Any Reason You Wouldn’t Want To Go?
-----Bonaire is my favorite dive destination because I love fixed cost ‘all you can dive buffet’ dive freedom (e.g. solo diving), easy navigation and good general Caribbean diving, a single day flight to/from America at a cost not outrageous. Love it. Would anyone would be better served elsewhere?
-----Oh, yeah. While little touches Bonaire’s sheer simple ease of cramming in a high shore dive count, other destinations win out on a range of things.
-----1.) Great reef – Bonaire’s good, but Little Cayman’s Bloody Bay Wall rocks. I’d also give the nod to the outer atolls region out of Belize, reached by live-aboard.
-----2.) ‘Big Stuff’ – particularly more species of large grouper (besides tiger grouper) – Nassau, Black and Yellow-fin grouper, more eagle and/or southern stingrays, reef and nurse sharks – gotta give it to Cozumel, Little Cayman, the outer atolls of Belize and Key Largo (Florida). Bonaire does have sea turtles, tarpon, barracuda, tiger grouper, cuberra snapper, green morays and some rays.
-----3.) Really big stuff – for the Goliath grouper aggregation, hit Jupiter, Florida late summer/early fall. For the lemon shark aggregation, hit it in winter. If you want a range of shark species, high likelihood of success and close up action, and don’t mind shark feed dives, hit Jupiter (season varies by species). For frequent fairly large shark encounters without shark feed diving, try the offshore wreck diving out of Morehead City or Wilmington, North Carolina.
-----4.) If you want to stay in the U.S.A., keep airfare cheap, have access to mainland Florida, enjoy shallower diving over flat, hard bottom, fairly lush and (in my view) more (and bigger) fish (albeit viz. wasn’t as good), with the option for deep wreck diving, try Key Largo, Florida.
-----5.) If you want kelp, a different ocean and set of species, and seal and sea lion action, try California (but cold water with lower viz. and only one hard coral species).
-----6.) If you are physically impaired (e.g.: falls are serious), or like taking it easy, a live-aboard offers a similar dive count, a lot less work (you don’t load and unload trucks, swap tanks, walk in/out over ironshore and rubble, etc…), in a ‘turn key’ simple setup (e.g.: they transport, feed and clean up after you, fill your tank, usually provide a dive guide, etc…). Some land-based operations can get you 4 dives/day (e.g.: Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo and St. Croix Ultimate Blue Water Adventure did for me). If you like a lot of boat diving with the option for shore diving, Curacao or Grand Cayman should serve.
-----7.) Higher End Healthcare Support – Bonaire has a hospital, but if you or a fellow traveler have a serious condition, check what they do and don’t handle. I went to Key Largo in 2013 in part because it was a family trip with our baby daughter; I wanted full service medical care on hand if she got seriously ill.
-----8.) Not much sandy beach – while it’s much larger, more populous, more complex to plan (e.g.: whether to stay at Westpunt or near Williamstad), the sandy beaches, civilized offerings (e.g.: the Sea Aquarium), scenic capital city and other amenities of Curacao deserve consideration. 2 Shots of Sand Dollar Condo.'s beach area, & 1 of the Bachelors Beach dive site.
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-----9.) You want shore diving with topside amenities – food, etc… Most Bonaire dive sites are ‘rustic’ – no rinse showers, snack shacks, etc… Some sites at Curacao and Grand Cayman have amenities (though a fee may be involved, or in G.C. you are to rent tanks at the onsite op. and solo diving may be forbidden).
Scott
