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Dive Review of Buddy Dive/Sun Oceanfront Apts in
Bonaire

Buddy Dive/Sun Oceanfront Apts, Oct, 2006,

by Bill and Donna Goodwin, AL, USA . Report 2293.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 5 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments The shore diving, obviously, is what drives the diving style on Bonaire. Divers must have thich-soled booties for the sharp, hard shore. Entries are easy unless surf is up (seldom is). Infamous Bonaire petty thievery seems to occur most at sites in town and north of town. When going to those places we never leave anything of value in the car. To the south we have never seen or heard of thieves working the divers' cars. Our truck is always recognizable at the dive sites: "There's that truck again, the one with all the water bottles stacked up on the roof being warmed by the sun. When we go out for a day on Bonaire, we have 3 tanks apiece, lots of water for rinsing off and drinking, a cooler, cheese, baguette, cookies, etc, and spend the entire day either south or north. The "secret" to Bonaire diving (maybe ALL rec diving) is SLOWNESS. We had two dives that went significantly longer than 100 minutes this trip - it's those long last thousand pounds in the shallows where SO MUCH is going on. An excellent way to do it in Bonaire since there isn't too much topographical difference between sites is to find a place you like (above and below water) and do 2 or 3 dives there EVERY day, being sure to include one late in the afternoon for "rush hour" on the reef. This way you get to really see what's going on in the reef community. We discovered a phenomenon that happened every day between 5 and 5: 15 at a far south site: in about 12 feet of water we would suddenly find ourselves in the midst of what we began calling a "meteor shower" - an absolute avalanche of very fast swimming scads (rather largish bait fish) by the zillions who would come racing toward and past us, audible as they passed, and absolutely dazzle us for maybe 45 seconds. On the best days three such meteor showers would occur in the space of 15 minutes. Bonaire is the best for pure and easy fun diving, incredibly healthy reefs, and huge quantity and variety of fish life. SunOceanfront Apts have a perfect location downtown, walking distance to many good restaurants, and a very attentive management (Josie and Muys) and convenient, excellent dive operation (the great Bert for Buddy Dive).

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Grand cayman, Cayman Brac, Cozumel, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Bequia, Roatan, Key West, New Providence Is(Bahamas), Fernando de Noronha (Brazil), San Blas Is (Panama), Galapagos Is, Soccoro Is (Mex), Maui, Red Sea (Aqaba, Yanbu), Southern California (Channel Islands, coast), Cabo San Lucas, Loreto, La Paz
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather windy Seas noCurrents
Water Temp 84-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No gloves, no touching reef - otherwise no enforced restrictions
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments All resorts we "passed through" (most allow divers not staying there to use the facilities) had dedicated camera rinse tanks and photo ops on site.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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