Heading down to Bonaire

[jasondbaker]

I'm heading down to Bonaire the second week of March and staying at the Buddy Dive Resort.  I'm going on a dive trip with my father for the first time.  He was in Bonaire 25 years ago so he is looking forward to seeing the island again.  I heard that there is a group from Smith Diving staying at Buddy the same week.  If anyone has any recommendations what to see on the island let me know.

[Qix]

You are going to have a great time

The diving there is incredibly easy. This is probably the best place you can go to learn (or master) U/W photography. Definitely do a town pier night dive, you'll be down there for like 2hrs with Tarpon swimming right below you feeding off of your dive light!!!

You'll probably be fine in a 3/2 and if you tend to get cold after lots of repetitive dives, bring a light hood and maybe a vest. The air temps are very warm with that constant breeze going to keep it from being too much. Bring a decent boot (or your pair of rock boots) to walk in/out of the ironshore. Bring lots of your favorite sunscreen and bring some type of insect repellent since they can have no-see-um's. Make sure you bring (or buy) a small Witz case to carry valuables while you dive.

Driving there is a piece of cake and you'll learn the island and the town in just a few hours.

Definitely get your Nitrox certs done up here beforehand (if any of you need them). Then dive their mix the entire time since nothing is very deep.

I would suggest getting a copy of the bonaire shore diving book (I forgot the name now). They sell it there and it was very useful.

The restaurants there are awesome - I still think for the selections and the price it is the best diving / restaurant destination there is.

There really isn't much for shopping so maybe allocate a 1/2 day at most.

The park at the north end of the island was interesting. It will be really hot in the interior portions so you'll want to bring lots of water and dress light. There are some good photo opp's in the park area, especially if you take your time to explore a bit. IIRC, a big part of the park is a one-way so make sure you allow enough if you enter into the one-way system.

Theft has been an ongoing nuisance in Bonaire. The most recent batch of break-ins and thefts have even included having a in-room wall safe hammered out of the wall. Hopefully these people have been rounded up or routed out. That being said, don't bring lots of cash. And don't do things that advertise that you are gone (like turning off your A/C when out to dinner). Some people (if you read BonaireTalk) recommend scanning all of the important docs (Passport, DL, CC's, Cert Cards, etc) and then burning them into a thumbdrive with a secure password. That way if you get hit (and you keep this in your pocket) you can still prove who you are, have travel itineray, etc. And some people even bring small portable motion alarms for when thay are sleeping. Then, once you've done enough preparring ... stop preparring!!! Then just let go and relax have a great, fun and relaxing dive trip!

You're PBD will set in about 1/2 hour after your Jet climbs out of Aruba or Bonaire towards the US ... there's not much you can do about that

[jasondbaker]

Lots of great information! Thanks!  I'm definitely planning to bring the camera rig along for some macro stuff.  I picked up a pair of tusa booties that have a real nice thick sole for the shore dives.  I also bought the Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy book that you are talking about.  I'm going to research and plan out which dives to do ahead of time.  I've done liveaboard trips for the past several years so I'm looking forward to a land trip again.

[freedivernd]

hey Jason.. you'll have a great trip.. Sandy and I really enjoyed bonaire.  everything right off shore, great color, lots of fish, we had real good visibility.  oh yeah... it is hot hot hot.
Fred