Dive Review of
Bon Bini Divers/Ocean View Villas in
Bonaire

 [Unspecified] 

Dive Conditions

None  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Quick little trip to Bonaire hit the spot -- relaxation, no timetables.
Tim, one of the owners of Ocean View Villas was waiting for us at the
airport, showed us to the rental car agency, and had us follow him back to
the Villas (comprised of three apartments in the same building as Tim's
residence). Catering to divers, there are two studio apartments and one
large two-bedroom apartment. Nice and clean with newer kitchens and
bathrooms, and an additional private shower out the back door of each unit
(great for rinsing off equipment between days). Bonaire is a shore diver's
paradise: park your van on the side of the road, and just walk in. Previous
articles in Undercurrent indicated possible thefts from vehicles, so we
went prepared: don't bring anything in your rental vehicle that you aren't
going to take in the water with you, lock the steering wheel with a
"Club", and leave the windows/sliding door wide open. We had no
problems. Before your first dive, every diver must do a land
orientation/checkout dive with a local operator and purchase a $10.00
Marine Park Tag, even if you have dived in Bonaire before. This is one of
the reasons the reefs in Bonaire are so spectacular and show much less
damage than other destinations. No gloves allowed -- don't even bring them.
The dive operator affiliated with Ocean View Villas is Bon Bini Divers
located at Lions Dive Resort and provider of all our tank refills. Francey
and the others at Bon Bini were very helpful and attentive (my Cobra
malfunctioned and locked in surface mode and they offered the use of one of
their rental computers for free). Tank refills were easy through their
"drive-through" filling station out by the main road. We could
have passed on the few boat dives we did (1000 steps, Nearest Point, and
Small Wall) and would have preferred to do a few more shore dives instead.
It's a long haul for equipment from the Lions Dive parking lot down to the
dive shop. Underwater we found serene gardens, lush plants and beautiful
coral and sponges, with many tropical fish. Sightings included large
tarpon, eels, parrotfish, blue tang, trumpetfish, yellowtail snapper, a
honeycomb cowfish and a porcupinefish. Not too much large stuff at all, so
if you need a fix of sharks, mantas, etc, Bonaire is not the place to go.
Two favorite dive sites: Margate Bay and Hilma Hooker (wreck with an
interesting story behind it). Be very careful not to get small sand/coral
particles in your regs when taking equipment on or off -- with shore diving
all day and equipment in and out of the back of the van, it can (will)
happen really easily. Several restaurants and clubs in Bonaire are well
above average and really good. Tim's recommendations never failed us,
especially "It Rains Fishes", and an intimate Cuban bar called
"Little Havana" that spins old vinyl jazz records while you enjoy
Cuban rum and cigars. Bonaire is a destination to return to...
Great resources for the island is www.bonairetalk.com and
www.infobonaire.com. 
www.oceanviewvillas.com
www.bonbinidivers.com 

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