Scott from LongIsland
Contributor
We have been going to Bonaire for going on 10 years now. I have been meaning to post a review of VIP Diving for a while now as it is well deserved for them. Bas Noij runs a tight ship and the dive shop is one of the most well run businesses around. The review below is taken from my Trip Advisor review and I thought that it might be helpful here as well.
Bonaire diving is always a pleasure but diving with VIP brings things to another level. Safety is of the utmost of importance and dive briefings are always thorough and accurate. I have been diving Bonaire for almost 10 years now and I always dive with the folks at VIP. They also have one of the cleanest compressors I have seen and it sounds like Nitrox is now available.
One of the best things about diving with VIP is the personal care that seems to come naturally from all of the folks there. It does not come off as forced or as a money grab as many places do. It is quite obvious that all who work there love their job and everyone seems to get along quite nicely. There is always an effort to change up the dive sites or to track down certain things (ie. frogfish) that you want to see. Whether it is diving on the East Side with a more challenging entry or strolling in through the sand, going with VIP makes things a real treat and far better than going unguided. They always know the best entry points and what sites to dive or not dive due to weather conditions. Want to see a frogfish? No problem, done. I recall one dive where Bob said he was going to try to show us, not 1 but 3 seahorses. Lo and behold...3 freaking seahorses on one dive!
I have had the pleasure to dive with Bas, Bob and Mirjam and had a wonderful time diving with each of them. All 3 have well trained/conditioned eyes that will most definitely catch stuff that you would most likely miss.
We ended the last dive of the trip by swimming with a massive Loggerhead turtle. What a treat!
I can't imagine a more well run dive shop than VIP divers and I very highly recommend them to any visitors traveling to Bonaire.
Bonaire diving is always a pleasure but diving with VIP brings things to another level. Safety is of the utmost of importance and dive briefings are always thorough and accurate. I have been diving Bonaire for almost 10 years now and I always dive with the folks at VIP. They also have one of the cleanest compressors I have seen and it sounds like Nitrox is now available.
One of the best things about diving with VIP is the personal care that seems to come naturally from all of the folks there. It does not come off as forced or as a money grab as many places do. It is quite obvious that all who work there love their job and everyone seems to get along quite nicely. There is always an effort to change up the dive sites or to track down certain things (ie. frogfish) that you want to see. Whether it is diving on the East Side with a more challenging entry or strolling in through the sand, going with VIP makes things a real treat and far better than going unguided. They always know the best entry points and what sites to dive or not dive due to weather conditions. Want to see a frogfish? No problem, done. I recall one dive where Bob said he was going to try to show us, not 1 but 3 seahorses. Lo and behold...3 freaking seahorses on one dive!
I have had the pleasure to dive with Bas, Bob and Mirjam and had a wonderful time diving with each of them. All 3 have well trained/conditioned eyes that will most definitely catch stuff that you would most likely miss.
We ended the last dive of the trip by swimming with a massive Loggerhead turtle. What a treat!
I can't imagine a more well run dive shop than VIP divers and I very highly recommend them to any visitors traveling to Bonaire.
