Bonaire vs. Curacao - comments from those who have been to both

[Kat]

I am the beach Princess.
Having a beach at my hotel is always a top priority. I did a good deal of research before I went to Bonaire. I decided on Edens Beach Resort. I was happy with the beach...but guess what-I never used it. Not once did I lay out or even swim in the ocean. I did do one dive at their house reef. I was hardly ever at the hotel. Much too busy diving.

I have been to both Bonaire & Curacao. Since you are right there, do both. Personally, I did not do very much diving on Curacao & I regret that. (We got side tracked on a bit of a drinking binge)
I'd love to return to Curacao and dive the heck out of it.

 

[Zebra mussel]

There is some excellent shore diving in Curacao. Most of it is easy beach entires. The swims are farther than Bonaire and the dive sites further apart. We stayed nead WestPunt. It is much quieter and scenic than near town. There is a website I that lists and gives opinions on all of the shore diving sites. It also has sites for Bonaire. As far as the diving goes,I liked it better than Bonaire from the standpoint that the sites had more variety in reef structure. Bonaire sites,at least to me,seem to be very similar to each other,although North side sites differ alot from South side sites. Bonaire definatly is more compact, with all of the dive sites very close to each other and all of the amenties in close proximity. Curacao requires a little more planning but is not difficult at all and in my opinion well worth it. If you have the chance,I would definatly try to dive both Islands. Both offer some very good diving with the reefs being in good shape. PM me if you would like some specifics or opinions.