Hello,

I am a new diver (or will be by the time me and my hubby go in February). All the hotels offer unlimited air refills or as they also call it - unlimited shore diving. We wonder - what does it exactly mean. Can you only dive at the hotel beach or can you also go out and do stuff on your own. Can you also use a dive operator with those tanks that the hotel provides.

Since I am on this topic. Can we get our final PADI certification on the island. We would have taken the course (lessons and swimming pool dives) in the US.

Thanks for the info.

Hi Natalya! Welcome to BT! Yes, you can get your certification open water dives done on island. You will need the referral from your home dive shop, where you took the classroom and pool work, and you should contact the dive shop you will be working with on Bonaire in advance and let them know you want to do your open water certification dives with them.

As for shore diving...it is a blast! You will be able to take tanks with you and travel all over the island. Bonaire is fabulous for divers because they mark their dive sites along the road with yellow stones. You just pull in (or over on the shoulder of the road) and off you go! I love it there (can you tell?)! You might want to pick up Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. It is a great book that gives excellent descriptions of the various dive sites and it also ranks them for beginners, intermediate, etc... I swear by the book!

Good luck and enjoy Bonaire!

Natalya -

For shore diving, be sure to bring some booties or other similar footwear to get into the water. Unless you are at a hotel with a ladder or some sand, most entries are over very rough broken coral and limestone. Booties will make it much, much more comfortable.

And, realize that Bonaire is rather close to the Equator and the sun is tangibly potent. Sun protection in and out of the water is a must. We have snorkeled in Hawaii, Gran Cayman, USVI, and BVI, the sun in none of those tropical locations prepared us for Bonaire.

From your expressed desire to slow down and relax, I think your first trip to Bonaire is "going to be the start of a beautiful friendship" (nod to Ric).

Charles Poteet
Dallas

HI Natalya,

If it fits your budget, first timers (and especially brand new divers) will benefit from staying at an oceanside resort that has a dive shop and dive operator. Divi and Buddy come first to mind to me just because that's where I've stayed in the past.

These type resorts will all be on a TERRIFIC house reef, just a few fin kicks away from their super easy entry point. This makes it perfect for newbies to hone their navigation skills, see great fish and coral within their depth limits and work on their skills in relative safety. These type resorts will also offer training, available divemasters for hire and guided boat dives. Again just perfect for the newcomer.

Just my two cents. You will have a blast wherever you stay. Pack your common sense, sense of adventure and most importantly your sense of humor, forget your watch and enjoy "island time" and try the goat stew and funchi.

Have a cool Polar beer for me.

Natalya,

Allow me to explain our version of shore diving - Bonaire style. It starts around 8:00 in the morning when we hit the dive shop for tanks. my wife and I would usually load up 3 tanks each and all our gear into the back of our rental truck.

Depending on the winds (check with the dive shop on this) you may be able to dive the north end or the south end of the island. We would then head out to our first dive site (just look for the yellow markers on the side of the road). The first dive is usually our deepest/longest dive. After we get back to the truck it would take 15-20 minutes of breaking down the gear and tossing it all back in the truck. Then we would take a leisurely drive to the next dive site and repeat. Usually, by the time we finish up the second dive it's about lunch time. Sometimes we would pack a lunch with us and stay out on the south end of the island watching the flamingoes, sometimes we would stay in the park, and occasionally we would head back into town for lunch. The afternoon was usually one dive, turn in the tanks and then pick up one more for an evening/night dive.

All things considered, it's one of the most relaxing ways to spend a day that I can think of.

Great, now I'm depressed just thinking about the impending snow and cold...thanks a lot.

Michael

I have been know to take a nap in the bed of my truck during my surface intervals. Have gotten some strange looks from folks but it is just one more side of shore diving for me!

Susan,

susan, i've gotten strange looks too but i don't think they have anything to do with sleeping in a truck.

Pat, were you telling someone to WAVE? I'm sorry, I still chuckle at that one...