a steeper dropoff, you can swim straight out until the dropoff, note the depth and some landmark like an unusual coral head, turn left or right and just follow the wall until your time or air says you should turn around. On the way back, you time yourself until you figure you're almost home, then go to the depth of the landmark and look for it. When you find it, you turn toward shore. In hindsight, even the most die-hard boat diver can quickly learn to safely shore dive on Bonaire.

Of course, no matter what we say here, your wife may not believe it. As others have pointed out, yes, you can hire a guide.

 

[hroark2112]

If you want a great guide, do the East side with Bas!!

BAS Diving

 

[Doctorfish]

IMO, there is merit in doing some boat diving on Bonaire.

!) doesn't get any easier than rolling off a boat
2) there will be a DM on the boat who probably will be better at spotting small critters like sea horses and frog fish then you are.
3) only way to dive Klein bonaire
4) boat dives on Bonaire are cheaper then many other places

We usually do a mix of boat, shore and house reef diving on Bonaire. Still gives you plenty of dive freedom.

 

[darook]

After a few boat dives your wife will likely understand how easy the diving is on Bonaire. My first trip I did a bunch of boats and now I pretty much only shore dive. Regardless, of what you do you will enjoy yourself. Bonaire is about freedom and once she gets the vibe I think you will be doing a bunch of unguided dives.