Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in
Bonaire

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Buddy Dive Resort: "Pretty Good Caribbean Diving", Apr, 2023, by David Marchese, PA, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 42 Helpful votes). Report 12449.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our first trip to Bonaire. I've avoided it up until now mainly because we are spoiled liveaboard divers and didn't want to deal with lugging all our equipment (including my full size DSLR rig) from our rental truck to the water. We bought a package that included our room, three 2-tank boat dives, a pickup truck, unlimited shore dives, unlimited nitrox, and breakfast. The resort is clean but basic. By luck, we had a ground-level room. Our friends had a 3rd floor room, which required them to schlep their gear up and down stairs. There are no elevators. Buddy Dive provides lockers and rinse tanks near the filling stations, so we didn't have to drag our gear back and fourth to our rooms each day, but we still took cameras, dry bags, and computers. If we go again, we will request a ground-level room rather than relying on luck. We used our boat dives for Klein Bonaire. However, not only were the reefs of the main island better, but when diving on our own, we were by ourselves. There were between 8 and 14 divers on the boat dives, and Buddy Dive enforces strict rules: follow the leader, 60 minutes maximum dive time, and 100' maximum depth. The boat operations were clearly geared to beginners. By contrast, we never saw other divers during our shore dives, we were free to dive how we wanted, and we saw more fish and healthier coral. Some of the dive sites had rocky entrances, and others had tall ladders leading from a platform to the water. Those were challenging with my camera rig. Since my wife doesn't carry a camera (smart woman!), she'd enter the water first, I'd lower my camera to her, then I'd gear up and join her. Exiting the water with my camera was also challenging at some sites, but doable. However, with choppy water, it could have been difficult (and we are both strong and in shape). Some entrances were pretty challenging even without a camera. In general, we found the southern sites to be healthier and fishier. It was great to see healthy staghorn coral. We saw lots of turtles, octopus, squid, barracuda, giant travellis, eels, etc.
Websites	Buddy Dive Resort [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas, Fiji, Saba, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona, Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Malpelo, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi, Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Wakitobi, Alor, Marquesas, GBR
Closest Airport	BON	Getting There	Nonstop from Newark (EWR)
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	81-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Lots of restrictions for boat dives; none for shore dives
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Shore diving was difficult with a full DSLR rig.

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Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire

Buddy Dive Resort: "Pretty Good Caribbean Diving", Apr, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in
Bonaire