We are 40yo newly certified divers (did our class work here in Maine last Nov and then did our check out dives in Maui over Xmas). We did one additional 2 tank boat dive in Hawaii and just loved it!! We are headed to Florida in a couple of weeks and hope to get some more practice in there. I am starting to plan our vacation next July-1 week Aruba and 1 week Bonaire. Would appreciate any suggestions for dive operators to use given that we are such newbies. Are any shore dives guided or are you on your own? We have never dove alone. We are not risk takers and feel reasonably comfortable within our limited knowledge. We want to have fun but not feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable in situations that are above our abilities. Also looking for lodging suggestions-are packages with the dive operator the way to go for us? Are boat dives recommended?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Laurie

Laurie, the shore diving in Bonaire is as easy as it gets. You really do not need a guide it's all but impossible to get lost. The reefs are near the shore and generally walls, you dive down to a depth you feel comfortable with, follow the wall to your air is half done, turn around and swim back to where you started and do your safety stop in the shallows.

You can always do boat dives although they really are not necessary. The shore diving is so easy, I can not recommend boat dives even for newbies.

Laurie, for a first trip and for semi new diver, I would strongly suggest you do at least a few boat dives. All shops put a DM in the water with you who can keep an eye on you and can point out things that I sure don't the eyes to see. Caradonna and Bonaire Pros are both well rated travel agencies that can do lodging, diving and vehicle packages, I'm sure there are others but those come to mind, we've used Bonairepros (www.bonairepros.com) and had good results. Sounds like you wanna keep a conservative attitude on your first Bonaire trip and, to me, that's a very good idea. I'm quite a bit more advanced, but I still did like 10 boat dives on my first Bonaire trip to get acquainted with conditions before turning myself loose to shore dive.
By the way, welcome to Bonaire talks, an excellent source of information about all things Bonaire. Post your questions and you'll get all kinds of responses.

Joe (i'll not even subject you to the cheese story)

Hi Laurie.

It can get SUPER easy depending on wher you stay. For example, Buddy Dive is a wonderful place, has a fantastic house reef (also shared by Sand$$, Lion's, and Capt Don) and you enter the water by simply walking down a short stairway right into the ocean. To get to the reef you follow a rope in the sand that is tied to a mooring block at the start of the reef in about 20fsw. I believe the Capt has a similar guideline from their pier to the start of the house reef.

So you follow the rope, see which way the current is going (if you can tell, it's pretty mild) and swim into it until you use up about 1/2 your air, turn around and swim with the current (using less air as a plus) and return to that depth, then just follow the rope home. After a few dives on your "house" reef, you'll start to recognize coral heads and other landmarks and know where you are. You do the same method at ANY shore dive. Go out to the marker bouy block, check the depth and surrounding landmarks and head off into the current. Return to that depth on the way back and there you are. As long as you stay on the left side of the island for your dives, the shore is ALWAYS east. So even if you miss your entry point, you just head in to shore, take off your gear and walk over to your car.

Dive safely, pack your common sense and good humor, and you will all have a ball!

Laurie

My husband, and I were 50 years old and new divers, classroom in Washington DC and certification dives in Grand Caymans, a total of 13 dives before heading to Bonaire. We stayed at the Carib Inn and have been back four times in the last two years since we first went and always dive and stay there.

A few thoughts. The folks at the CArib are excellent. Equipment, dive masters, everything. (www.caribinn.com) You might consider taking an advanced course, which is what we did, as I was timid to dive on our own. That gave us some confidence. Then we did a few boat dives with them and struck out on our own, with suggestions from Linda Baker, their resident Fish Id expert. We also did a number of dives right off their dock to get our feet wet, so to speak, about diving on our own.

We have now done over a 100 dives with safety and much much fun. We have skipped spots we were uncomfortable. Contact me directly if you have more questions. Lydia

Go to one of the bigger name dive resorts like Captain Don's or Buddy's you'll meet lots of other divers from all different kinds of backgrounds. That will make your trip and travel more interesting. You can dive right off the shore at either of these places, it's very easy and safe.

I CAN recommend a few boat dives for newbies - the dive masters will keep an unobtrusive eye on you, and you can build up your confidence before striking out on your own.

If you find the boats too crowded, hang back and let the scuba warriors rush off, then go at your leisure into the mild current, use up half your air or half your stamina, and turn back.

Even on a boat with 20+ divers, you won't feel crowded - everyone else is far ahead, and you'll have that portion of the reef all your own.

Besides, Klein is ONLY accessible on boat dives, and some of the best diving can be found off Klein.

We stay at Captain Don's, and I love the house reef there, La Machaca. I've done solo dives there, I feel so comfortable. And I've only been diving since 2000, and not all that much.

As a matter of fact, this is a photo I took while on a solo dive off Captain Don's (uncropped, by the way - he let me get this close):

As others have said, I highly recommend taking several boat dives with one of the resorts (doesn't really matter which one, they are all good)..the divemasters on the boat will give you all the freedom you desire or dive with you if you desire...they can show you a lot until your confidence builds. Shore dives are relatively easy but some of the entrances/exits can get tricky if there is surf. Stick with boat dives at first.

We had snorkeled Bonaire many times before deciding to get certified as divers at the very young age of 50. Our first trip to Bonaire after that saw only escorted dives in our log -- and less than 20 of those. We wanted to do only shore diving so took the advice that many have given here and used the mooring marker as our guide. We would swim out, drop down, check depth, any current and a few landmarks and head into the current for half of our air. I also made sure to time how long it took us before we turned around so i could have a ballpark idea of the return (usually shorter depending on any current). We were usually right on the mark. I would add that when we were newbies we felt much more comfortable at AndreaI and II, Windsock and Oil Slick. The navigation was pretty easy. This Dec we really branched out and the same system worked well. I think it helped our confidence and skills to depend on each other and not a divemaster. I don't think anyone has mentioned it but you can also hire a divemaster as a guide for shore dives. Check with whichever shop you choose. We use WannaDive.

We think shore diving is a good way to start off. Most resorts have a dock you can jump right off so entry and exit is very easy. We're partial to Sand Dollar, we own a two bedroom condo there, but any place along that side is nice. The diving in Aruba is not that great compared to Bonaire. Bari Reef, the house reef at Sand Dollar, is a great way to build your comfort level.

One added note, most dive sites have stepped reefs. You can do the first half of your dive at 40-60 feet, then when you turn around follow the edge of the upper reef at about 10-20 feet and by the time you reach your starting place you will have completed your 'safety stop' time and then some. This removes the need to hang in one place and watch your gauges for 10-15 minutes.

Laurie, I see you have no shortage of advice -- bottom line I think is that anywhere you go to dive on Bonaire is going to be fantastic. I've used an organization called WannaDive several times -- pretty inexpensive and very accommodating. They offer beach and boat dives. You don't even need to make advance reservations, just show up at their place at Eden Beach. They have an email address (google it -- I've lost it) and are very responsive.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond-I really appreciate having all the various opinions!! I'm sure I'll be posting many more questions as the planning continues. The only part of the arrangements already made are the flights to and from Aruba (compliments of Delta frequent flier miles) so you can see I've got lots of planning to do!! Being able to look ahead to this vacation does help take the chill off these cold Maine winter months :-)

We recently returned from Bonaire. We did our pool and classroom work in NYC and did our open water dives with Bon Bini Divers (Lion's Head). They have a GREAT staff. We actually stayed at Sorobon Beach Resort, but that is for another post.

After the certification we did 2 boat dives with the instructor and two dives on the house reef alone.

After that we headed out on our own. We were NEWBIES to say the least.

We purchased a book called "Shore Diving Made Easy" at the dive shop. It provides an an experience level rating for all Shore diving sites, as well as exits and entries and important for us which sites are marked with buoys. We liked having an unnatural marker on the bottom so we could know where to start and end the dive. We encountered almost no currents, visbality was AMAZING and all dives went glitch free and were very easy.

Rules we followed were:

Dive at our limits, no deeper than 60 feet, only dove at sites listed as novice and with easy entries & exits.

Let some one know where we were diving including alt sites and when we would be back.

Dive into the current, turn around at 1/2 tank and follow the reef back at the depth of our marker. Bonaire has alot of interesting things at the shallower depths.



In Bonaire if you are close to the reef you are close to shore.

Have fun!

We did!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I think anyone who learned to dive in Maine in November will find Bonaire a piece of cake.
Enjoy!
Dave

I fear my friend an attitude like that will have your friends consoling your love one in a manner you might not approve.

Bonaire has some of the easiest dives in the world, but go too deep, stay too long or just think you are "king of the deep" and your friends might end up saying "he was a helluva guy, but not too smart a diver".

Enjoy, and welcome.

Water is water
Deep is deep
Dumb is dumb
Caution is caution

None of these depend on water temps or viz.
Robert, your description for your first trip is perfect. Not too much, not too deep, not too far. That was my prescription my first trip and I had a grand time. This past trip (our second), I went a bit farther astray, dove the wild side (WITH a guide), did the Hooker (with a buddy), and had a grand time. There's far too much to see in the water off Bonaire to put anyone at risk by overextending themselves.

Thanks for your post Robert

The Funchitronicator

Hi Laurie, my husband, son, and I were certified in the winter in Maine many years ago and our first 'other than Maine dives' were in Bonaire. Our initial reaction when we did our certification dives in Kettle Cove in Miane was 'Never Again' as the ice formed on our faces between dives. Now, after Bonaire, they refuse to dive in Maine - ha!
I expect you'll have a great time and wonderful dives. We always stay at the Divi (so far anyways) and do boat dives 2 x per day and shore dives 2 to 3 x per day. The boat dives ensure we have somebody with us who knows what to look for and where, and the help by the divemasters at the Divi both in the water and out has been very much appreciated. My husband and I are going again in May and already planning on when we can then go again. Enjoy!!

Laurie,

I have only one bit of advice to add to the above. Or maybe it is a prediction. I suspect you will get back from your trip and wish you had spent the whole 2 weeks in Bonaire and skipped Aruba.

Our diving on Bonaire began with boat and house reef dives at Sand Dollar; we gradually shifted to shore diving and have not been on a boat our last 2-3 trips.

Enjoy!

-David

First of all, congratulations on becoming divers! No matter when in life you start, once you're hooked you'll never quit! I dive all the time here in the Puget Sound (cold and murky are the order of the day) I'm soo kooky about diving.

Anyway, you've already received some excellent advice. I'll echo the sentiments of the 'guided dives first' camp. Even though I'm a pretty advanced diver, my wife and her father aren't. We did the first few days of diving off the boat, just to get the 'lay of the land'. My wife and I also did a few dives off the Sand Dollar house reef on our own.

Once you're comfortable with the environment, definitely dive the house reef where you're staying, or a few easy shore dives (Andrea 1 and 2) on your own. As your comfort and confidence level increases, you'll feel a lot more comfortable tackling the more advanced shore dives that are available. Always err on the conservative side, for any dive anywhere. Just my opinion!

Lastly, I'll speak from my personal experience in Bonaire -- there's really no reason to go deeper than about 70 fsw. Everything cool there is in 60 fsw or less. You can even dive the Hilma Hooker and stay at ~70 fsw, yet see cool stuff. I went inside the hold of the Hilma (no true penetration, though!) but doing that is NOT a beginner's dive!

Jimmie

P.S. fsw = feet salt water

Hi Laurie

If you are not already overloaded with advice, here is my two cents worth:
My wife and I have now done well over two hundred dives, and most of those were on Bonaire. We have been other places, but still keep going back (even though it is not the easiest of destinations from Canada).
We tend to like the 'self contained' style of vacation and would recommend Happy Holiday Homes if you are like-minded (see the Bonaire website infobonaire.com for details). We rent a pickup (HHH can arrange in advance) and shore dive. We REALLY like Wanna Dive - all the tanks you want for about $90 per week, great service, expertise, and a sense of humour.
I agree with Cecil shore diving is so easy that there is no reason to pay extra for the boat; and you can spend as much or as little time in the water as you are comfortable with, and be as deep or as shallow as you like. Pretty well all the reefs around the island are fringing reefs which range from gentle slopes to walls - you swim to the reef, turn left or right, see a bunch of great stuff, turn around and come back.
I would suggest going to the northern sites at first as there is almost no sign of current up there and the reefs are very close to shore. Oil Slick Leap has a nice new stainless steel ladder down into the water, or you can still jump if you like. Ol' Blue is an easy walk in/out and has (for Bonaire) a nice beach. Avoid Karpata until you have some experience - it can be tough to get in and out - then give it a try. We have seen turtles (eleven in one dive), eagle and manta rays there.
The two of us will be diving on Bonaire for the first two weeks of July this summer. If your plans correspond, we would be happy to show you around the island, recommend some sites, etc. We are also 40 ish and very laid back divers. We mostly go slow and take lots of photos. You are welcome to tag along with us on a few dives until you get more comfortable. Contact me directly if you want more information.

Hope you have a safe and fun trip.

Ray

If you are going for the diving, spend two weeks in Bonaire! My vote is for the Divi. Boat dives to Klein Bonaire is a must. Sue