Hi, I'm heading down to Bonaire in mid Jul and will be staying in Divi for a week, my first trip...very excited. I checked with my travel agent and the dive package with Divi cost ~460 for 6 days(3 boat dives/day). I feel this is quite pricy and was wondering whether I could get better prices outside of Divi for the same number of dives...an independent operator not associated with a resort perhaps..

If you visit:
http://www.infobonaire.com/
You will get a wealth of info.

Spent quite some time to do some reading in bonairetalk too. It will give you an enormous head start.
You're gonna have a wonderful time on Bonaire.

Ouch, that does seem high. The "typical" price is usually something like $120 of 6 boat dives and $100 for unlimited air for shore diving. I just checked 2 operation I know and here are there rates. All rates are for 6 days.
Buddy Dive: Unlimited shore diving $110
UL shore + 6 boat $210
UL + 11 boat $299

WannadiveBonaire: UL shore $90
UL shore + 6 boat $210

I would first check directly with the dive shop that supports Divi and see what they say as it seems way out of line but it they are that high, I can highly recommend either of the 2 shops listed above. Wannadive might be a little more convenient for you and they are super nice guys. They are by no means the only shops on the island and I am positive there are many other good shops, these are just the 2 I have experience with.
For what it's worth, we never get the boat packages. We prefer to just shore dive on our own schedule and pace. We spend the $100 on Nitrox which we feel is a much better use of the money, love that geezer gas.

ON ISLAND IN 7 DAYS!!!!

Sorry about that, PBD setting in.

Me again, after I reread your post I see that I missed something. That package is for 18 boat dives (6x3), not the typical 6. In that case, then no that's not a bad price. Drop out the $100 for UL shore air and $360/18 gives you a price of $20 per boat dive or about what everyone else charges for boat dives in a package. If you have any interest in boat diving but still getting some time in for shore diving, see is the shop offers a 6 dive package instead of the 18.

On Bonaire, shore diving is very easy. Most of the time you can park yr car within a minute from the dive spot. And we have about 50 sites where you can shoredive: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/ABC/index.htm

A boat can bring you to places you cant reach by car. Especially for Klein Bonaire you need boat transportation.

So it all depends on what you want. If you where planning to rent a car you can realise substantial savings by shore diving. When you did not intend to rent a car, the rent of the car will probably the same as the extra cost for the boat dives.

I would start shorediving and add some boat dives. Then you can compare and see for yourself.
You don't have to book the diving through yr travel agent. The dive shops are easy to find. In yr case probably 25 steps from yr room.

Hermann that hurts: "ON ISLAND IN 7 DAYS!!!!"

Have fun!!

My math also shows the 18 dives to be a reasonable price, and I expect that the divi package includes the ul shore as well.

I've used the divi 3 boat dives a day and ul shore package and will again... The dive masters are great. The boat dives with them are very little work - the tanks are already on the boat, they take the tank off your back at the top of the ladder and put it in the rack for you. They are excellent about trying to meet all requests for diving your favorite locations whenever possible, especially if asked ahead of time. Tanks are right there on the dock for shore dives, as well as the building on the dock for storing our gear (locked at night after 10PM - but leaving your gear in the bldg is at your risk)

I know Bonaire is known for the freedom of shore diving, but if you are looking for a boat dive package, I don't think you can go wrong with Divi.

If you are renting a car you could just do a dive boat once a day (2 tank in AM = 2 dives, or 1 tank in afternoon) or whatever you feel like while still paying for the ul shore diving to use their tanks. They also have a place to drive up to in order to pick up the tanks to go off and dive wherever you want ..

BUT, be sure to check out the WannaDive options as they are the new sponsor of BT :-)