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Diving Bonaire: Dive rentals/shop near Crown Courts
Bonaire Talk: Diving Bonaire: Archives: Archives 2008-2009: Archives 04-01-2009 to 07-31-2009: Dive rentals/shop near Crown Courts
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Melody Scruggs (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 4:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are planning a June trip with several families and will be staying at Crown Courts with Remax. Does anyone know the best dive operator near our house? We need equipment and will probably want a dive master to "show us the ropes" a day or two. We have also contacted Bas Noij about diving with us. Thanks

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff Stine (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #264) on Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 8:50 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think that Caribbean Club has the closest dive shop to there. It is up near oil slick leap. I never dived with them but have heard that they are very nice. I think the next closest, heading towards town, would be Don's and then Buddy's. When Bert was with Buddy's he delivered tanks to rentals at Crown Courts. I'm not sure if they still do that.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bruce Schnaak (BonaireTalker - Post #47) on Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 10:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jeff is correct regarding the closest. however, Dive Friends would and has been my choice when I stayed in that neighborhood. They've got 4 locations where you can pick-up/dropoff tanks the closest to you being at Hamlet. Add to that the abundant gear selection available for rental as well as a friendly, courteous, and professional staff and you've got the diving part of your trip settled.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jacqueline Hummel (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 10:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Melody,

I found this great site about Bonaire. They literally have every dive site, restaurant or accommodation listed on their site.

So they're bound to have a list of dive operators near Crown Courts.

Check out http://www.tourismbonaire.com

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Beth (BonaireTalker - Post #88) on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 2:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We stayed in Crown Courts this past FEB, the Dive Shop at the Caribbean Club was in the process of being renovated by Buddy Dive. We signed up for diving through Buddy Dive at the Caribbean Club and we could also use the drive through at Buddy Dive Resort (as they are the same operation)..it worked out great

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Melody Scruggs (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 4:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the great information. I have contacted Buddy's a couple of times but have not received a response yet. I will try the others today. We also heard from Bas and it sounds like he can dive with us a few days. Beth- how was Crown Courts? Which house did you rent? We have rented #6 and #13. Just curious about your experience.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Beth (BonaireTalker - Post #89) on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 8:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Melody,

We LOVE Crown Courts. We having been renting houses in Crown Courts for the past 5 years. One of your houses #13, looks over one of the houses we rented. One nice thing about it is diving off of Sabadeco Pier. As far as dive operations, we have always used Buddy's. In FEB if we were diving up North we would use the Buddy shop at Caribbean Club and if we were diving South we would go to Buddy Dive Resort.

I think you will enjoy staying at Crown Courts, it is a nice neighborhood, very private and everyone is friendly. The views are beautiful. I love staying in a house vs. a Resort..plus you can always go to the Rum Punch Parties to be social. Buddie's is on Friday at 5:30 PM and Captain Don's is on Monday's at 5:30PM

Here is Rob's email address from Buddy Dive, he is a great dive master and he is usually very good at returning emails

divesunrentals@buddydive.com (put Rob Verschoor in your subject line)

Have a great vacation..let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mimzyr (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 11:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Beth,

I am with Melody's group and we were wondering if you have any pictures of the house that you were in. We thought we were oceanfront? Is the #13 house up on a hill? The ocean isn't right out from the house?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Beth (BonaireTalker - Post #90) on Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 5:44 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi,

You know after thinking about your message and the house numbers...I think you are staying in Crown Ridge...not Crown Court. Crown Ridge is right in front of the Andrea Dive site and "YES" they are all ocean front (no homes in front of you) Crown Court #13 has a wonderful view of the ocean but it is not on the ocean, there are other houses in front of it. It is a huge 2 story home etc.

So I think you are staying at Crown Ridge, which is very close to Crown Court.

I have never stayed in Crown Ridge, but I have been inside a few units and I am familiar with the area.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mimzyr (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 5:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yes you are right, we are staying in Crown Ridge. We were under the impression that they were oceanfront so we were going to be a little disappointed. Thanks for the info!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scuba_mel (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 11:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Beth
We appreciate the information. Did your family dive with Rob?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Beth (BonaireTalker - Post #91) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 12:57 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We sent Rob an email before we headed to Bonaire to give him out dates etc.....when we arrived on Bonaire we went to the Buddy Dive Shop at Bonaire Ocean Front apartments and signed in for diving..got our marine park tag & weights, did an orientation dive etc.

We have been traveling to Bonaire for years so we did not use Rob as a guide, but he is excellent. BUT my husband used him as a fishing buddy ;)

I have never met Bas, but I have heard good things about him as well, so that would be another option for a guide. Either way you will need to go through a Dive Operator to get your marine park tag, weights and tanks. So you could sign up for diving via Buddy (or another operator) and then use Bas as your guide.

I would imagine that any dive shop on Bonaire would provide you with a guide. One nice thing about Bonaire is that the diving is very easy to navigate and you do not have to go deep to have an interesting dive. For shore diving, you find an easy entry and the reef is a short swim from shore. Once you get to the reef you gauge the current to determine your direction and then head either left or right and swim along the reef. The reef will be on one side and the drop off on the other...they mark the dive sites with yellow rocks.

The site right in front of your house (Andrea) is a nice dive, so you will enjoy that site.

I am soooo jealous.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2147) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 4:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

from diving andrea I i think i remember steps coming down the hill from crown ridge to the dive site. you will also have a nice ocean view. there had been some trees there but they were either cut down or topped (not a good idea from an ecological point of view in my opinion but it did improve the view).

we did a cai dive with bas noij a few weeks ago and loved it. he gave a first class pre-dive briefing and led a great dive. i'd recommend him if you want a guide...especially if you dive the east side.

 


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