Hi,

Can anybody give me some information regarding this dive op.? What did like/dislike about them?

Thanks.

Tracey, when we stayed at the Sand$ a couple of years ago, it was Sand$ Dive and Photo, and is now Bonaire Dive and Adventure. Same manager, same people, just a different name. They have a nice new dock with great facilities. I am sure the staff is still wonderful. I think you will find out that there are very few complaints about any of the dive shops on the island. There were a couple of men from San Juan that stayed at Aqua Viva and dove with BD&A, and were quite happy. It's not going to be an easy decision!

Hey Tracey! I had a great time with Bonaire Dive & Adventure. I stayed at the Sand Dollar, so it was very convenient. They have great guides and divemasters and you can always learn a lot from them. There are storage facilities and you can rent equipment. I brought my own so I only took advantage of the storage, the rinse tanks and the showers. The shore diving is great since the Bari Reef is a right there. They have 3 boat dives per day (9:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m, and 2:00 p.m.), usually going to Klein Bonaire or other sites. The boats can be a bit crowded sometimes and once they had only 1 divemaster to overview a crew of 11 divers. I'm still a new diver, but I do not think that it is a safe ratio. If you get lucky, you will have a boat dive with Jerry C. Ligon, whose knowledge and passion for the ocean environment make it for an interesting day. Hope the info helps. Please say hi to Ilse when you are there. She is terrific! Coach Izzy

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the input :o).

Tracey

Ditto to Cynde's remarks.

The 11 divers to one divemaster ratio, is the well within the norm in conditions such as we enjoy on Bonaire. The many divemasters I have had the pleasure of diving with around Bonaire are not just looking for sea horses and other pretty things to show you, but are also observing their divers for potential problems. Because of their experience, they do this in such a subtle way(translated to sneaky)most divers do not realize they are being monitored.

If you are ever preparing for a dive and have the least bit of apprehension, please tell the divemaster. You will find that she/he will be more than happy to be your Buddy. You should also know that they probably already know it by watching the way you talk, your gestures and the way you gear up on the way to or at the dive site.

IMHO divers visiting Bonaire enjoy some of the safest and most professionally run dive operations in the industry.

I'm with Tom on this last one. Not everyone on the boat will follow the DM unless he/she is looking for something special that you want to see. We don't even hang with the DM and other divers...go off on our own to explore. If they find something interesting, they have found us and taken us back to the animal (an eel on the Hooker and seahorse at Cap Don's reef on Klein). So as Tom said, if you're more comfortable going with the DM, let them know As far as the ratio...in Southern California, the DM's don't even get in the water! They remain on the boat unless there is an emergency and generally there are 32-38 divers on the boat depending on the size...so 11 to 1...that's pretty good in my book!

Help? I want to plan a trip to Bonaire, but want to know the best time to go. Does anyone have any suggestions? (Biggest interests=shore diving and relaxing.)

Wanda, go anytime of the year. If you go to "Accomodations" you will find loads of information on different accomodations and what they offer.

We stayed at Sand Dollar in September. We rented BCs, weights and regs from BD&A and Roger did a great job on our orientation session. We only did one boat dive with them but everyone on board had done many and seemed very pleased. Our only regret is that we waited until our last day to take Jerry Ligon's 'Dive with a Naturalist' guided tour at Bari, the Sand Dollar house reef.