Every time I go to Bonaire Talk, I feel like I just had a mini-vacation This is great!
We snorkelled all over Bonaire before Lenny. It was the best experience of my life. Now we're divers and several of the hotels offer dive packages that automatically include boat dives every day. I can't understand where the boats go to. Can anyone clarify that? Why would we want do anything but shore diving and a trip to Klein?

Well, there are 25+ dive moorings alone on Klein. There are also quite a few dive sites along the north shore that are not accessible via the shore at all or easily like Oil Slick Leap or La Dania's Leap.

The boats also get you, your gear and tank to and from the dive site with less effort on your part. You get the opportunity to talk to a local divemaster for a specific site briefing. You can meet other divers, talk diving and dive sites, and sometimes round up some divers for a shore dive later.

And get a really nice boat ride if the seas are not too rough. Boat rides around Bonaire are always fun. During regatta, we surfaced from a dive off Klein to find we were in the middle of a yacht race, and got a close-up view of an unhappy yacht (mast broken 1/2 way up).

Boat diving is often less hard on the body... no surf exits, no stairway climbs other than the boat ladder. Plus, the tanks are taken care of for you... no need to schlep them to/from your truck. I like both shore and boat diving, but it's sure nice to have boat crew to help out sometimes.

Sometimes the rides can be a bit wild (e.g. on those occasions when Jake drives :-). I think I got an inch shorter after the run up to Karpata in October (or really, the run back).

Just because I believe my boat should be occasionally airborne when I drive/pilot/abuse it? Sheesh :-)

Jake

well, jake, if the power is there, why not use it abit right? i think most guys feel the need for speed at times. what is wrong with abit of air while skimming along on the beautiful ocean?

would dive skin or shorty wetsuit be of any use for snorkeling in feb.?

It depends upon how cold you generally get while swimming. My husband uses a shorty wetsuit while snorkeling, but my son and I are able to spend hours in the water while wearing suits and a T shirt. Temps are usually in the 78 to 81 degree range. If you have room to bring your dive skin or shorty, then you may be more comfortable. At any rate, hope you have a wonderful time.

Fred, Also depends on how much sun you want the back of your legs and your back to get. We don't want you to have to stand for your entire vacation!!

Whether you boat or shore dive on Bonaire depends very much on what you want to see and when you want dive.

As Linda says, the boats do go to places up north that have no shore exit (you can jump in from the cliff at most sites but then...). The boats usually go mid-morning and mid-afternoon when the reef is least active. As a diver I almost always shore dive so I can pick where I go (the boats at most cater to a group will and are subject to prior occupation of moorings) and when. The reef is most active in the early morning, at noon and at change of light in the late afternoon. I am quite happy watching fish in shallow water after a check of deeper things while most boat divemasters lead their groups out at 60 feet and back at 30--lots of coral but many fewer fish.

Bonaire is wonderful in the choices you have to do the dives you want to do.

Jake really likes to have the boat airborne, too! Kind of fun sometimes, though pounding upwind in 3-4 foot waves was punishing.

Oh, forgot to mention one other tidbit... if you're the one designated to catch the mooring buoy, hang on tight... nothing like having the throttle suddenly cut to nothing without warning... nice bruise across the chest.

Jake's getting better at parking the boat, though.

Back to the other part of the discussion, we've never been asked to stay with a DM on Bonaire when diving from a boat. They do lead a group around if you want that service, but don't force it on you. Faith and I were on St. John a few weeks ago, and there we were required to stay with the DM. Pain in the ass when you're trying to shoot macro photography (or any photograpy).