One more and I'm done...another option: Curacao. IMO the diving there is equal to or slightly better than Bonaire. And easier to get to on American - we flew thru DFW to go there.
Curaçao , a unique Caribbean island paradise
One stop on AA in MIA for you - 7+hrs. total. Pricier flight but you don't care...
There's a Marriott in Piscadera Bay. It's almost due south of the airport so a cab ride shouldn't be too expensive - maybe $25-30?
The grounds are very nice, pools, pool bar, etc. and there's a shore dive right there. Also a couple of restaurants, several bars, and a small casino. I liked their bar up on top so much I went there twice - the resort is on top of a cliff and drops down to the beach level. Caribbean Sea Sports is on-site for boat dives.
Another option for escorted shore dives is the Dive Bus - they'll pick you up and go to the better dive sites. Mark and Suzy own it and get recommended here often, I've met Suzy - she's very energetic. Our schedules didn't mesh or we'd have dove with them. As it was she spent 20mins. showing us where to go on a map after we'd figured that out...
Curacao Hotels | Marriott Curacao Beach Resort & Emerald Casino | Piscadera Bay
Caribbean Sea Sports Curacao - Home
Welcome to the Dive Bus
A third possibility for diving would be Diveversity - they have two nearby locations. One at Pirate Bay that you could easily walk to and another about two miles away at Blue Bay - which is a good wall shore dive. IDK much about them.
DiveVersity at Piscadera | DiveVersity Dive Centers
For other things to do downtown Willemstad is 2 miles south - just south of where it says Cruise Ship mooring. There's also a few restaurants in PBay within walking distance of the Marriott - and the beach bar - Pirate Bay - just north of the Hilton. We stay across the street in condos so I know the area. It's far enough away so there's no cruise traffic and quieter at night. There is a convention center there but it didn't seem to be used much the 10 days we were there - only saw cars in the lot one day.
Pirate Bay Curacao | Beach Club Curacao | Hooks Hut Curacao (former) There's also the Sea Aquarium - sort of a small version of SeaWorld about 5mins. south of downtown. Ocean Encounters has a shop there and they do the Dolphin Dives a few minutes away on the reef.
Open Water Dolphin Dive | Ocean Encounters Diving Curacao
Since I have it all in Google Earth - here's an overhead shot of the area.
