Hey there! 1st time visitor to Bonaire looking for a buddy to dive the 8th 9th and 10th of Feb (cannot wait to get there from chilly NYC!). May consider doing a led night dive - haven't done one in a while, though. Would like to dive on the 11th, but plans are in the air - I'm saying probably. I'm an advanced PADI diver with about 25 dives so far.

We're staying at Coco Palm Gardens and are arriving the 6th.

Is there anyone that might be looking for a buddy those days? Any suggestions as to how to find buddies on Bonaire if I can't sort this out pre-arrival?

Also, does anyone have any strong opinions on boat vs. walk in diving on and around Bonaire? I'm used to boat diving. Are most walk in sites in primo condition or do you need to boat out for the better sites?

Thanks - Michael

Michael,

We LOVE shore diving. It's so easy to shore dive on Bonaire! Then again, you may want to do a couple of boat dives to Klein Bonaire as they are beautiful too! We will be on the island during your timeframe and my husband will be needing a buddy for some dives and I am on the mend and cannot dive until fall. Also, be sure to hit Gibi's for the BT dinner on Tuesday nights... sure you will find a buddy there. (Do a search for Gibi, you will find directions to his place)

Hopefully we will see you on the island.

Liz

I will be staying at the Belmar from Feb.5 thru the 15th also looking for someone or group to do some dives with. This will be my 3rd trip to Bonaire and have done 48 dives there. I usually do some boat dives to Klein or the sites you can't get to like Rappel but now that Buddy Dive is doing the trips at Belmar there might not be enough divers to bring a boat down. Its a lot easier to jump in the truck and drive a mile or two south at your own convenience than to drive to Buddy Dive. The reefs you can access from shore are as good or better than the one's you can only access by boat and the boats also tie up at a lot of the shorediving sites. Last year there was 3 reef sharks that were spotted at Andrea I regularly which is one of my wife's favorite snorkelling spots and a nice shoredive and there were boats on the bouy quite often.
I would like to get in as many dives as I can and still keep my wife and our 3 other snorkel friends happy. Advanced open water certification 150+ dives just turned 50 in good shape. We got a foot of snow last wednesday here in Wisconsin can't wait to get there.

Mark
Go Pack

Mark - I'd love to try and hook up with you. I'll try to stop by the Belmar when we get in on Sunday afternoon or on Monday. My friend is a snorkeler too, so maybe we can hook him up with some more snorkelers too as he is also stag.

Best, Michael

I'll e-mail my room # this weekend
It's supposed to be 10 to 20 below so I probably won't be doing much outside

Mark