My package includes one boat and unlimited shore dives. Naturally what you do is going to depend on how you dive, what your computer indicates, etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone has a sense of how many dives per day would work out in that scenario, allowing for time, moderation, etc.

Also any thoughts on the merits of morning versus afternoon dives?

I will be in Bonaire from January 5th - February 5th. We plan to do 2-3 dives a day for the entire trip with a long surface interval between morning and afternoon dives. We plan to do two in the morning and no more than one in the afternoon. We will also be watching our nitrogen levels very closely. We will probably pick a day or two once a week to see the island, take in some windsurfing, etc. for safety and of course meet Captain Don and some of the locals.

I would suggest staying conservative and not too deep.

Enjoy!!!

Number of dives varies, we usually do 4 or 5 a day. I have known people who do 7 dives a day, that's too much for me. If you are doing multiple dives think about getting a Nitrox package from the Dive Op and maybe a hood as you will chill towards the end of the day.

William welcome to BT

I typically do 3 dives a day on Bonaire. I touch sand on most (not all) dives so depth factors into the equation. I know people who do 5 dives a day at shallow depths but I am personally wary of that many dives a day unless you are diving alot prior to the trip and are somewhat conditioned to nitrogen loading. I've been reading lately that nitrogen risk is greater in vacationing divers who don't dive alot in the period leading up to trip. You seem to express an understanding of surface intervals, computer limitations etc. so to be safe I'd recommend 3 dives a day making sure you don't violate your computer in the process unless the dives are really shallow. I'd say in that scenerio 4 day would probably be okay. This, of course, is just my opinion. Have a great trip!

One dive(if not more) you will want to do is an o'dark thirty. Pre dawn, before the sun comes up at a site you have done previously. Watch the changing of the guard as the night creatures go into hiding as the day creatures come to life. It's very, very cool!

Dives per day? Whatever works for you! It's island time and personally I never set a goal or limit. Dive when you want. That's why you are on Bonaire!

M2C
Smack

Thanks for responses. The reason I ask is I have rarely done more than three dives a day, although usually all boat. So I'm just trying to figure how much I can stretch one boat dive plus shore. I may also do a Nitrox certification to raise the limit, although I hate tables.

Hi, George. I'll give you the same two cents on the subject that I often give.

To me, Bonaire diving is all about diving relatively shallow, slow and long. Seems to me that the people who are doing 5, 6 or 7 dives a day are either doing relatively short dives or just don't eat, sleep, or take care of bodily functions! Many of us do dives up to an hour and a half long; if you do the math based on that, and allow for only an hour surface interval between dives, that's 2.5 hours times 7 dives a day which equals 17.5 hours. That leaves 6.5 hours for sleep. I usually do 3 or 4 long dives a day, and Gale does 2 or 3. My suggestion is to dive slow, slow, slow; you're much more likely to see stuff that way. I've never understood the philosophy of hurrying to finish a dive so that you can get to another site; your chances of seeing something cool are just as likely almost anywhere on the island. And of course, watch your computer, stay hydrated, get some sleep, do some decent surface intervals, and stay safe. There's also something to be said for getting into island time, slowing down, and enjoying your vacation, rather than always rushing from one dive to another. Just my two cents.

How many dives per day? Well, I start off by planning for 4 to 6 dives per day. One or two in the morning, one or two in the afternoon and one or two at night. This is with only a couple of boat dives planned during the entire trip. It's aggressive and tries to take advantage of every opportunity to dive since I only have 6 or 7 dive days and that's what I'm there for, diving.

Ok, now what actually happens is you get on island you get settled into your room all set to go off and hit all these different dive sites starting first thing the next morning. And then island time kicks in. For me that means that even though I get up early to enjoy the sunrise and get an early start, I kick back and enjoy my tea while relaxing in the pool. And that's just the start of the day. By the time the day is over I've probably done 3 or 4 dives and I'm perfectly content with it because each dive had something different about that made it special. Then there's things like the National Park and the donkey sanctuary that are fun to visit too. If you want to see something funny pick up a box of cereal, I can recommend Corn-Pops, and go feed the donkeys at the sanctuary. ;)

As for morning or afternoon preference, I like them both. I've seen really cool stuff no matter what time of day I've been diving there.

One of the things I've found that I really like about diving on Bonaire is that it's much more fun and relaxing when there is no schedule to adhere to. Best thing you can do is just relax and go with the flow.

Jim can I get an AMEN on that? You said it perfectly!

Hi George,

There is some debate (like everything I reckon) but I got my Nitrox cert a few years ago as an appropriate 'geezer gas' and feel less tired doing multiple dives per day. Might be pure placebo effect, but that's just how I feel.

Regarding tables, it is a good thing to know in case your batteries or dive computer die on you, but my cert is thru SDI and is Nitrox Computer Diver - table use was for reference only. The 1 day course taught nitrox safety and dive computer use.

George.. This is a very personal thing and you will get answers all over the board. Me? We do one dive in the morning, one in the afternoon about 3:00 & that's it..A couple of times during the week, will also do a night dive at about 7:30PM. I go to Bonaire to relax AS WELL as dive. Bottom line, do whatever is safe & what suits you. You pays your money & you make your own choices!

I'd just like to thank the original poster, George, for giving me an excuse to review my Bonaire dives! Boy, was that a wonderful trip!

I concur with many of the opinions here, but especially with the notion of "getting into Island Time" which will quickly reduce the feeling like you need to dive your brains out! 8^)

For me, that meant I only averaged three dives per day for 12 dive days, ranging from two to five dives on those days.

We were on island 15 days and I dove on 12 days, taking time in between to enjoy many other non-diving activities, some might call in-activities, such as hanging out by the docks, watching kids balance on mooring lines, watching locals sell their produce, driving around the island, etc. I was glad I had plenty of time for such activities, as it made for a broader island experience.

I might add, like Marcus, I usually would get to the sand on my dives, and often beyond, so my dive times were often shortened to about 50 minutes average, which probably left me more time for non-diving activity.

I think you'll find you can safely dive as many dives as you can stand, provided you dive sensibly and use a dive computer.

Lucky dog! Enjoy!

Dave C

It depends on my trip. My first time, I stayed a week and felt like I had to cram the dives in. That meant five a day. Pretty much it was eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, sleep. Most of the eating was snakes picked up at Jokes while the tanks were being filled.

I now stay three weeks and do anything from 1 to 5 a day. I have even done a nice easy three dives -- all starting after lunch. One thing that makes a big difference: your dive profile. Are they 45 minutes with a max of 140? Or are they 90 minute dives with a max of 40?

Enjoy the trip -- and do as many as you feel like! I personally enjoy ending my day with an early evening dive (around 7pm or so) following by a dinner at around 8:30 or 9.

yeah, do the math;) almost impossible to reasonably average any more than 4 dives a day (if that) - add a little more time to the dive cycle for changing out camera and rinsing gear...

afternoon dives (while in the heat of the day) work - sunlight seems to bring out the colors a bit...

may also be a limit on how much one can absorb (information, not nitrogen;)) - too many dives could result in overload?

oh well, don't think i've ever heard anyone complain about the number of dives they got in;)

Just my other 2 free cents.

2 morning boat/shore dives, lunch, 2 afternoon boat/shore dives, dinner, a night dive on the house reef.

5 dives a day is NOT all that hard to imagine or do if one is so inclined. Easier using a good dive computer set to "full geezer" (I dive a Vyper myself) and diving Nitrox.

Well I'm definitely in the geezer category on land, anyway, although I never really felt it diving. I've almost always done about three dives a day on trips, (half in Cozumel since I have a time share there) and it sounds like that would be a leisurely pace on island time in Bonaire. The thing here is my shore dives will be alone since I haven't found anyone to share my truck yet.

The reason I posed the question was that I was under the impression that Bonaire dives are relatively shallow compared to other places, so I thought that might be a factor in allowing for a bit more diving covering the better sites. But until I get into to dive pace I'm also likely to roll over and go back to sleep. I'm thinking of doing a Nitrox class there too, although I hate school and tables and don't really want to spring for a new computer. However, it sounds like there isn't all that much benefit with a moderate dive schedule.

Bonaire shore dives can be as deep as YOU choose. The first gently sloping reef line on the western shore begins pretty much at the boat floats in 25FSW or so and far less than 100 yards from shore at many spots and then hits sand at 'about' 110-125FSW then goes from there to Klein Island down to depths at which you would be a LOT safer in a submarine - lol

There is an abundance to see and enjoy in the 30-60FSW range and no 'need' to go any deeper should you not want to. Total Diving Freedom is the name of the game. be that with a buddy,a large group, solo, from shore, by boat,day, night, whatever.

YOU are the sole responsibility for your safety. Dive within your training and experience and it can be paradise. Forget the rules underwater and the ocean always wins - lol

Hi George,
Remember the scene in Forrest Gump where Bubba tells Forrest how many ways one can cook and serve shrimp? That's how many ways one can dive Bonaire.
Decide what suits you go for it.

Personally, I'm all for repetitive dives at the same site. This way I can say hi to all the fishes I've just made the acquaintance of. I'm also in the water for a while. I don't go deep, but I'll throughly check out where I'm at until I am quite familiar with my surroundings.

Mare

Hi George, I forgot to answer your first question: morning or afternoon dives.

Short answer: YES.

In the early morning (pre-dawn) you can do the changing-of-the-guard dive and watch the critters change from foraging/hiding to sleeping/hunting.

In the morning, the sun is not yet overhead and the angle is different.

In mid-day, the brilliant sun on the sand in the shallows makes me want to put sunglasses on inside my mask.

In early afternoon the sailfin blennies signal to each other.

In late afternoon you get to see the critters start searching for a safe place to sleep.

Nighttime diving is cool too.

Mare

we go to bonaire for a long time every year (at least 10 weeks). people ask us how many hundreds of dives we do in that period. as some people have stated above, we actually average just under two a day. sometimes we spend time working on our condo, other times we have non-divers visiting so we hang with them, other days we want to totally relax. it's like david said, after a while you don't feel the need to cram in lots and lots of dives. most of our dives are in the 40-60 foot range for about 70-90 minutes.