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Soft Scuba, Your Dive
Adventure Begins Here

Soft Scuba
Your Beautiful Bonaire Dive Adventure Begins Here

 

              Beautiful Bonaire! You arrived several days ago. You checked into your amenity-laden resort. You made contact with your dive operator, and scheduled your "Open Water Referral Certification Dives." You then relaxed and scoped out what else beautiful Bonaire had to offer. You made your preferred "must-do" list. You went to bed early and had pleasant dreams eagerly anticipating the following days' certification process.
              Hooray! You are now a certified diver. You earned it! Your certifying instructor was outstanding...an excellent role model. Now you and your buddy are descending a down line to a brilliant reef. The visibility is over 100 feet. The water is a sensuous warm. There is no current. You have become another denizen of Nature's aquarium. There are multitudes of colorful fish surrounding you. Small juveniles still in school. Larger individuals and pairs taking little notice of you. Your buoyancy and trim are perfect. You gently fin past multi-colored coral landscapes.
              You and your buddy share this "first" moment exploring the underwater Universe. All too soon you must surface, relax and then prepare for your next dive. A different site. You see some of the same colorful creatures. You discover new ones. What an exhilarating adventure! As you lazily fin along, you notice you are not using up so much air. You are becoming more at-one with this amazing, beautiful underwater world. On your way back to the ascent line you eagerly contemplate what your night dive will be like. What mysteries will unfold in this alluring mystical garden? My buddy and I eagerly await our next dive adventure under the calm waters of beautiful Bonaire's natural aquarium...

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Discover Bonaire
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"Fluffy's" Trip Report

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Beautiful Bonaire !
"The Natural Choice"

Bonaire Map

Bonaire is the eastern–most island of the ABCs—Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao—. It is located about 40 miles north of the Venezuelan coast, less than a 3–hour jet ride away from Miami. Bonaire is outside the hurricane belt, but can feel the effects of large hurricanes.

Slagbaai Washington Park The hills of Natural Bonaire's northwest end have much to offer— Slagbaai–Washington National Park has many less-dived sites. Follow the windy road beginning at the southwest end. Discover landscape reminiscent of a fjord... and flamingos!

 

Why is Bonaire a world-class favorite dive adventure destination?

  • Over 60 dive sites around Bonaire and over 26 around Klein Bonaire with wrecks, reefs, walls, shore dives and a protected underwater park (since 1979).
  • All dive sites are marked by mooring buoys. Some sites are retired for several years in order to remain healthy.
  • The visibility often reaches 130 feet and averages 60–100 feet.
  • Abundance of sea life of every size and color imaginable! Over 500 species of colorful tropical fish. Over 120 types of coral. All flourishing within a protected marine environment.
Clear, warm water, and the abundance of a great variety of sea life surrounds Bonaire. Much can be experienced by shore diving. A spectacular, dynamic, marine drama constantly unfolding—shape, motion, color and texture.

Diving!—From newly-certified to experienced olde-pro underwater photographers, Bonaire offers a very safe, pristine underwater environment. Shore diving is very easy. Enter the water, enjoy a relatively short swim along the surface, descend near the top of a wall or mooring buoy, multilevel up the wall, towards shore—much to see and experience!

Most dive sites are within a 15–20 minute boat ride away, or easily reachable as a shore dive. Most dive operators use large social boats, making for more comfort all around—shade, drinking water, room to spread out, relax, play "one-up-man-ship" about the biggest fish you ever saw and other spectacular dive adventures you had, while you assemble your gear.

Weather & Water—Year round air temperature averages—82 deg.F. Water temperature ranges between 78 deg.F. to 82 deg.F. Visibility runs between 60 to 130+ feet, and is usually around 100 feet.

Price Validity—All Package Prices are subject to change without notice, unless Paid-In-Full. Changes may be required in the event of increases or decreases in the cost of services imposed by hotels, dive operators, air carriers (if included in package), or other contractors. Government taxes can change at any time.

Dive Sites

The Marine Park extends all the way around Bonaire, from the high water mark to approximately 200fsw. Bonaire's narrow, fringing coral reefs encircle both Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. Recent survey by REEF has shown Bonaire's fish population is the most diverse in the Caribbean and ranks among the best in the world. There are four distinct zones, three of which are easily visited by snorkelers and about 80% of Bonaire's sea life is found here.

  • The Elkhorn Zone— Named for the large, dominant coral formations, this is the area closest to shore. These giant, branching corals (many measure more than ten feet across) are found in just a few feet of water, and provide a home for thousands of fish and other marine life.
  • The Coral Terraces— About 8–10 fsw, the Elkhorn Corals are replaced by a combination of other corals. There are three types of terraces—Sandy, Patch (Brain and Staghorn corals), and Coral. Sandy Terraces are mostly sand with an occasional coral, and the Sand Diver, Peacock Flounder, tangs, parrot fish, damsel fish, butterfly fish, angels, grunts, coneys, rock hinds, goatfish, hogfish, wrasse, lizard fish, scorpionfish, and more! are found here. Patch Terraces are a mixture of sand and two main corals—Brain and Staghorn. Coral Terraces are found off northern Bonaire and Klein Bonaire—these corals are densely packed.
  • The Reef Crest— In about 25–30 fsw, the coral dominates, with much action above the reef—schools of fish feeding off plankton, and others such as jacks which feed on these schools of smaller fish. Corals are of great variety—star coral taking shape in pagodas, pillars, mounds and even sloping, overlapping like shingles; and many varieties of soft coral and sponges. Sergeant Majors, grouper, parrotfish, snapper, shoaling chromis, jacks, tarpon, turtle, seahorses, frogfish, nurse shark, whale shark, rays and dolphin also frequent this area.
  • The Reef Drop–Off— 30 fsw and below is where most scuba divers visit to see deeper creatures. Leaf Coral and Black Coral adorn this area which slopes down...and...down!
NOTE: Before you pay your $10 annual Park Fee, you will go through about a half–hour presentation/orientation about the Park and dive sites, as well as the park Rules. It's a very informative presentation and well worth the time to absorb as much as possible. One of the best pieces of information we came away with was a comprehensive map of the island and the divesites. There are so many sites, that when you plan your day of shore diving, it is best to ask more about each site. With a rental car and buddy the majority of the sites are easily accessible from shore. Save your boat trips for Klein Bonaire and sites not easily accessible from shore—roughly six sites are boat only.

Dive Adventures with Plaza Resort
and Bon Bini Diving

High Season and Low Season—High season generally begins mid-December and ends mid-April. Higher rates are found during High Season and some holidays.

Plaza Resort and Toucan Diving Plaza Resort Bonaire and Toucan Divers— (Low season rates around $1192 diver, $873 non-diver)— Adventure per person, double occupancy includes: 7 Nights Accommodations (Junior Suite) - 12 boat dives(2-tank morning trips) - unlimited shore diving - weights/tanks/air/belt - 7-Day Car Rental including full insurance, unlimited mileage - all service charges and taxes on room and diving. Note that other dive package options include only one boat trip per day with unlimited shore diving, or unlimited shore diving only.

Plaza Resort Bonaire, a stunning 5–Star property, is located a few minutes from the airport, just a little south of Kralendijk, Bonaire's capitol. Sprawled over 12 acres of pristine coastline, its 200 airy suites and villas are either lagoon side or seaside and, set amidst tropical gardens. While it is always fun exploring Bonaire, especially in a rental car, the Plaza offers every amenity one might find elsewhere on–island—cable TV, A/C, telephone, safe, mini–fridge or in the fully–equipped kitchens, refrigerator, oven, dishwasher and microwave, white sandy beach, pool, poolside restaurant/bar, several restaurants and more bars, watersports, tennis, fitness room and "day spa"..."Beverly Bio Aesthetics", casino, games for kids, and much more...

Toucan Divers is a PADI, NAUI and IDD dive center, located on the premises of the Plaza Resort Bonaire. Three Island Hopper dive boats never carry more than 14 divers per boat and their schedule is flexible throughout the day. For shorediving needs, divers can drive right up and load fresh tanks. Boats, shop, fill station and storage all located together—very convenient. They also provide guided shore diving on the east, windward, side (weather providing) as well as the sites located within Slagbaai–Washington National Park.

Dive Adventures with Divi Flamingo
and Divi Dive Bonaire

Divi Flamingo Divi Flamingo Beach Resort— (Low season rates around $1189 diver, $789 non-diver)— Adventure per person, double occupancy includes: 7 Nights Accommodations - 17 or 18 boat dives(2-tank morning trips &
1-tank afternoon) - unlimited shore diving - weights/tanks/air/belt - all service charges and taxes on room and diving.

The Divi Flamingo Beach Resort is a colorful, casual resort painted in hues of blue, pink, and warm yellow. It has all modern amenities, with a delightful Caribbean atmosphere. They are located 1.5 mile from the airport and have 129 rooms.

Divi Dive Bonaire Divi Dive Bonaire is a PADI gold palm dive center located on the property. It's fleet of five custom dive boats, guest gear storage facilities, fully equipped dive shop and very experienced dive crew ensure you have a terrific dive adventure. Morning, afternoon, and night boat dives are available. Fabulous shore diving is available 24 hours a day from the Flamingo beach or dive dock. Divi Dive Bonaire offers a full range of certification courses for both advanced and beginning divers.

Other Dive Adventure Options

The above standard dive adventures can be somewhat custom-tailored re: length of stay, number of dives, type of room, and divers vs. non-divers in party. Do you want a Resort Course, become certified, go for advanced certifications and specialties, use the OW Referral to complete your basic certification? If you don't see what you are looking for here, contact us and ask.

We are also able to custom-tailor your dive adventure using other accommodations and dive operators. It is not difficult to find good value for any of our clients.


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