Bonaire or Curacao?

I'm planning our annual dive trip for next February and cannot decide
between Bonaire or Curacao. We like the idea of the shore diving and are
more into shallower reef dives than deep wrecks. Any advice/tips would be
appreciated!

Kevin

Kevin Rutterford wrote:
> I'm planning our annual dive trip for next February and cannot decide
> between Bonaire or Curacao. We like the idea of the shore diving and are
> more into shallower reef dives than deep wrecks. Any advice/tips would be
> appreciated!

http://www.peardrop.co.uk/Bonaire01.htm

- Keith

See the interesting thread "Holiday Suggestions" over the last week or so.

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## PH, London ##
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Kevin Rutterford wrote:
> I'm planning our annual dive trip for next February and cannot decide
> between Bonaire or Curacao. We like the idea of the shore diving and
> are more into shallower reef dives than deep wrecks. Any advice/tips
> would be appreciated!
>
> Kevin

Hi,

I was fortunate enough to go to both islands earlier this year. I would say
that the diving in Bonaire is slightly better on balance, but there isn't
much in it. We saw a greater variety of life in Bonaire, including turtles,
frogfish and seahorses which we did not see in Curacao (although they are
there so maybe we just didn't get lucky). The islands are pretty close
together, we transferred by ferry in about 2 hours. There is loads of shore
diving available in Bonaire, all marked out on the roads, etc. with yellow
stones, but we didn't bother because we had an unlimited dive package and
the boats went to most of the sites anyway so it didn't make sense to spend
extra hiring a car. We stayed with Captain Dons which I would recommend with
the caveat that the food is fairly pricy (there is a supermarket not far
away) and you *must* ask for a room upgrade because we got one without a
balcony and drying gear was a real pain. The accomodation is a bit 70s but
it's ok. We went for a meal in Lions Dive next door and it seemed a bit
nicer to me, but I didn't get to see inside a room.

In Curacao we also stayed with Habitat, which is a lot further from
civilisation. We actually preferred that although if you want to go into
town and the courtesy bus isn't running it costs about 25USD each way! The
resort is more modern and much nicer. We had huge rooms, large balcony,
cooking facilities, etc. The diving was still first class, and you can see
some pictures here: http://groups.msn.com/MarkWarrington/shoebox.msnw I
haven't gotten around to putting pictures of Bonaire on there yet, sorry.

Whichever island you choose you'll have a great holiday. If you want more
info or have more questions feel free to contact me off list.

Cheers, Mark.



"Philip Herlihy" <foof8500@REMOVEherlihy.eu.com> wrote in message
news:bltvna$79g$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
> See the interesting thread "Holiday Suggestions" over the last week or so.
>
> --
> ######################
> ## PH, London ##
> ######################
>
>
> Kevin Rutterford wrote:
> > I'm planning our annual dive trip for next February and cannot decide
> > between Bonaire or Curacao. We like the idea of the shore diving and
> > are more into shallower reef dives than deep wrecks. Any advice/tips
> > would be appreciated!
> >
> > Kevin
>
>

The islands are very different. If your prime requirement is good
unlimited shore diving then Bonaire gets my vote. Conversely, if you are
looking for a total holiday experience with similar diving but a great
Dutch/Caribbean/Latin American ambience then Curacao is hard to beat

They also have a "seaquarium" - rock pools fed from the ocean - which
purists would find naff but was really great fun. You can dive with a
variety of marine life, including large groupers, as well as sharks
safely the other side of wire mesh.


n message <l5ugb.4797$kA.1330868@wards.force9.net>, Kevin Rutterford
<kevin@rutterford.plus.net> writes
>I'm planning our annual dive trip for next February and cannot decide
>between Bonaire or Curacao. We like the idea of the shore diving and are
>more into shallower reef dives than deep wrecks. Any advice/tips would be
>appreciated!
>
>Kevin
>
>

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Best Regards

malarose