Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in
Bonaire

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Buddy Dive Resort, Sep, 2010, by Brian F Vickery, AZ, US ( 2 reports). Report 5726.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I found Bonaire to have the BEST reef diving in the Caribbean so far in my travels. I would go back there in a heartbeat! The variety and abundance of reef fish was unbelievable. Turtles were seen on many of the dives. Squid, octopus and many variety of eels were found. I only saw one seahorse, but it was the biggest one I've ever seen. The tarpon and barracuda were ENORMOUS! The corals are beautiful, but bleaching was evident on every dive! You can also see the damage inflicted by Hurricane Omar, the sea fans look like somebody took shotguns to them. I found the northern dives sites to be the more pristine reefs: Oil Slick, 1,000 Steps, Weber's Joy, Karpata. They all have tougher entries and a bit more surge than the southern sites, but it's worth the extra effort. The boat dives off Klein Bonaire were very nice too. The air temp was 80-85 degrees, afternoon thunderstorms virtually every day, but only lasting a few minutes. The water temp was 84-86 degrees, a 3mm wetsuit was plenty warm. The visibility was anywhere from 40ft to over 100ft depending on the dive site. The northern sites had the 100ft viz, the southern had the lesser viz due to the sandy beaches and spawning sponges. Buddy Dive Resort really has a nice set-up when it comes to accommodating divers. Multiple gear lockers and gear rinse tanks, both dock side for easy boat diving, and road side for shore diving. Tanks are easy to get, both air and nitrox, both dock side & road side. The drive-thru tank station is ingenious. The dive shop is fully stocked with gear and accessories, and the people there are friendly and helpful. The rental trucks provided by Buddy Dive were all in good condition. There were no issues with break-ins or theft with our group, everybody followed the guidelines (windows down & doors unlocked at all times) so there were no incidences. The rooms at Buddy Dive were very comfortable and set up for divers. Tile floors and large patios were perfect for wet gear. The full kitchen in our unit was fully stocked with accessories and utensils. The A/C unit in the bedroom was powerful enough to cool the entire condo if you leave the bedroom door open. The breakfast buffet is really good with lots of variety. But I didn't care much for the lunch selection at the Buddy Dive Pool Bar. The pizza next door at Captain Don's Habitat was fantastic, they're served after 3pm, so you have to eat a late lunch if you want pizza. We ate dinner at a variety of restaurants downtown, the best being Donna and Giorgio's Italian Restaurant and Patagonia Argentinean Restaurant (The best filet mignon I've EVER eaten!), they were so good that we went twice to each! When we return to Bonaire, we'll definitely stay at Buddy Dive again!
Websites	Buddy Dive Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Fiji, Roatan, Curacao, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Cozumel, Sea of Cortez, Hawaii, California
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	calm, surge
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	There were no limits set since most of the diving is from shore and unguided. You're on your own to set your limits.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I'm not a photographer, so I can't gage their set-up. But from what I saw it was VERY camera friendly set-up.

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Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire

Buddy Dive Resort, Sep, 2010,

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