Saltwater Junky
Contributor
Would love to dive both. My dive buddy stayed on the West end of Roatan and fell in love with the island. He bought a house on Roatan and is moving there later this year.
Roatan vs. Bonaire
- Thread starter Herk_Man
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fairybasslet
Contributor
Our truck was ransacked at Oil Slick Leap. Only thing they stole was my son's dive light and they could have stolen other stuff too, but didn't. Not even the jack for the rental truck. We never bothered with calling the police.
Don't ask me why my son didn't listen to me and leave his dive bag in the locker. I don't leave anything in the truck on a shore dive. Other friends with us left glasses, towels & sandals but that stuff was left. I've heard that people steal that stuff too. That's one thing I really don't like about Bonaire. Also, I heard that Buddy's was broken into and I think at Capt. Don's, someone broke into a room when the guests were in there.I loved diving at CCV. I thought the reefs were more lush in Roatan than Bonaire. I may be wrong but it seemed to me that there were less fish in Bonaire this past December than when I was there two years ago.
lmorin
Contributor
It's not really fair to compare "Roatan" to "Bonaire" or to "Curacao" without more specifics. As Doc is always telling us, the north side of Roatan does not offer what the south side does, and CCV in particular. Nor are the dive sites around Willemstedt the same as the sites further west on Curacao. Personally, I feel the diving off the Curacao west end is as good or better than most of the diving I have done in 3 trips to Bonaire. CCV, as a resort, offers an ease of diving that beats anything on Bonaire, IMHO, but it is also not replicated elsewhere on Roatan. I also have the same sense as FairyBasslet that water water quality off Bonaire has deteriorated in the last few years.
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
I have been to Both and hope these comments help. I enjoy both places for different reasons.
Bonaire - You are on your own. Plan when, where, what or don't plan just do what you want when you want. Reseraunts good but sometimes slow and pricey. Diving Just awesome!
I have been to Bonaire 3 times trip
1. Buddy's - Big resort hotel operation ok nothing special desk not very friendly SLOW. Great Breakfast other meals not so much. The Dive op really good! Professional Dive factory!
2. Wanadive hut - Staff very friendly! (not staffed 24 hours) They where installing hot water 2 years ago when we were there if you like tent camping the hut is good for you. Dive op located in another location kind of a pain. It was very reasonable for price diving/hotel. Not on the water.
3. Bruce's Carib Inn - Great hotel small staff friendly. Dive op great gotta preplan tanks and get them back and filled before 5 for night dive. No food onsite but, walking distance to some Great resetaunts.
So 3 trips to Bonaire 3 totally different experiences due to where we stayed. None bad just different.
Roatan - 1 trip CocoVew - Scuba Camp for adults! Complete strangers on Saturday afternoon great friends by wednesday! Nothing to plan or arrange just move your tag and get on the boat the horn blows the boat leaves in ??? minutes. Meals are like eating at someones house. Seem like home cooked. Dive op was great one of the most caring DM's I have ever dove with (took a new diver with problems under her wing for the week). Diving was ok you might want to be careful of rainy season we where there in Oct and had a tropical storm rained all week! I will go back though.
Bonaire - You are on your own. Plan when, where, what or don't plan just do what you want when you want. Reseraunts good but sometimes slow and pricey. Diving Just awesome!
I have been to Bonaire 3 times trip
1. Buddy's - Big resort hotel operation ok nothing special desk not very friendly SLOW. Great Breakfast other meals not so much. The Dive op really good! Professional Dive factory!
2. Wanadive hut - Staff very friendly! (not staffed 24 hours) They where installing hot water 2 years ago when we were there if you like tent camping the hut is good for you. Dive op located in another location kind of a pain. It was very reasonable for price diving/hotel. Not on the water.
3. Bruce's Carib Inn - Great hotel small staff friendly. Dive op great gotta preplan tanks and get them back and filled before 5 for night dive. No food onsite but, walking distance to some Great resetaunts.
So 3 trips to Bonaire 3 totally different experiences due to where we stayed. None bad just different.
Roatan - 1 trip CocoVew - Scuba Camp for adults! Complete strangers on Saturday afternoon great friends by wednesday! Nothing to plan or arrange just move your tag and get on the boat the horn blows the boat leaves in ??? minutes. Meals are like eating at someones house. Seem like home cooked. Dive op was great one of the most caring DM's I have ever dove with (took a new diver with problems under her wing for the week). Diving was ok you might want to be careful of rainy season we where there in Oct and had a tropical storm rained all week! I will go back though.
fairybasslet
Contributor
lmorin
Contributor
Yes. I just loved the diving from Sunset Waters westward. Did not get to do Watamula. Next time!
ScubaIVS
Registered
I have been to both Roatan and Bonaire. I am going on my second trip to Bonaire in June with a group of 35 divers all signed up through Indian Valley Scuba Indian Valley Scuba. I concur with the threads posted here that Bonaire has great diving and the option to dive at your leisure driving around the island is a huge plus. We had no problem with crime or theft on our last trip. As a matter of fact we bonded with some locals for a dinner way off the beaten path at a family house. Check out our trip on the website $650 for the week!
fairybasslet
Contributor
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I'll add my comments which, interestingly, I just posted earlier this morning on another board in response to a similar question.
For reference I've been to Roatan once (CocoView, like so many others here) ... and Bonaire four times (Cap't Don's twice, Buddy, and the Plaza Resort). For the Roatan comparison, I am only speaking about CocoView, which is on the south end of the island. I have no experience on the north end (Anthony's Key Resort, etc).
Both CocoView and Bonaire will offer you dive-till-you-drop opportunities ... neither will offer you much in the way of non-diving amenities.
Bonaire will offer you more diversity in dive sites, since the whole island is basically one big shore dive site. When you land at the airport you rent a pickup truck with tank racks in the back. Depending on your tastes, you never have to get on a boat if you don't want to ... there's about 60 dive sites that are easy access from shore. They offer a diversity of landscape and sea life, depending on whether you go north or south.
CocoView is situated in a lagoon. Both sides of the lagoon are killer walls. There's a 145-foot ship sunk in fairly shallow water in between, as well as an old DC-3 airplane. You can dive these sites anytime you please. Most of the best sites in south Roatan (where CocoView is located) are accessed by boat. When you arrive you are assigned to one of their four boats. It's yours all week. The boat goes out twice a day ... plus at least once a week for a night dive. You can choose ... or not ... to be on it. If you go on the boat and choose to bring an extra tank, they'll drop you on one of the walls on the way in, and you can dive back to the resort. You'll hit one wall after the morning dive and another one after the afternoon dive. Both walls are awesome to dive this way ... and I promise you won't get bored doing it every day for a week.
Night diving on the walls is incredible.
If you choose Bonaire, most resorts only include breakfast. You're on your own for lunch and dinners.
If you choose CocovView, everything's included. You can lock your wallet in the safe once you arrive ... you won't need it again unless you decide to purchase souvenirs.
If you choose Bonaire, you can take your meals whenever you like. If you choose CocoView, meals are all buffet style ... they are always good and plentiful, but you need to be there during set hours for meal time.
In Bonaire you'll have to choose either diving exclusively at the resort or renting a truck. Which you choose will determine what resorts you want to stay at. Of the three I've stayed at ... Captain Don's Habitat, Buddy Dive, and the Plaza, I'd recommend the Plaza. But if having a house reef on your doorstep isn't important, I'd also look into Golden Reef Inn.
At CocoView there's no need to leave the resort ... nor much reason to.
In Bonaire if you want a beach you have to stay at the Plaza ... which imported its own sand to create one. If you stay at CocoView, there's a beach right at the resort.
Both places will offer you plentiful amounts of undersea life with healthy reefs and tons of photo opportunities.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
For reference I've been to Roatan once (CocoView, like so many others here) ... and Bonaire four times (Cap't Don's twice, Buddy, and the Plaza Resort). For the Roatan comparison, I am only speaking about CocoView, which is on the south end of the island. I have no experience on the north end (Anthony's Key Resort, etc).
Both CocoView and Bonaire will offer you dive-till-you-drop opportunities ... neither will offer you much in the way of non-diving amenities.
Bonaire will offer you more diversity in dive sites, since the whole island is basically one big shore dive site. When you land at the airport you rent a pickup truck with tank racks in the back. Depending on your tastes, you never have to get on a boat if you don't want to ... there's about 60 dive sites that are easy access from shore. They offer a diversity of landscape and sea life, depending on whether you go north or south.
CocoView is situated in a lagoon. Both sides of the lagoon are killer walls. There's a 145-foot ship sunk in fairly shallow water in between, as well as an old DC-3 airplane. You can dive these sites anytime you please. Most of the best sites in south Roatan (where CocoView is located) are accessed by boat. When you arrive you are assigned to one of their four boats. It's yours all week. The boat goes out twice a day ... plus at least once a week for a night dive. You can choose ... or not ... to be on it. If you go on the boat and choose to bring an extra tank, they'll drop you on one of the walls on the way in, and you can dive back to the resort. You'll hit one wall after the morning dive and another one after the afternoon dive. Both walls are awesome to dive this way ... and I promise you won't get bored doing it every day for a week.
Night diving on the walls is incredible.
If you choose Bonaire, most resorts only include breakfast. You're on your own for lunch and dinners.
If you choose CocovView, everything's included. You can lock your wallet in the safe once you arrive ... you won't need it again unless you decide to purchase souvenirs.
If you choose Bonaire, you can take your meals whenever you like. If you choose CocoView, meals are all buffet style ... they are always good and plentiful, but you need to be there during set hours for meal time.
In Bonaire you'll have to choose either diving exclusively at the resort or renting a truck. Which you choose will determine what resorts you want to stay at. Of the three I've stayed at ... Captain Don's Habitat, Buddy Dive, and the Plaza, I'd recommend the Plaza. But if having a house reef on your doorstep isn't important, I'd also look into Golden Reef Inn.
At CocoView there's no need to leave the resort ... nor much reason to.
In Bonaire if you want a beach you have to stay at the Plaza ... which imported its own sand to create one. If you stay at CocoView, there's a beach right at the resort.
Both places will offer you plentiful amounts of undersea life with healthy reefs and tons of photo opportunities.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
OP
Herk_Man
Contributor
I too just returned from Bonaire and we followed the sage advice of those preceding us by leaving cars unlocked and windows down with no valuables inside. We had zero problems and I heard of no problems from anyone else while we were there. Having dove all over the world, this is not unique to Bonaire in the least. It seems that diving locations tend to be located close to impoverished areas in almost all cases. So I don't think I would use that as a qualifier. Beyond the petty theft from cars, the crime in Bonaire is almost non-existent so if all that you really have to worry about is losing some things, and not getting mugged, then I'd say you're in pretty good shape there.
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