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03-21-2002, 05:09 AM,

My DH and I are trying to plan vacation time. He wants to go back to Cozumel and I was thinking we'd try someplace new like Bonaire. Anyone been to Bonaire? 8)

tbrown · 04-29-2002, 08:04 PM,

Bonaire rules! Big Grin

There are several things about Bonaire that are great. If you rent a vehicle (a must) you fill the back with gear and as many tanks as you can hold, and off your go. The sights are marked, so you drive until you reach one, gear up and go! You don't have to worry about meeting a boat (although most places offer boat dives) and you have no schedule except your own. The reefs are in great shape and there are plenty of different sites. There are single reefs, double reefs, walls, drift diving, wrecks, and even some cave and caverns. The fish are plentiful and the only problem is no matter how long you are there, it is not long enough. There are many books/websites that give the details of the individual sites, so you just pick the ones that look the most interesting and go. Now that AA is offering flights, it's becoming cheaper to fly. Shore diving is much less expensive than boat diving in Coz. But as you already know, Coz is pretty hard to beat.

***jasondbaker*** · 04-30-2002, 08:48 PM,

How does the cost of a trip to Bonaire compare to Coz? Figuring travel, hotel, diving, etc... My father has raved about the diving in Bonaire as well.

tbrown · 05-01-2002, 02:22 AM,

I thought it was cheaper than Coz, especialy when you figure in shore diving. The plane ride was much longer, but now with AA flying there flights are about the same, sometimes a little cheaper than Coz. I stayed at an apartment. It wasn't great, but it had all the esentials and included a truck rental, less than Coz unless you went with the Barracuda, and even then only on special. I can't remember what our dive package cost, but it was ALOT less than Coz. I don't even want to think what 27 dives on Coz would have ran, but on Bonaire I think it was $60 for the "as many tanks as your vehicle can hold" deal. Coz used to be dirt cheap but ever since they put in that !@#$ing golf course, the prices have went up. Heck I think even the regular rate for the Barracuda is now $70 a night. That's actually the reason that we went to Bonaire, because the trip (without factoring diving) was less than Coz, at least at the time we went.

05-01-2002, 11:27 AM,

If I remember correctly, we had 8 days/7 nights at the Costa Club with 4 boat dives per day for 5 days + introductory shore dive for $795 p/p. Â Airfare and food extra. We didn't need a vehicle, walking across the street to the boat (Dive Paradise) or downtown for a meal. Â We did take a couple of taxi rides back from downtown for $2.40 US one-way. Average breakfast price was $7 p/p US per day 8) Lunch was on board the boat. Dinner was about $45 US for two/per day

tbrown · 05-01-2002, 04:56 PM,

Our trip was about $1,300, not including meals, but with air & diving, staying at Aquaviva apartments. This was for both my wife and myself, and vehicle was included and very needed. No boat to pick us up :'( At the time we went there, there were no specials at all for Coz. I think we ended up saving a few 100, from what Coz was offering at the time. How did you like Dive Paradise Starfish? I have never used them but some of the package deals seem to, and I was wondering how you liked them. No matter how great Bonaire is I always like going to Coz. Coz is where my wife and I got married so it's sort of anniversary thing, or at least every other anniversary ;D

05-07-2002, 04:15 AM,

Hubby and I got a package deal to go back to Cozumel at the end of May. We will be diving with Dive Paradise again. That should say something. The only minor problems that I had with DP were minor. 1) We did the "welcome dive" from shore to get our bouyancy checked for salt water versus fresh water. Initially they had that counted as one of our dives! So we had to straighten that out with them. 2) We were there just before US's Labor Day in August. It is the slow part of the year then. Some locations they just were not going to. 3) After the first morning dive, the deck hands would swap out your tank. They didn't always set things up properly. Not a huge deal, as you should check your setup yourself, but something to keep in mind. The positives: 1) When my DH had to sit out due to an ear problem, the shop gave him a rain check on unused dives. 2) The DM always asked if we had a preference for dive sites and would arrange based on the best time to be there i.e. first in the morning or for the 2nd dive. 3) While we had 8 people per boat, we never felt like cattle. My best advice is to talk with the main shop were they all speak english well (some of the staellite shops they don't). Tell them what your expectations are, and they are willing to work with you.

tbrown · 06-04-2002, 06:24 PM,

Just checked into Bonaire prices, ouch. Looks like it's back to Coz for our next trip. Not that I ever thought of Coz as a consolation prize.

LKunze · 01-14-2003, 09:31 AM,

Someone at Scubaboard posted a trip report on Bonaire. Doesn't sound like he was very happy with the trip overall. Here is the link.