Bonaire

We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the year.
Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we will
be renting gear)?

Thanks
Brian

Just about any time of the year is a good time to go to Bonaire...
We like late April and late September.

Places to stay - I've been to Buddy's Dive and Divi. Both are nice -
Divi is bigger and has
the casino. I would stay at either one any time.

Dive Operators. Buddy Dive at the Buddy's Dive Resort is the only way
to go.
In fact if you are looking for a really easy dive setup, with
nice people, clean boats, and
the best thing - a drive through Tank/Refill station with fresh
water bins for cleanup.

Just my $0.02 worth..


"Brian J" <blj_junk@cox.net> wrote in message
news:Ukwsb.82$vJ6.57@fed1read05...
> We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the year.
> Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we
will
> be renting gear)?
>
> Thanks
> Brian
>
>

In article <Ukwsb.82$vJ6.57@fed1read05>, "Brian J" <blj_junk@cox.net>
wrote:

> We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the year.
> Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we will
> be renting gear)?
>
> Thanks
> Brian
>
>

Bon Bini Divers are good. I recommend Ocean View Villas if youdon,t want
to stay on the water in a resort. T lions Dive has nice accomodations.

--
--Chandler --
May Hog be your boatman when you reach the River Styx

Last year I went in June and the weather was not a problem. Stayed at
Captain Don's Habitat, right on the water, and dove three times/day. Tanks
always available so night dives were not a problem. Their boats were not
over crowded and did not have a bad dive site whether going off their dock
or off their boats. They also have packages to include x amount of boat
dives. Rented a car for going to various shore dive sites elsewhere on the
island. Accommodations were good also. AC in the bedrooms in the cabañas
or you can get a hotel-type room totally AC. The cabañas have two bedrooms
and a common living/kitchen area. No cooking area in the hotel-type rooms.
Enjoy your experience.

--
LeeS
"Chandler" <joechandler@munge}earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:joechandler-52D09E.05515314112003@news03.east.earthlink.net...
> In article <Ukwsb.82$vJ6.57@fed1read05>, "Brian J" <blj_junk@cox.net>
> wrote:
>
> > We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the
year.
> > Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we
will
> > be renting gear)?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Brian
> >
> >
>
> Bon Bini Divers are good. I recommend Ocean View Villas if youdon,t want
> to stay on the water in a resort. T lions Dive has nice accomodations.
>
> --
> --Chandler --
> May Hog be your boatman when you reach the River Styx

Just returned from third trip to Bonaire. First time we stayed at Buddy
Dive. Second time at Captain Don's Habitat. This time at Belmar. Would
recommend all three very highly. We like to try different places. The
nicest rooms by far are at Belmar, mostly because they are newer, probably
5-7 years old. The places all have great piers that you can dive on and
dive the reef. All are quite good. The bedrooms only are air-cond, due to
the very high expense of utilities on the island. Best deal is to rent a
vehicle and dive package that is all the air you can use. Shore diving is
very good and many places are very easy access, even for the most
un-experienced divers. Boat dives are good, but we like the freedom of
diving when and where we want. Each time we have used the dive operation at
the resort. All are good, knowledgeble, and friendly. The people are nice,
honest, and friendly. Have a wonderful time!!


"Brian J" <blj_junk@cox.net> wrote in message
news:Ukwsb.82$vJ6.57@fed1read05...
> We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the year.
> Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we
will
> be renting gear)?
>
> Thanks
> Brian
>
>

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 15:01:55 -0500, Brian J wrote:

> We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the
> year. Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive
> operators (we will be renting gear)?
>
> Thanks
> Brian


Check out http://www.caribinn.com/. Bruce runs a smaller inn with small
(but very fast) boats. Excellent prices. Most of the guests return every
year, so you gotta book ahead of time. I'd suggest rooms 1 and 2 if
you're shore diving. 7 and 8 are also very nice (second floor).

LateR!
js.
--
Jean-Sebastien Morisset, Sr. UNIX Administrator <jsmoriss@mvlan.net>
Personal Home Page <http://jsmoriss.mvlan.net/>
JS & Melanie's Homebrewery <http://brewery.mvlan.net/>
Underwater and Travel Photographs <http://www.mvpix.com/>

Forget the boats. Rent a truck and shore dive. You'll see the boats on
sites 50 yards from shore 90% of the time. For shore tanks, Toucan Divers
has two drive through places plus the one at the Plaza. Someone else
mentioned Buddy Dives drive through. Forget Divi for shore tanks. You now
have to haul them up from the dive dock to shore dive off the property.
It's not worth it to me. Divi is a pretty good place to stay and a great
surface interval just laying on the sun jetty and watching the KLM stews.
It's hard to go very wrong in Bonaire. We just got back.

--
Ross
www.myoldtools.com
"Brian J" <blj_junk@cox.net> wrote in message
news:Ukwsb.82$vJ6.57@fed1read05...
> We are thinking of taking a trip to Bonaire in the first part of the year.
> Any suggestions on time of year, accommodations, and dive operators (we
will
> be renting gear)?
>
> Thanks
> Brian
>
>

"My Old Tools" <ross@myoldtools.com> wrote in message
news:vrdbb2ebc9rve5@corp.supernews.com...
> Forget the boats.
> Rent a truck and shore dive.

Boy, that makes for a long surface swim if one wants to include Klein
diving.......

I'll give you that one, dive Klein one day, shore dive six.

--
Ross
www.myoldtools.com
"William Rampartson" <nosp@m.com> wrote in message
news:Vurzb.869$Jf4.56559@news.uswest.net...
>
> "My Old Tools" <ross@myoldtools.com> wrote in message
> news:vrdbb2ebc9rve5@corp.supernews.com...
> > Forget the boats.
> > Rent a truck and shore dive.
>
> Boy, that makes for a long surface swim if one wants to include Klein
> diving.......
>
>

"My Old Tools" <ross@myoldtools.com> wrote in message
news:vsvv15sfnfae87@corp.supernews.com...
> I'll give you that one, dive Klein one day, shore dive six.

I understand your opinion may be different, but I believe Klein is worth
more than one day. Because it has few shore divers at all it suffers less
damage from divers than Bonaire itself. Sad, but in my experience on
Bonaire, true. Plus at Klein they have been shutting down sites from divers
for regrowth, hence many of the sites are extremely healthy (or at least
healthy looking :^). Because of the shorediving access on Bonaire itself
they have, to my knowledge, shut down no Bonaire sites from divers. A nice
mix of boat dives in the morning and shore dives in the afternoon is a great
way to dive Bonaire and Klein. In my mind Bonaire is a long way to go only
to miss roughly 30% of the available diving sites by avoiding boat dives.

I also believe that a nice mix of cocktails at De Tuin, supper at Capriccio
and nightcap at Mona Lisa is a great way to dine on Bonaire.

> Ross
> www.myoldtools.com
> "William Rampartson" <nosp@m.com> wrote in message
> news:Vurzb.869$Jf4.56559@news.uswest.net...
> >
> > "My Old Tools" <ross@myoldtools.com> wrote in message
> > news:vrdbb2ebc9rve5@corp.supernews.com...
> > > Forget the boats.
> > > Rent a truck and shore dive.
> >
> > Boy, that makes for a long surface swim if one wants to include Klein
> > diving.......