Would someone who has snorkeled with Renee, please explain what is the difference between a 1 stop, 2 stop and unlimited snorkeling? We are trying to envision how the day would work.
Mitchell's

John, A 1 stop would be to snorkel 1 site (of your choise), 2 stop is to swim on a second site. Unlimited snorkel would be to swim at as many sites as you want in a certain time period. Renee knows what she is doing and for sure will give you some great expereances on Bonaires reefs. Money well spent... Ron

Good explanation Ron!

John, Here is a link to some photos from a 1-stop Night snorkel with Renee taken this past May.

http://falls4sale.com/Bonaire/Renee-Night.html

Renee would find the critters and I would photograph them. She is an outstanding guide, affordable, and adapts the stops to your abilities and desires. ..Bill

Aw man, now you've got me all a-jitters again.... I can't wait!!!
We're doing a 3 stop snorkel with Renee in Sept (Patrick T, Timmmy & Angela, Guy & I)!!
Her prices are very affordable!

Thanks for the info everyone....The universal consensus is that Renee is great. I'm sold!!
What I still don't know is HOW LONG (in clock time) is an unlimited snorkel. Two hours? 4 hours? 8 hours?
As well, when your snorkel is concluded does Renee (or a driver)then return you to where you are staying....

If someone can help me with these questions I would appreciate it...

John, Renee will pick you up and drops you back off at the place you are staying. Clock time, I have know idea.

John:

Renee taylors the trips around your interests and capailities. I was one person and on six of the seven trips thatI did with her [3 nite and 4 day] I was the only person [ie private tour]. The other had one other person.

I am 68 years old and my interests were photography and night snorkeling. I did not have a car, so Renee picked me up and dropped me off each trip at the hotel [Dive Inn]

As a first-time wanna-be underwater photographer
I asked Renee to take me to places where I would have lots of photo-opportunities in shallow to very shallow water.

Being 68, I wanted easy entries with minimal risk of breaking something -- leg, arm, or camera.

I wanted to see and photograph a Seahorse and a spotted drum.

I wanted to go to her "Eel Garden."

We did all of the above.

Figure out what you want to do and see and contact her directly.

info@reneesnorkeltrips.com

Here is another photo from that same night snorkel off the Divi.

Hard to imagine Bill Gates without a car (sorry I couldn't resist)

Great photo William - looks like you mastered uw photo just fine

In our correspondence with Renee in setting up our trip in Sept, she states that each stop is approximately 1 hour. I think your suggestion to contact her directly is the best

You will LOVE Renee!! I have been to Bonaire 15 times aNd snorkel with her a lot while there. My husband and I call her ole Eagle Eyes! She sees everything and know where all the little critter live! She has taught us well but we still love going out with her and her prices are very reasonable!!! She has gotten very busy now so it is best to book early via her web site. We also love take pictures and you can see some of them under our trip reports. Darlene and Toms March trip and then the other is Darlene October trip report.

You might also want to do a sail and snorkel on the Woodwind. www.woodwindbonaire.com It is a really great time and you see lots of stuff. On the drift at Kline we always see turtles. We even saw a nurse shark last March! Dee and Ulf do a wonderful job!

Have a blast!!!!! I can't wait till October to do all of the above!!!

We are now booked with Renee for our trip in February. That is a long time to have to wait for such a fabulous adventure, but something to talk endlessly about as the fall and winter season in Canada proceeds.
Jenelle

This is a great example of how valuable this forum is to newbees. Without it we might not learn about Renee. We have three trips scheduled with her for our first time to Bonaire the end of August.

We also snorkeled with Renee. She is definitely fabulous. We are beginners when it comes to snorkel, so she took us to the Divi and the Plaza and showed us a lot of things that we probably wouldn't have spotted before.

Unfortunately I do not recall all the names of the fishes. but we ended up seeing an octopus at divi and an morene at plaza (just after entering the water).

Only very minor remark is that she might have given us some more time. She spent 1hr40 minutes with the four of us (at $30 pp, no family discount), and we expected about 2 hrs.

Still it was a great experience and a lot of fun and we would not have wanted to miss it.

Thanks to BT for making us aware of her. Otherwise we probably would not have gotten this experience.

Today Renee was mentioned in the Journeywoman Newsletter that originates in Toronto.
The website is www.journeywoman.com
Great site for women travelers.
JM

Thanks John:

Here is a link that goes directly to the reference. It took me a few minutes to find it once I got to the journeywoman site

http://www.journeywoman.com/travel101/guides_worldwide2.htm

John,

My snorkel trips with Renee have always been night snorkels and unlimited snorkels. The unlimited trips have been 3 hours on average, either 9 in the morning to around noon, or 2 in the afternoon until around 5. They have all been 3-stop snorkels with drive time in between stops and half hour to 45 minutes in the water.

The night snorkels are usually about an hour to an hour and a half. If you've never snorkeled at night, YOU'VE GOTTA TRY THIS! It has to be seen to be believed.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Amy that was specifically the kind of information I was looking for. We are looking forward to night snorkeling. Have tried it before, but will feel more secure with Renee.
Again, thanks for responding with specifics.

Does Renee provide lights? We don't own any of them.

Dee from the Woodwind also does great night snorkels and she supplies wet suits and lights. WE have done the town pier with her a couple of times and it was wonderful and included seeing seahorses.

CR
You can buy a perfectly adequate light for about $25 at dive shops on Bonaire. Much more reliable than the average light found in most peoples car too.
Mick

Yes, Renee supplies lights. No extra charge.
Bill

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site, but from all that I have read the info can be very helpful.
My wife and I will be in Bonaire in december, arriving on the Emerald Princess. With limited amount of time we would like to book a snorkeling tour with either Renee or Woodwind. We are very experienced snorkelers and we've been to various parts of the caribbean and recently in the south pacific. May we have your opinions as to which tour to book?

It really is a PERSONAL call.

First check to see if either of them is available. Renee often books months ahead. I believe that the Woodwind needs four people signed up to make a trip. That was my experience, but then I was on island for a week in Low Season so that made no difference to me. I'd call Ulf on his cell phone late in the afternoon and they would tell me if they were going out the next morning. Twice delayed, but again that was in May.

The trip on the Woodwind was absolutely super! See photos from my posting earlier in this thread. Also, do a search for Woodwind on BT to see other folks photos. The Woodwind will let you see both Klein [the little island] as well as one of the best of the Northern snorkel sites on Bonaire. It is a Great Trip! and Dee and Ulf are excellent hosts. On the other hand you may be cutting it a bit tight on the back end. They normally, at least on non-cruise days, run on Island time which means if you get back a bit late, it's no big deal. I would want to be sure that they will have you back by 1:15 at the absolute latest.

Renee would probably be one-on-one [IE just you folks]. If you have specific critters you want to see, she can probably take you to see one or more of them Tell her what you want to see, whether you can handle difficult entries, etc. I can't, .. and we didn't. Easy entries for me and mostly shallow water as my primary goal was photographs. Shallow water [10 feet or less] meant both good bright ambient light and thatI could get close-in. In most cases I shot from the surface... often with the camera at arms length below me. Renee is a great guide! I have made seven trips with her [3 at night] and have an eighth scheduled for a one-day visit this November. I plan to book another three-or-four with her next Spring. I also plan to book at least one, maybe two trips on the Woodwind.

It is a tough call. Good Luck and enjoy. I don't think you will disappointed with either choice. Oh, and Welcome to Bonaire Talk!

The Woodwind sails from the Divi which is an near where the ships dock. The Woodwind is a trimaran that does sail and snorkel trips with unlimited drinks and lunch included. It does one stop at Kline where you usually see turtles and then another stop at Andrea, Pietre Pillar or Small Wall. It is a really fun day.www.woodwindbonaire.com I also would suggest doing guided snorkels with Renee from www.reneesnorkeltrips.com. She is incredible and is very reasonably priced. I call her eagle eyes. She find so much and knows where a lot of the little critters live. You could do a 1,2, or three stop snorkel. You can't go wrong with either choice!

Can't give an opinion about Dee, but we did wind up doing a night snorkel with Renee last month. It was quite nice! She's very knowledgable, business-like, yet calm, and quite adept at finding critters and giving you information about them.

Pardon the spelling error!