First off, I love Bonaire, and have returned again and again, and will continue to do so. Same thing for Belize, Cayman and Cozumel.

However, my Sweet Baby Girl has accused me of being an old fart, and not wanting to go somewhere new. I told her that after many years of traveling the Carribean, or elsewhere, most SERIOUS divers settle on a couple of three places to revisit time and again.

Do most of you go somewhere new each year? Or, do you get comfy in a couple of spots, where you know the terrain, and everybody knows your name? Where do you go besides Bonaire?

Well to rephrase the question, Where have you gone more than once (other than Bonaire)?



For me the real answer is none. Every other place I've dove, I only did it once and did not repeat. One exception is the Florida Keys I have been there twice but it was the same trip with different scouts. I also will be going to the Keys in May for a long weekend. This is mostly for practical reasons.

One of these days God willing, east wind blowing and 5 numbers on Power Ball we are going back to Tahiti.

As far as Bonaire is concerned, fifth trip in 48 hours.

I did Cozumel several times and left due to WAY too many cruise ships. My next trip to Bonaire will be number nine; we stay for three weeks at a time now. Fiji is on the horizon for a 25th anniversary, but after that I'll be back to Bonaire. I like the people and the reefs, but most of all I like diving my own schedule and not that of a boat.

Ive only seen a few other destinations but ... if it aint broke dont fix it . Bonaire would be a very tough act to follow . You wont find another island of such small size with so many quality shore dives . The topside on Bonaire is also hard to beat. My only regret , didnt find Bonaire twenty years ago.

Cozumel three times. We used to go there every other vacation to save money. It just got way too expensive for what you get. Not enough diving. Our next trip to Bonaire will be our third. We've found our piece of paradise. No need to search further. (BTW-We can't afford Fiji or Tahiti) So Bonaire is "IT" for us.

Sue and I are lucky enough to take a couple of trips a year. We try to do a live-aboard trip and/or something new each year.

Besides our yearly trip to Bonaire, our repeat destinations are: Turks & Caicos(West Caicos and French Cay), Little Cayman, and the BVI.

Dove Truk Lagoon and Kona, Hawaii, but the Pacific makes for a long trip from NJ.

This gives us a mix of new adventures and time at a familiar "home away from home".

For me - other than Bonaire - my repeat destinations have been:

Florida Keys
Cozumel
Roatan
Turks & Caicos
Grand Cayman
Little Cayman
BVI's

But honestly - there's no place like home, oops, I meant Bonaire.

Cecil, you lucky devil!! I've never been to the Keys! Gosh.....I wish I had been a scout in your troop!!

I could be wrong, but I think that visiting numerous dive spots is something new divers, or people in their 20's or 30's, want to do? From the responses, it looks like everyone is pretty much on my side, as far as going somewhere different year after year.

John and Sue,

I've never been to the Turks or the BVI's, but I love Little Cayman!! Ever eaten at the Hungry Iguana? Where do you stay?

We are on our tenth consecutive year to Bonaire and 15th visit.

Other trips Maldives - will be back hopefully next year for Sue's special birthday. Manta, Hammerheads, grey reef etc. etc. We still need to see a Whale shark.

Florida Keys - did our first PADI courses here and Crystal River when Hurricane Lily pushed us up north from the Keys.

Maui - the whale song under water - your chest resonates with it and the Big Island.

Red Sea booked three times and each one was canceled due to a flare up in region. Maybe one year. First time Kuwait was invaded, 2nd Scud missile threat to Eilat the week before and 3rd Jordan and I can't remember what cancelled it now.

Bahrain - PADI pearl diver speciality.

Grand Cayman

Tobago - Wow big currents

Barbados - The Stavronikita what a dive.

Indonesia Kungkung Bay Resort and Siladen Island. Critters WOW. We will be back.

Bonaire was my first diving experience (December '05), unfortunately later in life than I wanted (I was 56 then). Did my OW course at Buddy Dive, but stayed in a SunRental house with pool (which was way more than I needed to spend, but way cool, too!). My first dive site (other than Buddy's Reef for the OW course) was Something Special, and I was absolutely blown away. I knew that I had picked the right avocation!

Then I tried Dominica (excellent), Grand Cayman-East End (excellent), and back to Bonaire in December of '06 where I completed my AOW with Buddy Dive. I decided then that I will return to Bonaire as my "anchor island" every year, as I have gotten to know many of the people, restaurants, roads, and culture. And the diving is the best! Especially the shore diving opportunities.

Then, my travels took me to the Explorer II live-aboard in the Turks & Caicos (very good), Florida Keys (NOT impressed!), Little Cayman (Pirates Point Resort and excellent diving on the Bloody Bay Wall), and then back to Bonaire this past December/early January. Going to Belize in 10 days to do the Belize Aggressor live-aboard -- so my first time diving in Belize. Then I go back to the East End of Grand Cayman at the end of this June, and already booking my December '08 trip back to Bonaire. That's my M.O., and I'm sticking to it!

Whenever I can take a two week vacation gig, I will be somewhere around Palau, Yap, Truk Lagoon, Fiji -- that sort of thing. But Bonaire once a year for sure!

Danielle and I always return to the same Greek island, Chios. It's always great to get back there, feels a bit like home away from home, just like you said, Tad. Maybe we qualify as old farts now, but I don't care. Chios is a great place to go, it's the third largest Greek island with hardly any tourism, green and lush in the north, dry and rugged in the south, with lots of traditional Greek culture. The snorkeling is not very exiting, but interesting enough. I don't know about the diving, but there is enough of interest under water to have a diving school there, which is not very common on Greek islands.

Steve, great MO, and Thank you!!

You sound like you have settled on a couple of my favorite spots as well!!

East End Grand Cayman-I stay at Morritts, and have been diving with Mo and Steve at Ocean Frontiers for over 10 years!! Best Dive Op on the planet!! Tried Red Sail and Tortuga years ago, but nothing even came close to OF.

Little Cayman Pirates Point- Don't you just love Gladys, the owner, as well as Gay and Ed. I love their little bar where you serve yourself!! BTW, Gay wrote a book a couple of years ago "So You Want To Live On An Island".

You will love Belize!! I have never done a live aboard, and look for to a trip report when you get back!

Alex,

I have never been to Europe diving, but maybe someday........Chios sound great!! I love places that are off the beaten path for most tourists!

I only take a week at a time, and being in the air more than a few hours keeps this old fart heading to the Caribbean.

Same here Tad. We are currently going between very heavy diving vacations and very heavy sailing vacations so it's what is closest works. And yes, we dive when we sail but it's not like when we go on "real" dive trips where it's eat, sleep, dive. Our diving vacations are usually Bonaire and our sailing vacations are usually BVI's. Ahh for the day we live on our own sailboat... SLAP... OK I'm back now.

Tad,

We have been to Roatan 3 times until we discovered Bonaire. Now Bonaire is our favorite. We have been 5 times. This year, because I have Marriott points that needed to be redeemed and there is no Marriott on Bonaire (THANK GOODNESS)we are going to Curacao. We are unsure how to handle this. We accept the fact that it wont be as relaxing or undisturbed. We are certain there will be good diving in some areas, and that we won't get to know islanders on a personal level like we have in Bonaire. But, we will manage. The stipulation to this trip is that we return next year to Bonaire!

Yo Mo,

I am SOOOOOOOO envious!!! I don't visit the rest of this country anymore when I go on vacation. Maybe a 2 or 3 day trip here or there, but nothing serious!

I have always wanted to learn to crew a sailboat!! That is the ONLY thing that could keep me from a week of diving!! Is it a large sailboat with a bunch of people, or a smaller one with only a few? That would just be SO COOL!!!!!!!!!

Tad --

Yes about the East End of GC. I was at Compass Point the first week of July 2006, and really loved the diving (valet!), dive sites, and the dive masters there -- TJ, Caz, Spencer, Art, et al. Will be back there this June 28-July 5.

And, yes -- at the Pirate's Point this past July we found Gladys to be an absolute hoot. Loved the self-serve bar and the gourmet food. Gay is an excellent DM, as are Marty, Osh, Peter and Ingrid. Gay and Ed are building a new house right down the road from the resort, toward the airport. I have certainly seen Gay's book, and thumbed through it, but have not read it.

Like another post on this thread, I have stuck to the Caribbean -- our "back yard" -- simply to reduce flying time to more distant diving sites. That is why the South Pacific will need to await a two-week vacation.

Tad,
We've been to Bonaire 13 times, 14 in May over the past 22 years! Always try to take 2 weeks ,so we really unwind. But to answer your question, Cozumel & Hawaii, Australia twice, Truk Lagoon, Fiji and Baja once. I've found as we get older, we don't recover from the long flights as fast. We still have a wish list, Red Sea, Indonesia and Fiji again, but don't know if they'll happen.

Okiediver,

I've been to Roatan once as well. Stayed at Fantasy Island. I loved the diving there as well, but I kept being drawn back to Bonaire and Cayman.

I think someone has a great business opportunity out there. A "Timeshare" sail/dive boat. Instead of buying an RV and touring America when I retire, I could handle a few weeks in the Caribbean!!

OkieDiver --

I will be really interested in your evaluation of the diving in Curacao -- even if you send it via private e-mail. Two of the scuba magazines to which I subscribe -- Scuba Diving and Sport Diver -- have run articles on Curacao diving and they make it sound appealing. Not nearly as many sites as Bonaire, and not the shore diving opportunities (at least, they were not highlighted), and but a nice looking wreck (don't recall the name) and some wonderful coral-laden reefs.

Anyone else dive Curacao and want to weigh in?

I have been to Cozumel (as a snorkeler, years and years and two marriages ago). Beautiful water. Lots of cruise ships. And pretty much drift diving, as I understand it. Not sure I would care for that modality of diving, since I love to go slow and whip out the camera at opportune moments.

Tad,

We charter/rent a sailboat for ourselves. Last year we had a 54 ft boat with 3 other people and then mid week our son joined us. This year we will charter a smaller one (about 38ft we think) and it will pretty much be just my husband and myself. We'll have Boy for a few days and then he goes on his own summer sailing/diving trip with SeaTrek BVI. Last year we had a teaching captain with us but this year we will be going solo. I'm VERY excited about it as we will be doing two weeks as well. Now the question is which charter company and which boat. All we know is that we want a monohull beyond that who knows. We know what boat we would like to own but I have NEVER seen them chartered.

BVI's snorkle and resort dive 1996
First dedicated dive trip to Cozumel 1999 , Palau 2 times
Yap once
Roatan 5 times
Bonaire 5 times
Maine coast with sea lions 1
Monteray Ca with otters 1
Indonesia/Bima/Komodo 1
Bonaire again this year.. yippeeee

Steve,

TJ certified the battle ax, (my better half) 2 years ago. We are going back down May 3rd-10th. These guys are good friends of mine. I started diving with them when they had a wooden shack the size of a walk in closet for a shop, and had to ferry you out in a dingy to get to the NautiCat, because they had no dock.

We are having dinner with Steve, Mo, their wives, and TJ while we are down in May. I'm telling you......these guys are a class act!! So is Compass Point!! Outside of Bonaire, I visit them the most!!

As far as being "Older" when you started diving........the bottom line is YOU DID IT!! You and I both are going to be better divers in our 70's, than these 20 something wonders, who think they know it all!!

I think Freddie will back me up on this, as she is one of the elder states men/women on this board.

Tad --

You have a private message from me.

Indeed I know the NautiCat. That was my boat every day (didn't have the exhaust fumes that divers on the Hawk reported). Having the dock is a good thing! :o)

It was great to sit on my deck (I was in the building on the right side as you face them with back to ocean, first floor, room on the far right), finish my coffee, walk 40 paces to the boat, board, and be gone. Gear all set up. No muss, no fuss.

Bonaire remains my absolute favorite. GC East End is in second place.

Hey Tad easy on the age thing. I DO have dirt older than me in the yard.. LOL I started diving when I was in my 40's so I am a relatively "new" diver with 12 yrs in the water and over 1000 dives.. I crewed on a dive boat for a few years and I give guided tours of a local dive site..

Yo Mo,

So like.........how do I learn to do something like that!!! You and your husband can really rent, crew, and sail a boat from one island to another? And dive as well!! THAT IS JUST SOOOO...AWESOME!! How did you all get into it?

We all have things we want to do, but haven't yet. Sailing and diving like you all do is at the VERY top of my list!!! While I haven't aged at all, most of my buds aren't getting any younger!! It's time I found a way for us to do it......and quit talking about it!!!

Freddie, My Dear...

We are ALL in VERY, EARLY, Middle Age!! I was referring to your status on the board here, not your actual age!! I apologize!! I can see it is a sensitive subject.....:-)!!

From one old fart to another......

Florida Keys - one trip
Southeast Florida - Jupiter and Palm Beach -several trips
Bimini (Bahamas) - three trips
Bonaire - every year since 2000 - trip #9 in July.

The reason we keep going back to Bonaire is the ease of diving and the stress free topside lounging. At our ages, we are not into contests of who can dive deeper or longer, or who fought the current successfully vrs who was struggling. The diving we want to do is warm, open water, recreational which primary purpose is to be fun! And thats why we keep going back!

And let me add - my sweet baby girl lives in Maui, and when we visited her we didn't take our gear because we wanted the week to be all about her and showing us her favorite things to do....

Next time we'll bring our gear! The water was pristine!

(She was certified when we all were as a family, but she got in with surfing over there, and hasn't been diving in 8 years. We keep hoping she meets someone who will reignite the spark of being below the water!)

Gail, when she finds the ONE, make sure he has a brother, for Kayla!!

My first dives were in Bonaire. It makes Florida look so sad... dead reefs, not pretty!! But the places I've gone with Kathy and Larry have been cool!! One day we'll go to other places...I'm taking notes from this thread!

I've been to Bonaire 8 times and obviously love it. Also been to the other "famous" dive destinations in the Caribbean but keep returning to Bonaire because I love being able to dive on my own schedule with shore diving and Bonaire is No. 1 in the Caribbean in that area. We have been to Palau,Cocos,Layang-Layang,Thailand,etc. and the diving is definitely much more exciting and beautiful but it takes so long to get there and costs twice as much. However, if you want to spend the money and can take being on a plane for 24 hours I would highly recommend going to Palau if I had to suggest one "trip of a lifetime". You will see more in 20 minutes of your first dive than in a lifetime in the Caribbean. You'll see so many sharks that they will become as uneventful as seeing a pufferfish on Bonaire.
On another note - I am currently planning one last major dive trip before I get too old - Wakatobi in Indonesia. It sounds fantastic and also has great shore diving. Has anyone on Bonaire Talk been there. I would appreciate the opinion of people who have been there and Bonaire from a comparison point of view.

Off track - Hi Pegi Sue. Danielle is home for 2 weeks between jobs, and since she paints, too, I showed her your web site. She's wanting to get in with a local artist group on Maui, now that she'll have more standard hours....! And start selling some of her work!

And I KNOW there's plenty of diver boys in the islands, too!

I keep looking, at all of the places we dive (to stay on topic). I'll find one worthy of my approval!!

And on topic, I think that this is a killer thread!! Tad, ya done good!

Thanks, Peg Sue!!!!

I'm not credited with doing much right, but when I do......it's good to hear!!

My husband and I have made many trips to Cayman Brac. We like the laid back atmosphere! You will be told there are few shore diving areas there but we've only been on a boat once. The swims are long to the walls, but just take it slow on the surface, go down and come back underwater. The walls are awesome. The sand flats offer rays, jawfish and much more!
Of course, Bonaire is my favorite with over 30 trips since Feb 98.

Grand Cayman - 4
Cozumel - 4
Virgin Islands - 4
Bahamas - 4
Jamaica - 3
Florida Keys 100 +

Been there done those...

Turks and Caicos 2006 --- Bonaire 2007
and we will go back to both of these again soon !!
2nd trip to Bonaire in Sept. (is it here yet?)

Steve,

I will be sure to post a trip report about Curacao when we get back if that is OK to do here on BT. I have yet to find any kind of real forum for Curacao so if someone knows one, let me know. I just get the feeling it won't be the same--Bonaireans and those of us that love it are just the best kind of people!

Not sure what it takes to be an "old fart". I'm just now about to hit "middle" age of 62, exactly half of the 124 I have planned. Next year I plan to extend that to 126. YMMV

Gail - thanks for reminding me to add Bimini to the multiple trip list. I have a relatively small one time only list which were usually live-aboard trips.

Tad - it's actually a lot easier than you think to get started sailing (and renting/crewing your own boat). And good lord man you are pretty close to Annapolis the "sailing capitol of the US". Well it might not be the sailing capitol but it does have LOADS of sailing and sailing schools. The easiest way is to look up some sailing schools on line. Look at the ASA website - American Sailing Academy. They will have a list of sailing schools. Get your basic keelboat certification and do some weekend sailing. Then go for your next course or do some private lessons. Do some weekend liveaboard trips. You'll be doing it sooner than you think.

We got our Basic Keelboat back when we first got married (it was my Christmas present to him/us). Then last April I went to the BVI's for a week with Womenship Sailing and lived on the boat and sailed with the captain - and completed my liveaboard sailing course there. In the summer I didn't want to be the only one "in charge" so I got a teaching captain to come back with us and she taught and we learned. By the end we were doing all the work and all the sailing. We are now fine to rent a sailboat and do it ourselves. And if you've never been to the BVI's the islands are REALLY close together. The only island you sail to where you might lose sight of land is Anegada. Other than that you can see the islands (one from another).

The diving is easy as there are multiple places to either get tanks or fill tanks. The hardest part for us was how to store 8 tanks...but we did it.

If you want more info PM me and I'll give you more details. Like I said though - it's a LOT easier than you think.

Well... Id add that as a 38 yr old "young" fart, my family has settled on returning to Bonaire over and over and ......

My 9th trip is April 6 with my wife and our 4 and 2 yr olds of which they have already been to Bonaire 4 and 3 times respectively. My in-laws are working on their 13 or 14? Something like that..

We have like many of the posts above have dove Coz, Roatan, Hawaii, The Keys etc on more than one occasion.

But we have managed to settle on Bonaire and our only regret is that we didnt buy our own little piece a few years back...but there's time.

T minus 3 weeks. Please no Hilton...........

Cecil,
You lucky dog...
Please get some awesome photos of the CBBJ, Caribbean Banded Box Jelly (aka BBBJ). If you see a specimen, please report it to Stinapa (Ramon).
Thanks,
Bud

Bimini is great as long as I don't have to go ashore there.

Next to do with only a little travel involved are the Dry Tortugas.

I'll keep an eye out for one Bud.

Tom,

I just got caught up on reading the threads, and noticed your comment about Bimini and not going ashore. Did you do the Blackbeards deal and if so, how was it?

Liveaboards, like cruise ships, don't interest me, but a sailing/dive vacation does, if I would be allowed to help on the boat!

Tad,

I've done Blackbeards a few times and you don't really help on the boat. We didn't wind up sailing much if at all so it wasn't like you were learning much of anything in that respect. I would say that you can fashion your own sailing/diving vacation from say a Moorings or SunSail out of the BVI's. PM me if you would like to discuss more. It's a great opportunity. OH and you can try the Cuan Law as well out of the BVI's. That is also a liveaboard BUT it's a Trimaran and if they're sailing you can sail.

YoMo,

You've got a PM from me. Thanks for the help!!

Tad - you have one back

Anyone on the board snorkeled Palau?
We are not divers but are very interested in Palau...I hear it is great, but do you need to dive to see the abundant life, or can it work as a snorkeler?
I would appreciate hearing from any of you who have snorkeled Palau.
Thanks....

The best analogy I can think of about snorkeling in Palau would be like going to the highest rated 5 Star restaurant in the world and only having an appetizer for dinner. However, it would be the best appetizer you've ever had. If you stay at the Palau Pacific Resort the snorkeling off their beach is incredible. The tidal variation there is 6 - 8 ft. so part of the day the coral is touching the surface and the other part of the day it is several feet down. You will see more in 15 minutes than a lifetime of snorkeling in the Caribbean. Also - many of the rock island dive sites are fantastic for snorkeling as the wall starts in about 5 feet of water. You can cruise along the edge of the wall and look down for 1000's of feet into the dark blue. The Ngemelis wall would be the prime snorkel site for this. It was there I was snorkeling between dives and turned around to see a grey reef shark about 10 feet away giving me the once over (don't worry ,they're harmless) They also have a soft coral tunnel in just a few feet of water and giant clams in probably 15 ft. near that site. In other words - its fantastic!! I would go to Sam's Dive tours website and correspond with them about this subject - they can also arrange accomodations.

Pete you have mail -

I agree Bonaire is great & deserves to be repeated; however for a total relaxation & fabulous boat diving (only boat dives) I'd go back to Saba any day, over & over. Awesome marine life & SMALL laid back island. Total of 5 divers max on the boat our entire week; half of our dives it was me, my buddy & two divemasters! Talk about getting spoiled!