Hi everyone,
My husband & I are going to Bonaire in July & want to get a underwater camera. In the past we've used the disposable kind & some pics came out great..others didnt. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas what camera & accessories would be good for us...35mm or digital? We dont want to spend more than $500. Thanks for any help.

I would go digital.
Here is an example. Nikon coolpix 3100 is less than $300. Add a fantasea CP-3 housing for around $100. Add some extra memory cards and extra batteries and you have a nice little rig for point and shoot underwater and above. There are many brands to choose from like; Cannon, Sony and Olympus who offer camera/housing packages that will give you good results as long as you are close to the subject. Happy shooting!

I got my wife an Olympus D580 for $190, an Olympus housing for $175, and a 256 mb card for $50. It uses rechargable AA batteries. She is taking great pics with it after just a couple dives. I would recommend the best camera you can afford, then house it to the deepest depth you will dive, plus a little.

Joan has a Canon digital Elph230. For Christmas I bought her a housing for $169.00. She did an outstanding job on our February trip. Take a look at our Sand Dollar Feb 2005 trip report to see her photos. I guess the whole package comes in at around $500.00. You can have the best of both worlds this way.

Here are two she took:

All good recommendations in your price range. As you are a beginner I would also suggest that you ask a photopro, when you are down there, to walk you through the process for preparing the camera in its underwater housing.

Its important to be very methodical. $500.00 is not a lot, unless its for just one dive. At 60+ feet, the pressure on the housing is a lot and if you don't prepare it correctly, the housing can flood.