CapsFan22
Registered
My fiance and I just returned from our first trip to Bonaire. It was actually our first trip dedicated to diving, as we are fairly new divers (21 dives prior to the trip).
We flew Delta out of Dulles International in the D.C. area, and had a layover in Atlanta before flying to the island. Of course, our second flight was delayed by about 3 hours, so our plans of getting the Marine Park orientation and first dive out of the way on day one did not work out. While in Atlanta, I emailed our hotel, Den Laman, to let them know we would be arriving after their front office closed. They quickly replied saying it wouldn't be a problem and someone would be there waiting for us.
We arrived in Bonaire around 5:30 PM on July 1st, got through customs in a flash, picked up the rental truck, and were at the hotel by 6:30 PM.
Hotel & Dive Operation - Den Laman & Dive Friends Bonaire
We loved the hotel and dive operation. Den Laman's staff was excellent, from front office to cleaning. They were always super helpful, when needed. I had purchased the truck rental and full-insurance through Den Laman, but AVIS gave me some problems regarding the insurance when I picked up the truck. They told me I didn't have insurance, even though I had a voucher saying I did. I ended up buying a lower level of insurance through them at the airport, but the next day went to Den Laman's front office and the lady working the desk had it resolved in minutes.
Our room was exactly what we were looking for. We stayed in the Studio - Island View on the second floor of the hotel. It had a full kitchen (sans oven), a decent sized balcony overlooking the parking lot, and all the other basics we wanted (bed, sitting area, etc.). All we needed was a place to sleep, cook, and for my fiance to be able to work remotely. The room fulfilled all of those needs.
Breeze 'N Bites is the onsite restaurant. We weren't all that impressed with it. We did not do the breakfast package because we would be cooking or going to Between 2 Buns (triple decker Breakfast Tosti's and Cafe Caramel's are amazing!), so I can't comment on the quality of their breakfast, but the other two meals we had there were very average, at best.
Having Dive Friends Bonaire on site was amazing! The operation felt like it was a part of Den Laman, even though it's a separate entity. The ease of getting tanks, diving off their pier at Bari Reef, rinsing gear post-dive in their dunk tanks (both on the pier and next to the shop), and storing gear in their locker was priceless. The staff at our location was excellent as well. They were all very friendly and helpful.
We took our Enriched Air class through Dive Friends, and I thought the instruction was excellent. Our instructor was Guus. He was a much better instructor than I had for my OW and AOW courses. The cost of their Enriched Air course was also $70 cheaper than I could find locally in Virginia.
My fiance and I, multiple times throughout our week there, said we saw no reason to change to another hotel/operation next time we are in Bonaire. We really loved our time at Den Laman.
Diving
Our diving experiences are very limited, being such new divers. We have only dived locally in Virginia quarries and during a vacation in Hawaii. This was our first diving vacation versus vacation that include diving (Hawaii). Through 5 days, we ended up with 16 dives (one being only 8 minutes long, but it was a very eventful 8 minutes, so I'm counting it
) and a little over 12 hours of underwater time. This, as stated, is an exponential increase in the amount of diving we are used to.
It had rained pretty hard the day we arrived, and I think it rained one more time overnight midweek. As such, the locals we ran into said the visibility was suffering, but being used to 15-20 feet or less in our quarries, we thought the visibility was excellent. There were a few dives that were a little murky, but that was only when looking out into the blue or way off into the distance down a reef. Within 30-40 feet was clear as could be.
So the diving is amazing. This is nothing new to anyone that's been there or read about it. I think it's a bit unfair to label certain sites better than others because I think our best dives were more dependent on timing rather than location. For example, there is another recent thread about a Manta Ray at Something Special. I also heard while on island that it was swooping in and out of an OW class at Yellow Submarine (right next to Something Special). We dove Yellow Submarine, and really enjoyed the dive. If we had seen the Manta Ray that dive would have been amazing, but not seeing it doesn't make Yellow Submarine a worse site than others.
We used "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy" and it made navigating the parking, entry, and diving pretty simple. We picked sites with relatively easy entries, having no trouble at all getting in and out.
The following were some of our favorite dives:
1) By far, the best dive we had was at Margate Bay, in the south. We really wanted to see the Ostracods, and Guus (our Nitrox instructor) recommended Margate Bay due to being away from above-water lights. We did a short dive during daylight to scout the area and pick a spot that would be easy to locate in darkness; a small patch of sand between the coral at 43 feet. Per Guus' recommendation, we entered, descended, and made our way to the scouted site about 30 minutes after sunset without our lights on so that our eyes could adjust to the darkness quicker. It really worked well! Once it was dark, even without lights, we both could still see pretty well. After about 10 minutes of waiting in the darkness over our spot, little blue lights started popping up. Over a period of about 20 minutes they slowly increased in number, and by about minute 15 it seemed like there were hundreds of them all around us. It was like looking at a very starry night that would disappear and then reappear over and over. Absolutely the coolest thing I have seen under water so far. On the way back to the entry, we turned on our lights and stayed between 10 and 20 feet. This also ended up being really cool, as we saw a Stingray foraging in the sand and a GIANT Spiny Lobster walking about. Just such a cool dive.
2) We thoroughly enjoyed our dive at The Invisibles, another southern site. It was less about all of the amazing things we saw, and more about how we both felt this was our best "feeling" dive. Buoyancy, trim, air consumption, etc. all felt the best they had all week. This was our first (and only) experience diving the double reef all week, as well. One of my favorite parts of this dive was the literally never ending river of blue fish (I think Chromis or Tangs, not entirely sure) that swam under us nearly the entire dive on the first reef. It was incredible. I remember watching the stream of them pass us by for about 30 seconds before looking at something else, and then looking back about 10 minutes later and still seeing them go. Wild!
3) A sunset dive at Andrea I was also very memorable. The reef was so incredibly active at this time. I've seen Green Moray eels before, but the one I saw on this dive was exponentially larger than any others. It was as thick as a tree trunk, and at least 4 feet long that I could see, with only part of it out of its hole. I have no idea the full length, but it looked huge.
4) We did multiple dives at Bari Reef, with most of them coming at night, just due to the sheer simplicity of diving off the pier outside our hotel. At each night dive we had the same three large Tarpon follow us the entire time. It was amazing to shine our lights directly beneath us and have them swim right under our noses.
I could go on and on about all the dives and all of the cool things we saw, big and small. I think it just shows that Bonaire is an amazing place to dive, regardless of the site. The freedom of being able to grab tanks, throw them in your truck, and go wherever you please, whenever you please, is hard to beat.
We flew Delta out of Dulles International in the D.C. area, and had a layover in Atlanta before flying to the island. Of course, our second flight was delayed by about 3 hours, so our plans of getting the Marine Park orientation and first dive out of the way on day one did not work out. While in Atlanta, I emailed our hotel, Den Laman, to let them know we would be arriving after their front office closed. They quickly replied saying it wouldn't be a problem and someone would be there waiting for us.
We arrived in Bonaire around 5:30 PM on July 1st, got through customs in a flash, picked up the rental truck, and were at the hotel by 6:30 PM.
Hotel & Dive Operation - Den Laman & Dive Friends Bonaire
We loved the hotel and dive operation. Den Laman's staff was excellent, from front office to cleaning. They were always super helpful, when needed. I had purchased the truck rental and full-insurance through Den Laman, but AVIS gave me some problems regarding the insurance when I picked up the truck. They told me I didn't have insurance, even though I had a voucher saying I did. I ended up buying a lower level of insurance through them at the airport, but the next day went to Den Laman's front office and the lady working the desk had it resolved in minutes.
Our room was exactly what we were looking for. We stayed in the Studio - Island View on the second floor of the hotel. It had a full kitchen (sans oven), a decent sized balcony overlooking the parking lot, and all the other basics we wanted (bed, sitting area, etc.). All we needed was a place to sleep, cook, and for my fiance to be able to work remotely. The room fulfilled all of those needs.
Breeze 'N Bites is the onsite restaurant. We weren't all that impressed with it. We did not do the breakfast package because we would be cooking or going to Between 2 Buns (triple decker Breakfast Tosti's and Cafe Caramel's are amazing!), so I can't comment on the quality of their breakfast, but the other two meals we had there were very average, at best.
Having Dive Friends Bonaire on site was amazing! The operation felt like it was a part of Den Laman, even though it's a separate entity. The ease of getting tanks, diving off their pier at Bari Reef, rinsing gear post-dive in their dunk tanks (both on the pier and next to the shop), and storing gear in their locker was priceless. The staff at our location was excellent as well. They were all very friendly and helpful.
We took our Enriched Air class through Dive Friends, and I thought the instruction was excellent. Our instructor was Guus. He was a much better instructor than I had for my OW and AOW courses. The cost of their Enriched Air course was also $70 cheaper than I could find locally in Virginia.
My fiance and I, multiple times throughout our week there, said we saw no reason to change to another hotel/operation next time we are in Bonaire. We really loved our time at Den Laman.
Diving
Our diving experiences are very limited, being such new divers. We have only dived locally in Virginia quarries and during a vacation in Hawaii. This was our first diving vacation versus vacation that include diving (Hawaii). Through 5 days, we ended up with 16 dives (one being only 8 minutes long, but it was a very eventful 8 minutes, so I'm counting it
) and a little over 12 hours of underwater time. This, as stated, is an exponential increase in the amount of diving we are used to. It had rained pretty hard the day we arrived, and I think it rained one more time overnight midweek. As such, the locals we ran into said the visibility was suffering, but being used to 15-20 feet or less in our quarries, we thought the visibility was excellent. There were a few dives that were a little murky, but that was only when looking out into the blue or way off into the distance down a reef. Within 30-40 feet was clear as could be.
So the diving is amazing. This is nothing new to anyone that's been there or read about it. I think it's a bit unfair to label certain sites better than others because I think our best dives were more dependent on timing rather than location. For example, there is another recent thread about a Manta Ray at Something Special. I also heard while on island that it was swooping in and out of an OW class at Yellow Submarine (right next to Something Special). We dove Yellow Submarine, and really enjoyed the dive. If we had seen the Manta Ray that dive would have been amazing, but not seeing it doesn't make Yellow Submarine a worse site than others.
We used "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy" and it made navigating the parking, entry, and diving pretty simple. We picked sites with relatively easy entries, having no trouble at all getting in and out.
The following were some of our favorite dives:
1) By far, the best dive we had was at Margate Bay, in the south. We really wanted to see the Ostracods, and Guus (our Nitrox instructor) recommended Margate Bay due to being away from above-water lights. We did a short dive during daylight to scout the area and pick a spot that would be easy to locate in darkness; a small patch of sand between the coral at 43 feet. Per Guus' recommendation, we entered, descended, and made our way to the scouted site about 30 minutes after sunset without our lights on so that our eyes could adjust to the darkness quicker. It really worked well! Once it was dark, even without lights, we both could still see pretty well. After about 10 minutes of waiting in the darkness over our spot, little blue lights started popping up. Over a period of about 20 minutes they slowly increased in number, and by about minute 15 it seemed like there were hundreds of them all around us. It was like looking at a very starry night that would disappear and then reappear over and over. Absolutely the coolest thing I have seen under water so far. On the way back to the entry, we turned on our lights and stayed between 10 and 20 feet. This also ended up being really cool, as we saw a Stingray foraging in the sand and a GIANT Spiny Lobster walking about. Just such a cool dive.
2) We thoroughly enjoyed our dive at The Invisibles, another southern site. It was less about all of the amazing things we saw, and more about how we both felt this was our best "feeling" dive. Buoyancy, trim, air consumption, etc. all felt the best they had all week. This was our first (and only) experience diving the double reef all week, as well. One of my favorite parts of this dive was the literally never ending river of blue fish (I think Chromis or Tangs, not entirely sure) that swam under us nearly the entire dive on the first reef. It was incredible. I remember watching the stream of them pass us by for about 30 seconds before looking at something else, and then looking back about 10 minutes later and still seeing them go. Wild!
3) A sunset dive at Andrea I was also very memorable. The reef was so incredibly active at this time. I've seen Green Moray eels before, but the one I saw on this dive was exponentially larger than any others. It was as thick as a tree trunk, and at least 4 feet long that I could see, with only part of it out of its hole. I have no idea the full length, but it looked huge.
4) We did multiple dives at Bari Reef, with most of them coming at night, just due to the sheer simplicity of diving off the pier outside our hotel. At each night dive we had the same three large Tarpon follow us the entire time. It was amazing to shine our lights directly beneath us and have them swim right under our noses.
I could go on and on about all the dives and all of the cool things we saw, big and small. I think it just shows that Bonaire is an amazing place to dive, regardless of the site. The freedom of being able to grab tanks, throw them in your truck, and go wherever you please, whenever you please, is hard to beat.
