First trip to Bonaire

[mlawell]

Bonaire is great and as others have said rent a truck. You can usually split the cost with others on the trip. I recommend bringing a bottle of mosquito repellent. I got eaten up last year, and a friend just returned last month with the same experience.

 

[Scotttyd]

What is the $/minute of bottom time cost if you get blown out for an entire week in location XX? I have lost a good many days to bad weather.

quote]

for kicks I just calculated this for my last weekend trip to the NC coast - $4 per minute to two days of 2tank dives out of Moorehead - dang that is expensive- and that is a 3 hour drive away. If your numbers are right that you gave me the other day, bonaire is about $0.50 per minute. hmmmmm I know I am a to actually calculate this.

 

[DiverKKC]

One thing I would advise would be to rent a truck while there, I think you'd be sorry if you didn't. I've been to Bonaire and always rent a truck through the resort (Buddy Dive). There is nothing better than being able to pack up your gear anytime you want, drive to your divesite, and enjoy a nice dive. Personally, I think not having a vehicle at all times would damper the diving freedom Bonaire is so well known for.

Have a great time.

 

[Mountain Dog]

I agree with others that Bonaire is the Gold Standard of Caribbean diving. Every time we go diving somewhere else we kick ourselves for not going to Bonaire. You do need the truck. Although I agree that the dives of Klein Bonaire are great, the boat diving is optional. We usually don't bother with the boats because the time invested cuts into the amount of dive time we get in a day. Load the truck with tanks and just move from one shore site to the next.

My biggest suggestion about diving in Bonaire is to make sure you do dawn dives. Ladydog and I hit the water before sun-up every morning. The transition of life from the night shift to the day crew is one of the most amazing events you'll see.

Our favorite days on Bonaire go like this: dawn dive - breakfast - house reef dive - load the truck with tanks - dive a site near town - lunch - dive - drive to another site - dive - dinner - night dive - pass out. Life underwater is good!

Mountain Dog

 

[Boat Chick]

Lastly - I'll simply throw out there that in my mind 3 weeks is really too long a time to spend on Bonaire. It is possible to see "everything there is to see" diving-wise in Bonaire in one week if you "dive, dive, dive" like my buddy and I did (32 dives in a week) and by the end of that week we were struggling to find sites we needed/wanted to dive.

wow, my longest trip was 17 days, and that wasn't nearly enough. I'd kill to have three weeks on the island

 

[DiverKKC]

Lastly - I'll simply throw out there that in my mind 3 weeks is really too long a time to spend on Bonaire. It is possible to see "everything there is to see" diving-wise in Bonaire in one week if you "dive, dive, dive" like my buddy and I did (32 dives in a week) and by the end of that week we were struggling to find sites we needed/wanted to dive. There are lots of dive sites in Bonaire, but they are not tremendously diverse after a certain point........

I must respectfully disagree here. No way would I get bored diving on Bonaire for 3 weeks, 5 weeks, even a few months. Actually, I would love to live there someday so I can dive the beautiful reefs year round.

Yes, the reef structure is similar around much of the island; but there is always something interesting and different to see. I dove Buddy's Reef immediately before breakfast almost every day of the 2 weeks I was there, with several nice night dives thrown in (just a hop from my front door). Each time there was something new; eagle ray on this one, sea wasps on that night dive (ouch!), big Cubrera Snapper enjoying a cleaning station on that one, 6 tarpon the other time, an octopus on another night dive, school of creole wrasse the next, 2 frogfish another time. What am saying is that I thoroughly enjoyed every dive on the reef over 2 weeks, and this isn't counting the other 60 or so divesites I raced around trying to squeeze in during my 14 days.

In my mind, this isn't such a thing as too much Bonaire. I'm heading back this year...can't wait.

 

[gypsyjim]

I'm packing for our next trip to Bonaire in @ 2weeks. Packing very light in the clothes dept this time, as I found I can wash out a few things and they quickly air dry in Bonaire's climate. Trying desperately to find a way to get down to one large bag each (d%*&#d airlines' extra luggage charges!), and my dive gear comes first!
You could dive right on Bari Reef every day (and night) and never get tired of it, but I can't see not renting a truck because there are so many other great sites that you can easily access from the truck. That is part of what makes Bonaire so unique!
Maybe try diving without the vehicle for the first week and then get a truck to expand your reach. By then you'll have met other divers and heard about other great sites you'll want to visit.
If three week is too long to visit Bonaire then why did I just buy a small place to retire to there someday, after my last visit?
Too much Bonaire? That all depends on your tastes and habits. Right now I'm jealous, as I can only stay 7 days, again, and THAT is too little Bonaire!!!

 

[newmanl]

Thanks! You guys are awesome! Tons of great advice to sort through.

We are seriously contemplating getting the truck for the entire time at this point, or at least getting it a few days into the trip after some (or a lot of...) dives on the house reef. Also, the last thing we're worried about is boredom - we're both fish biologists and into photography, so we'll be not only looking to catch images of the critters, but behaviour as well and that takes time and familiarity.

Mountain Dog, the schedule you laid out for how your favourite days go on Bonaire is exactly what we've got planned! You're our hero!

DiverKKC, thanks for all the great advice and comments. Very much appreciated!

Thanks again, All.

Lee

 

[gypsyjim]

When I was there this last July we took a seminar on fish of Bari Reef that is presented by a biologist at Den Lamen. I believe his name is Jerry?

As fish biologists you may be way beyond his course, but he gets more and more excited and involved when his audience is knowledgable and really interested. He was able to show us a lot of sea life and behavior that I've either missed or misunderstood.

You might find it interesting to look up this fellow for a chat while you're there, as you may find you have common interests.

Have fun Lee!

 

[DiveMaven]

I absolutely second the recommendation to find Jerry Ligon at Bonaire Dive and Adventure while you're there. We spent two mornings with him during our trip last year and learned a ton about hunting behaviors of different species. He's a great guy and very generous with his time and knowledge.

Look him up, I know he'd be so excited to talk with you.