Greetings:

First, let me say this is a great forum! Folks here have such great insights - Just from surfing all the posts, I *almost* feel like I've arrived....

We're planning a shot-gun vacation for March. Need to get out of the cold Boston wind and snow -- been a tough winter.

Been researching flights, accommodations, et al and making progress.

In short, we're new divers, having been certifed in St. Croix in 2007. While on Bonaire, we're interested in doing 4 to 5 dives over the week.

We do not have any gear So, what's available for us in terms of renting complete gear for a week (everything) - without breaking the bank? I haven't been able to hone in on anything useful to date. Bottom-line - what's a reasonable amount to pay/person for a week?

Thank you in advance,

Paul

paul
check out divi dive. most places have rental gear. others should be chiming in soon
elaine

Paul..Welcome to BT.. There is a lot of competition amongst the dive operators on the island & accordingly you'll find that overall they all deliver an excellent product to the consumer. If they didn't they wouldn't last long in the competitive environment. The same is true with the restaurants on the island.

Probably the best answer to your question is to chose an operation which has the closest proximity to where you're staying. In the past, since we stay down south, we have have used Buddy Dive at Belmar with excellent results.

Here's a listing for you to investigate yourself. Most have web sites which post their prices.
Enjoy your trip!

http://www.infobonaire.com/diveoperators.html

Paul - welcome to BT and welcome to your first of many trips to Bonaire. Although you are new divers I would be very surprised if you did no more than 4-5 dives over the week. You certainly might not aspire to 4-5 dives per day like some of us but you will likely get more bottom time in than 4-5 dives. Leave plenty of time to relax and enjoy the rest Bonaire has to offer.

paul, welcome to BT. i agree with the previous posts about using a dive shop near where you are staying. we have always been partial to carib inn. their rental gear is good quality and well maintained. their boats are small and they usually only take 6-8 people on a boat dive. you get a lot of personal attention.

where are you going to be staying? we'll look for you while you're here.

Folks, Thank you for all your responses - very much appreciated.

Pat, Still nailing down our travel and accommodations. We've looked at the Belmar and Bellefonte, as well as some Craigslist postings.... Lighthouse Beach Resort for example. Lighthouse I understand is less a resort, but really private condos. Flights have been a challenge - not the arrival but the return leg.

Paul, welcome to BT. You can rent just about everything you need at very competitive prices at most dive shops. Some dive shops may not rent you boots (Bonaire Dive and Adventure for example).

I'd recommend that at the very least you supply your own mask; you can rent one but the fit might not be as good. I'd also recommend that you invest in pairs of hard sole boots, rather than renting them. These are the boots, my wife and I use at Bonaire. They are great in terms of protecting our soles from the rubble. 7 mm might seem a bit much for the waters in Bonaire but we use the same boots diving in the Caribbean of the Midwest as well!

Since this is your first trip to Bonaire, I would like to suggest that you go with a resort that has an on-site dive shop and decent dock access to the house reef. Belmar and Den Laman are two nice, newer, smaller places with on site dive shops and comfortable access to the house reef. Buddy Dive, Divi Flamingo, Eden Beach, are larger places with great diving amenities.

As for flights: Bonaire is not an easy destination but it's worth the effort. We live in Chicago and our preferred route is through San June in Puerto Rico. Our layover there is between 4-6 hours and that gives us an opportunity to get out of the airport and meet a couple of good friends we have at the Hostosian island.

(Message edited by lgreco on February 15, 2009)

paul,if you choose lighthouse beach resort you'll definitely see us. we are at LBR now and will be here till the end of april. you're correct, they are individual condos. we are about a 10 minute drive from town but have close access to the southern shore dive sites. we use carib inn as our lds. we get our tanks filled there and that's the first place we go if we need a repair or need to purchase anything.

good luck with your planning. hope to see you in march.

Paul, just left Bonaire 4 days ago. We stayed at Eden Beach with its associated Wannadive dive shop, on site. This was the second time we've stayed here and used Wannadive for our gear (for some of us) and to do boat dives. Wannadive people are helpful and professional. The shore diving right off the beach (at Eden beach resort) is amazing and almost makes needing to go somewhere else moot. There are some improvements needed at the resort like better food at the cafe, cruise liners spot, but all in all its great and we would go back in a heart beat. good luck........and have a polar for me

I agree with Chris. Wannadive is great. I have stayed at the Wannadive Hut as well. It's not the Waldorf but it's clean and the atmosphere is great.
I have not stayed at Eden but it is conveniently located.

I would not agree with Chris when he says, "The shore diving right off the beach (at Eden beach resort) is amazing and almost makes needing to go somewhere else moot." But that's not to say it's not enjoyable - just that there are plenty of amazing sites on the island, and that isn't even in the top 10.

I would stay away from Bonaire Dive & Adventure. I used them last January and was very disappointed after using Wannadive. In addition, my girlfriend was just learning how to dive and they gave her a rental BC that didn't fit her. She also had to swap out rental regulator 3 times because of various problems.

Whatever you decide you'll enjoy escaping the Northeast winter.

Paul,

My wife and I have been to Bonaire 4 times and have used several dive operators. Pricing is not greatly different among most that we checked out, and you would probably be happy with just about any of them on Bonaire. However, our favorite is "Dive Friends Bonaire", also known as "Yellow Submarine". They are competitive on pricing and have 4 locations across the island which makes it very convenient to pick up and return tanks almost anywhere on island. Very nice people to work with. Enjoy Bonaire...it is truly the very best scuba diving in the world (rated #1 of any location worldwide by Scuba magazine recently)

Don Dozier

I want to thank everyone for your suggestions. I've enjoyed reading all the responses. Unfortunately, we've had to change our plans for this March. However, based on what I've read - I can tell you we will be heading to Bonaire, as soon as we can. So until then, I'll have to be content reading the awesome trip reports and counting down the days... Thanks again, -Paul