Hi All,

I am planning my first trip to Bonaire with my wife in february and I am glad I found this great site.

My wife and me just got our Open Water certificate about a year ago, needless to say, we are beginners. That's what attracted me to Bonaire, I've heard it's very nice for beginners.

I might have found an apartment in the Hato area. Can anyone tell me a little more about the area? Would we need to rent a car? Are there dive shops, restaurants? Is it congested? I've been looking for detailed street maps of Bonaire online but to no avail.

Also, I am looking at getting there with Air Jamaica through Curacao and since the layover in Curacao is 4 hours I am tempted to make a stop over there. Does anyone have any suggestions for a short relaxing stop in Curacao (no diving)? is it worth it, or should I just get to Bonaire.

Thank you,

Marco

hi marco, welcome to bt. you'll love bonaire. hato is a nice neighborhood north of town. i would recommend a car. you will be about a 5-10 minute drive to town. no place on bonaire is congested, especially compared to the states or even aruba. there are restaurants and dive shops there and close by.

friends stayed at our place last year...we live at lighthouse beach resort, south of town...they used buddy dive to rent snorkel equipment. buddy dive is a good operation but i wouldn't have recommended it to them because there are closer places. still, they didn't think it was a big deal to drive that far.

being new divers, you might not be doing a lot of shore diving but a car is still good for going to dinner and for sightseeing.

what dates will you be there. we'll be arriving on feb. 8 and will be at dinner at gibi's on feb. 21. maybe we'll see you

Hi Pat,

Our tentative dates are 2/23 until 3/7. Again, I'm not sure if we'll make a stop in Curacao. Interesting what you say about the shore dives, I would have thought the opposite. I guess I am really a novice!

Marco, are you renting from an apartment complex? Often they will have a dive op they work with that will drop tanks off for you. Divers Paradise uses Buddy's for example. If not, you have a lot of choices for dive ops. Wannadive is also good (drive up and swap tanks) easily as well.

Get the book, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. It is great, and for beginner/novice divers there are a lot of shore dives that are good for beginners (don't you think so Pat?). Maybe take a few dives at the house reef of whatever dive op you go with, a couple boat dives to get your feet wet and then you are on your way. Navigation is fairly easy if you have used a compass before.

Marco, when we were new divers we found Bonaire to be perfect -- and it still is now that we are not so new! We would swim to the marker buoy, take a heading, drop down and note the depth of the cement block and then swim into the current if there was one. We were very careful to turn at half a tank and make our way back to the marker and then head in. Gave us lots of confidence to develop our skills.

My husband and I do business in Curacao each summer and tie it into a stay in Bonaire. The two islands are very different -- Bonaire is much quieter. We usually spend three days in Curacao but have never taken our dive gear. We are always glad to get home to Bonaire even though we enjoy the people, the food and the hotel we stay at in Curacao -- I just miss the diving in Bonaire too much!

If you are interested in the book that Cynde mentions you can contact me through this board as I handle the mailings for the author who just happens to be my best friend!

Susan, thanks for the much better explanation of how to navigate from the shore ;-) I also like to take a compass heading facing the shore once I get in, and when I'm heading back, look for my marker and check my compass and I'm USUALLY pretty close ;-) Now Tom, he's the "Master Kaudi Navigator." ;-)

Susan how long does it take for the book to get to your address after you receive payment. Thanks for the info.

Patrick, when I get home from work my mail is usually here so I get the book ready to mail out the following day. The rest is up to the USPS! Often folks get it before I even cash the check -- so far no trouble with bounced checks from BTers! BTW -- yours is going out in the mail this morning!

yes, there are shore dives that are good for beginners. it all depends on the wave conditions. i remember our first attempt at shore diving years ago...we got pummelled by waves during our exit. and looking back, i don't think it was really that rough, i think it was just the fact that we were novice divers and not used to walking out of the water with all that gear on.
last month neither of us had a problem but last winter on days when the waves were a little higher, mary would stay out in the water while i'd exit, get my gear off, and come back in to help her out.

ok...another mary story (she's not on these boards as often as i am so i can tell stories like this one and the scorpionfish one and she'll probably never know) a few years ago i was helping her out of the water during a period of moderate surf. i saw a pretty large wave coming in and warned her by saying "wave". she thought it might be a dive boat from the carib inn going by and that i wanted her to wave at it. she turned around to wave and got flattened by the wave i was warning her about. it's one of those things she laughs about now...but not then.

i'd strongly recommend buying the "bonaire shore diving made easy" book and getting suggestions from that. you'll find sites like oil slick, fish hut, and andrea I and II that are pretty easy for novices to do as shore dives.

Thanks Susan: I have a group going down on the 9th of nov. just wanted to make sure it arrives in time.

Pat...LMAO...again, I had the visual of Mary turning around "waving" and getting pummeled...omg...that is just something I would do (thus why I think it's so funny). Oh, BTW, I'm emailing Mary now and pointing her to this thread (not really)...keep the stories coming...kind of like my Michael stories (I don't THINK he's lurking?) LOL!

When we dove Salt Pier this time, it was pretty easy getting in. When we were getting out the surf and SURGE had picked up quite a bit. We were in the shallows taking our fins off gabbing away about the dive. Tom c. was on the shore signalling to us, we thought he was "saying hi"...he was trying to warn us of what was rolling in behind us...a pretty good set...well, it got Marcia, Babs, and I...Babs got rolled, I managed to drop to my knees and get back up. The set was pretty strong and the surge was about 8 feet going in and out and STRONG. It's hard sometimes to keep your footing when it's on the coral rubble and rock shelf...I think Tom was giggling (that we were OK)...LOL! WAVE!

If you drop in a sandy area, just crawl out (been there done that)...just try to avoid the humiliation of crawling out covered in scuba gear, sand, etc. and have a gorgeous topless woman walking toward you in the water...talk about feeling like a FRUMP! LOL!

when we made our first, clumsy exit on our first ever shore dive on bonaire i think we were at punt vierkant. we did come crawling out covered in sand (no seaweed) and fortunately did not have anybody (topless, gorgeous, or otherwise) walking toward us. i think there was a guy farther down the shoreline who started to head in our direction to save us but we managed to crawl onto dry land in time.

Pat, thank goodness you did not have to suffer the humiliation of having a Godess walking toward you wilst you were covered in sand...crawling on your hands and knees....making an "ungraceful" beach exit...LOL!

Cynde, mums the word on the Master KADUI Navigator skills:-{|} I don't have time to run another course right now;-{)}

the sight of a goddess like you're describing might have made the humiliation worthwhile. i guess i'll never know.

My advice is just get to Bonaire. LOL There is some better shopping in Curacao, but not sure you are into that. The water clarity is not as good as Bonaire IMHO, but that may differ depending on what time of year you go. I went in February and it was not that clear and had these little biting bugs all over as soon as you hit the water no matter where you entered on the island. That was enough for me., The Sea Aquarium is nice to visit and the shopping is all I think it has to offer if looking for ideas to give the time between flights.

Pat, ask Kelly, she was there too...for a guy, it would have made the humiliation worthwhile...for me...just made me feel like a neoprene salt waterlogged sand covered oompa lumpa...LOL!

Oh, Tom...mums the word on the MKN...LOL!

Pat and Cynde, Don't you just hate that when that happens? You guys are too much! LOL Pat, I make hubby help me out when the surf changes when we are diving or I just mays as well crawl and save myself from getting knocked down! Most of the time, I am still in the water, putting one foot in front of the other, while hubby is already on shore waiting patiently for me and asking me over and over "Are you alright?" I try so hard to be self sufficient, but sometimes it sure backfires. I wear a full diveskin now to save my knees if I fall, still hurts, but not so much damage. I did find out by falling right at the shoreline that there is teams of sealife in the little puddles that washes up on shore, I have seen tiny baby eels and tiny Sarges. My youngest son,Brandon has used his face mask to capture them and take them to deeper water.

I was there, and I hereby attest that Cynde speaketh the truth.

And Pat, that story about the wave... omg... dude that is funny stuff right there !!! LOL !!

it was funny to me at the time...and she's laughing now. i'm yelling "WAVE!!!!" so she turns around and starts waving and took about a 4' wave right in her face. i'll have to ask her what site that was at. she has talked about being at ole blue and getting knocked down and rolled around like an upside down turtle but i'm not sure that was the same time...and you guys have to forget all this stuff by february. Promise???

Promise Pat (fingers crossed behind my back) ;-)

Yeah, Pat, I promise too! LOL Remember I do take a stroll from my house to your house from time to time in February to shoot the breeze with Mary! But, don't worry, your stories are safe with me!

Marco,
We are relatively new divers, and shore diving on Bonaire has boosted our confidence. You can take your time, check and recheck. Go out with a divemaster at least once, to increase your comfort level. We also stay in Hato. Photo Tours Divers is located there. Cliff divesite is right there, and Andrea I and II are nearby and easy entry. Windsock is sandy beach and easy entry as well. The book should be very helpful. Enjoy.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. Now I can't wait to get to Bonaire. I've never travelled to an island where people were so enthusiastic about it. I still haven't made up my mind about Curacao. We really wouldn't dive but since we are going to pass through and it would save us a 4 hour wait at the airport, we might stop and chill for a couple of days before getting to Bonaire and start diving. How is everyone's experience with BonairExpress? Is it easy to find seats or does it need to be booked a few months in advance?

I will definitely try to get that book!

Thanks,

Marco

Marco, if you are planning to use BE between Curacao and Bonaire you should certainly try to get a reservation otherwise you may not get on a flight that you want. We have used BE between Bonaire and Curacao for business and have had very good luck. When we did BE between Aruba and Bonaire we had huge delays in both directions -- but that can happen anywhere. Another option between Curacao and Bonaire is Divi Air. They fly 7-9 seaters and are very reliable. If you decide to make a stop on Curacao you can email me for suggestions if you would like.

Back when me and Pam were hitch hiking on trains, there was this one day we were enjoying our view from the top of the coal car and I happened to look up and noticed a low overpass approaching. I hollered, "Duck" and she jumped up and said, "Where".

Marco,

You'll love Bonaire. Well, I hope you will...we do and we've sent friends who loved it too. As for Curacao, we combined a trip to Bonaire in February with our first trip to Curacao. We enjoyed Curacao, but I wouldn't say it's a must. We stayed at the Kura Hulanda (which is actually not where we booked, but some heavier than average rain had knocked out the hotel we were originally booked at). It was a very interesting property, it's a restored/rebuilt part of town that's part hotel and part museum. I think it's on the high end of the in-town hotels and there are also hotels outside of town on the beaches.

Anyway, the real point I wanted to make was that we actually enjoyed the diving in Curacao a lot. One of the key reasons for that was our great discovery of The Dive Bus, Curacao. They are a fairly new operation that does exclusively shore diving. We went out with them a couple of days...one day just the two of us, one day just four of us. They're great to dive with and great to hang with during your surface interval. You can check out their website at www.the-dive-bus.com. Suzy and Mark can also help you figure out accommodations, etc. It sounds like you're going to be down there for about 2 weeks, so you might want to give Curacao a shot for a few nights.

Hope that helps.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the tips. As far as Curacao goes, I still haven't made up my mind. On one hand I would just like to go to one place for 12 days and enjoy it. On the other hand having the opportunity to see another island at no extra airfare cost seems like something worth doing. That's why I was asking here if it's worth doing or just forget about it.
I must add that I wouldn't want to do any diving in Curacao since we would be doing plenty of that in Bonaire. I was thinking 2 or 3 days on a nice but not too expensive beach would be nice, especially since it seems that beaches in Bonaire are not plentiful.

Marco

Marco, My husband and I spent a week in Bonaire and 4 nights in Curacao for our honeymoon. I have to say we were very disappointed in Curacao, and thought that it was tacky, dirty, and a tourist trap. Those huge cruise ships are always docked in the harbor. We were sorry we ever left Bonaire, and will not visit Curacao again.

Having said that, the place we stayed, Kura Hulanda, was just a beautiful hotel- it is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is expensive, though, and we found little else to enjoy on the island.

Just my two cents.

We've been to Curacao once, in 10 trips to Bonaire. There is some fascinating history. Peter Stuyvesant was the Governor of Curacao before he moved on to Nieuw Amsterdam. The oldest synagogue in the Western hemisphere is on Curacao, and has a fascinating museum. There are some good restaurants. We drove all over the island and found some beautiful isolated beaches at the far end of the Island near Habitat. We may return someday but giving up Bonaire time doesn't seem worth it having been there once. It was definitely worth the trip, though.

David

Habitat Curacao Was nice. We were there 4 years ago and enjoyed the boat diving but Bonaire is better in all compairison. All the boat dives were the shore dives. Not like Bonaire.. If you want big animals then dive the wildside!! Ron

Hi Marco, I have been to Curacao 3 times, in fact we had our first introduction to shore snorkeling there in '94.

Curacao is quite different from Bonaire in terms of shopping, nightlife etc. The have a nice Sea Aquarium there as well.

Having gone that far, and having the chance to see the island for a few days sounds like an opportunity to me. Especially if you plan on getting your fill of diving/snorkeling in Bonaire (as Bonaire is definitely my island of choice).
You may want to have a look at some of the photos I took while we were there last year ... the floating bridge is quite an experience (I heard that they were beginning renovations on it last fall)My photo site is:
http://www.pbase.com/snorkelady/curacao_2005
We enjoyed shopping in Williamstadt which was divided into Punda & Otrabanda (means 'the other side') and is divided by the floating bridge. There were a lot of changes since our last visit in 97.
There a tour guide who was just wonderful ...I have a photo of her on my PBase site as well.

I've met people who loved Curacao, and others who didn't .. it really depends on the individual and what (h) likes to do. Good luck in whatever you choose. Cheryl

Hi Susan

Where on the island can I buy this book? I'm staying at the Divi Flamingo, would the dive shop have it there? Thanks, Cheryl