There is a new opportunity for diving on Bonaire: www.purediver.com . For the curious and adventurous Purediver offers clinics in free diving. The web site has an amazing video of turtles and of course a free diver near Klein. Even if you don't care about free diving, this video is worth checking out the web site.
I have no affiliation with this new venture on Bonaire, just passing on this information.

Very cool Chris, thanks for posting the link.

I'm doing this clinic today, in fact. Since I can't hold my breath very long, we will see how it goes.

Just a quick update on the freediving clinic. I did it while I was in Bonaire a few weeks ago and it was fun and informative. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something "new" to try while on the island.

I have to admit that, as a diver (and one who doesn't ever use a snorkel), I was never particularly interested in freediving, and I had apprehensions before I arrived for the class. Even though the course requirements were few (fins, snorkel, mask), I couldn't even meet those basics (I didn't have a snorkel). But, once I got to the shop (all through www.vipdiving.com), Breno (the instructor) went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and equipped with everything I needed for the course.

The course itself is limited to four students (very nice and small), and is split into two components - classroom theory (about one hour) and practical application (about three hours). Breno did an excellent job going over the history of freediving and explaining why a freediver uses the gear he/she does (it is slightly different than scuba gear).

All very informative and interesting to me, especially since I didn't know anything about freediving before the class. One of the most interesting things I learned is that there are actually five types of freediving. Who knew?! And, thankfully, we weren't going to be practicing the kind that has you traveling to extreme depths (like Karol Meyer and Patrick Musimu do at Buddy Dive each year).

After the short classroom presentation, it was off to a local dive site for some practice of what we learned in class. For our clinic, we went to Alice in Wonderland.

What I found most surprising about the water part of the course is how much fun freediving can be. It took me a little practice using the snorkel (did I mention I don't snorkel...ever), but once I got the hang of diving with it in my mouth (remember it is NOT a regulator and you shouldn't try breathing it underwater...), things got really fun.

While I love to chill out underwater with SCUBA, you can't achieve total peace and quiet without holding your breath - which, of course, is not something you should be doing while you scuba dive. However, with freediving, it's all about the peace and quiet underwater. Fish and other critters don't get apprehensive and mostly they ignore you altogether. Plus, there are a lot of sounds underwater that you can't easily hear when breathing your regulator. All very cool.

And, the most important part...I learned that I can hold my breath much longer than I ever imagined. (Breno teaches you some specific techniques to help you build breath holding duration...again very cool.) I had a couple very zen freedives during the clinic. It was enough to sell me on the idea of trying another clinic with Breno when I return to Bonaire in June.

So, for any diver looking for something new to do (maybe on your offgas day before you fly home...or just if you need a break from diving non-stop), I highly recommend a clinic with Breno. It is very educational and Breno is a fun guy to hang around with generally.

Peace,
Liz

Oh...and we saw a Southern stingray during our clinic...that was pretty cool, too.

Hi Liz: Thanks for your very informative posting on this. Sounds fascinating and that you had a great time. Does anyone ever refer to this as skindiving anymore? Seems like now it's referred to as "free diving". Not quite sure if there's any difference between the two but at any rate, enjoy the rest of your trip!

And, you can hear more while freediving. I was following a parrot fish that was munching on some coral (and making sand?). That was very cool.

Bea

I echo completely what Liz says above about the clinic. It was fun, professional and informative. I recommend it for anyone!

Larry
Bethesda, Maryland

We participated in a clinic with Breno Lobo from Pure Diving on March 11. To us, a family of four (sons 8 and 10), who live on Bonaire, this was really a special experience. Breno makes you feel very comfortable in the water. The only goal is to enjoy the diving, not to dive the deepest or the longest. We were amazed by the feeling of the free diving and how easily we could do it. We felt happy and inspired afterwards and are going to do a next clinic with Breno some time soon. We recommend this clinic to everybody who's open to new experiences and is willing to try something different!
Inge Vos, Kralendijk