If we can't make Bonaire next year what Island do you suggest as an option to dive with as many of Bonaire's similarities?

There's no place like Bonaire! Been around to a lot of other places, but Bonaire is in a class all in its own! Sorry, can't help you out there, been disappointed every time I compare to Bonaire.
If you can't make Bonaire, try Roatan in the Bay Islands off Honduras, or Culebra (closer, a little sister island of Puerto Rico) Both are very pretty islands.

There's no place like Bonaire! Been around to a lot of other places, but Bonaire is in a class all in its own! Sorry, can't help you out there, been disappointed every time I compare to Bonaire.
If you can't make Bonaire, try Roatan in the Bay Islands off Honduras, or Culebra (closer, a little sister island of Puerto Rico) Both are very pretty islands. The shore diving in Bonaire is hard to beat with any other island, but diving at Culebra was very interesting, although my hubby and son did see a nurse shark there! Yikes!
The coral and sea fans are spectacular. I did all boat dives there, saw dolphins, can do some shore diving as well, but since I was on my own, I went for the boat dives while there. People were nice as well. Roatan, I felt water clarity was not as good as Bonaire, but diving I have mixed views on there, but a lot of people from BT have gone and been very pleased, so I might have to check that out. St. Kitts was o.k., but boat dives and safety is an issue there if not in public areas. They have the green velvet monkeys that roam the island. Also, you can climb a volcano there as well. That's about it for me, I'm sure more will have lots of suggestions, but for me, Bonaire or nothing!

Sorry for the double post, didn't think I posted and had more thoughts to add. Whoops!

there's obviously always Aruba and Curacao, but personally I'd opt to fly just a wee bit further east and stay on Bonaire.

Shore diving 24/7 can be found in Roatan, places like CoCo View Resort or Bay Island Beach Resort and the like. But neither would offer the variety of shore diving choices, restaurants, car rental, tourist activities etc. They are more 3 meal-a-day all-inclusive destinations. But the costs would be very competitive to Bon.

Lousy shore diving but CHEAP travel (from a USA perspective)would be the Florida Keys. Very nice boat diving with advanced wreck diving opportunities.

Other than Bonaire we have been diving in Turks and Caicos (Provo), Belize, St John and the Florida Keys. Bonaire remains our favorite because of the ease and variety of dive sites as well as the amount of fish. The diving in Provo had great vis and amazing walls but it was all boat diving and Provo is a very expensive island. The diving in Belize had good vis, lots to see and unusual underwater topography. Again, the downside is the boat trips to the reefs -- some of the trips can take over an hour to get to the reef. Belize is a wonderful country with friendly people and we actually enjoyed mainland Belize more than our diving part of the trip! Vis and fish quantity in St John is nowhere near what Bonaire is but it is a beautiful (but expensive) island with gorgeous beaches and mountains. Our experiences with dive boats in the Keys have been cattle cars with cranky and unhelpful staff -- and we have tried 4 different operators in 3 different parts of the Keys.

I'll second everyone's opinions. Bonaire is HARD to beat. That's why my wife and I are going back in March. The freedom of the shore diving is what makes it. We stayed at the Bay Islands Beach Resort in Roatan this past August. Entirely different but still enjoyable. Cam O'Brien was the most gracious and accommodating host, and the resort staff was excellent. The diving staff ranged from "You da' Man!" to "Are you even paying attention?" The shore diving requires about a 15 minute swim to the spooky channel, or they can give you a ride there, but you'll have to swim back. You get far better dives from the boats, but you have to follow the boat schedule, that's how Bonaire spoiled me. I was free to go whenever I pleased. In my experience, the visibility at Roatan was better than what I found in Bonaire, exceeding over 100 in most of my dives. The reefs are in great shape, but not as much fish life. If you go to Roatan, bug protection is a MUST. Cactus juice worked VERY well for us, allowing us to ditch the DEET, but everyone responds differently to it. If you stay local, I enjoyed the southeast coast of Florida a lot. Boat dives to reefs and lots of nice wrecks. I heard that there's shore diving at Fort Lauderdale, but I've yet to try it. Have fun! Coach Izzy

You just can't compare anything to Bonaire when it comes to ease and quality of diving but if you must do something different I would suggest a liveaboard trip. Turks and Caicos is excellent but I would avoid the Explorer vessel, been on it and, well the moderators would probably squelch my remarks so I'll just leave it at that.
Aggressor scores high marks. We recently did the AquaCat as a club trip, what a blast. It's Bahama's diving but still very nice. Great shark encounters.

If not Bonaire, where? How about a live aboard dive cruise (if you don't get sea sick). We have done that, and it was nice. There are usually 5 dive times set but you don't have to dive if you don't want to or you can do all scheduled dives. We have dived with Nekton Dive Cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Have also dove Roatan, Cozumel and the Riviera Maya area of the Yucatan in Mexico. But Bonaire is still the best there is. Andy

Jerry, I asked the same question a few months ago, and got most of the same answers! lol We try to make 2 big trips and then a trip to the Keys each year with my stepson and sometimes stepdaughter since it's close. For the other trip this year, in January, we chose Roatan - at Coco View Resort. Got a good all-inclusive price. And hope to see a whale shark. Yeah right! lol But they do see them quite often there. We love Bonaire, hooked after one trip, and will be back in July. For us it's looking like Bonaire, someplace else, Bonaire, someplace else. Let us know what you decide!

Roatan was nice, but diving was all there was to do. I'm excited to go to Bonaire and have alot of other things to do when we aren't diving. In Roatan, we never left the Cocoview resort until the last day for some sightseeing. Reading these posts, it sounds like much better shore diving on Roatan.

Cayman has as much shore diving as Bonaire & it has a more spectacular wall than Bonaire - just a further swim to the sites.

Thanks to all who responded. I've shore dived Grand Cayman and found it limited when compared to Bonaire. Also some places have a wicked current. The votes have been counted and it's Bonaire in '05!

I've been diving for 14 years and just returned from my second trip to Bonaire. If you want to shore dive, Bonaire probably can't be beat but there many better places to dive. Shore diving isn't always easy - entry and exit can be extremely rough.
Obviously everyone has there own opinion but here are the my favorites - best first.
Indonesia - Peter Hughes Liveaboard - spectacular diving and unusual critters.
Fiji - Matangi Island Resort - great diving and resort.
Tahiti - Moorea to be exact - swam with whales for over an hour - best single experience ever.
Little Cayman - 2 visits to Paradise Divers - best dive guides anywhere.
Roatan - 3 visits including liveboard.
Cozumel - cheap and fun.
Bonaire - 2 visits - last on at Belmar and diving with Buddy Dive.

Personally, if I could afford it, every trip would be on a liveaboard. Great diving, great people and very relaxing. Shore diving is a pain. To much gear to move around. Even at Bonaire, I prefer boat diving.

Cozumel should be higher on the list, I think. There is no shore diving but the walls are covered in huge coral heads in places. It is a little deeper to get to the great places, about 80-120 feet on many dives on the wall. But there also is diving with a bottom at 60 feet for smaller coral. There is also alot of fish life, turtles but hardly ever any sharks. We did see a hammerhead at Devil's throat 2 years ago though. That was great. The only bad aspect of Cozumel is the cruise ships that take over during the day. That means you should dive and beach it all day.