Bonaire or Roatan ?

[skynscuba]

We went to Roatan (CCV), then Bonaire. Chose to do a 2nd Bonaire trip rather than Roatan, and would probably go a 3rd time to Bonaire before going back to Roatan.

Went to Barbados on a 10 day family trip. Much more to see/do above water, but the diving was not as good.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I have done both recently.

Diving: Roatan has more variety interms of wrecks, and reef structure. Both are very healthy systems. Both have very similar fish/species life. The only way you can get more diving in in Roatan is to stay at a place with a good shore dive like coco View Etc...

Food: Neither place is world class but again Bonaire wins this battle as all of the good places to eat are withing a few miles drive and some are quite good. Typically you get more freedom in Bonaire to explore than in Roatan as most stay at resorts. Food is good in Roatan but again you get more variety in Bonaire.

Topside: Well Roatan has more to do but Bonaire is ALL about the topside and your truck rental and unless you don't stay in a resort on Roatan it becomes a hassle at times to explore the island. I consider easily 75% of a Bonaire vacation to be the discovery of the island and the shore dives from your car to the water as well as below during the dive. In some cases, the shore part is more fun than the water part (1000 Steps is a lovely place for a picnic.)

You get a lot of freedom to dive in Roatan at say Coco View etc... but you get even more in Bonaire without being tied down to one location for everything. Just imagine setting out for 4 dives in a single day without a boat, without a DM, without other divers kicking you in the head, without someone telling you where to dive and how long to dive, the list goes on....HEAVEN! This is why I continue to go back to Bonaire. Freedom from crowds of people! I live in NYC and deal with crowds of people for a living. Structure is the LAST thing I want during vacation.

If you haven't done Bonaire yet then I think the decision has already been made and this is coming from a person who loved Roatan.

 

[DiveMaven]

We're heading to CCV for the first time in March after 2 consecutive trips to Bonaire. I would have to say that as far as relaxing diving and pure diver's freedom, it would be very hard to beat Bonaire. For our last trip, we kept 6 tanks in the back of our truck and headed out early every morning (by 7am) and always had dive sites to ourselves, for at least the first dive, usually doing 3 dives before going back to our condo for lunch and to switch out our tanks. Because nitrox is free at most places on Bonaire, we could have slightly shorter surface intervals than we normally have on air (though they were usually 60 minutes anyway), and dives were usually 55-65 minutes, surfacing mostly to be able to dive 3-4 different sites in a day, rather than because we were low on air.

There are plenty of inexpensive places to eat on Bonaire, and with a condo you can easily do breakfast and lunch on your own and only have dinner out, saving quite a bit of money (which is what we do).

If you want to avoid the cruise ships on Bonaire, you'll need to go between mid-May and October. No ships on island, low season rates, and far fewer crowds.

We are very much looking forward to CCV and the "liveaboard on land" or "diver's summer camp" feel of the place and the ease of the diving and trip as a whole. We'll know in April if Roatan is a place we want to return.

 

[scubadobadoo]

We are very much looking forward to CCV and the "liveaboard on land" or "diver's summer camp" feel of the place and the ease of the diving and trip as a whole. We'll know in April if Roatan is a place we want to return.

You will enjoy it! Coco View has IMHO one of the best house reefs, if not the best, in the Caribbean. Walls to he left and right, a nice wreck in the middle, and an amazing shallow area before the wreck that is just heaven on a night dive/snorkel. Make sure to spend more time than you think you should doing night dives on the house reef. Skip more boat dives than you plan to and just do the shore dive is my advice. Honestly, it was the best diving I did in Roatan. AND, I LOVED the over the water rooms! Rustic but huge and a true delight at night with the sound and smell of water all around.

My only complaint about Coco View was the food. Don't get me wrong, it was very tasty and always plentiful and served with a smile. We just like to get out and explore more and that's a hard thing to even want to do let alone do when Coco View does such a nice job of meeting your needs. Have fun! I know you will!!

 

[Shawnda]

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice. In Roatan we stay near the West End each time as I am no fan of AI. The restaurants in West End are very good, and we got a bit spoiled that way. Also the easy access to the reefs (2 - 15 minute boat ride) was nice.
For Bonaire, I am leaning towards the Den Laman condos or something similar. I also find the shore access to be the best thing of all. Dive all you want and on your schedule ! It will be interesting to compare the restaurants of the two islands for price and quality. We like to have breakfast and lunch in the condo, and then every 2nd or 3rd nite out to a restaurant.
I can't wait to go !!! Thanks again everyone !

 

[mksmith713]

Look up Liz at Golden Reef Inn in Bonaire.
Check out the Drive n Dive package.

 

[lmorin]

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice. In Roatan we stay near the West End each time as I am no fan of AI. ........... !

In some sense, "Roatan or Bonaire" is a silly comparison. The diving opportunities are distinctly different. If diving is the reason you are going to either of these places, go for a reason related to diving--such as a wide variety of shore diving on Bonaire or CoCo View's front porch. To say that one is better than the other, then to decide that one place is out not under consideration because it means staying in an all inclusive (despite the fact that it is a dive camp) seems to miss the point of making destination decisions based on the diving available. IMHO, anyway.

Roatan is great, based on two excellent experiences at Coco View.
Bonaire is great, based on excellent experiences at Plaza (1) and Sand Dollar (2).