Dive Review of Tropical Divers Bonaire in
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Tropical Divers Bonaire: "Three Weeks for our Third Trip is Long Enough", Nov, 2022, by Ryan M Neely, MN, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 12794 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our third trip to Bonaire and our second time diving with Tropical Divers. It was our first time staying with Tropical Divers, however. In the past, we rented a private villa at an ecoresort on the island. We don't have enough great things to say about Tropical Divers. Their resort is close to the airport (it's literally on the other side of the marina that includes the Marriott and the Ocean Breeze Apartments), so getting to the resort from the airport was fast and easy. What surprised me quite a bit was that we never noticed the sound of planes coming or going. This could have been down to the buffer of the marina between us and the airport or it could have been thanks to the road traffic that is Julio A. Abraham Blvd. Directly across from Tropical Divers is the employee entrance to the Marriott, so there is often quite a bit of traffic. Julio A. Abraham also seems to be a local "shortcut" used to bypass the tourist traffic on Kaya International. Prisca and Sylvia (who operate Tropical Divers) are the absolute best. They are accommodating and welcoming. Prisca picked us up at the airport in our rental truck and, after our stay, Sylvia drove us in the same vehicle to Buddy Dive (where we stayed an additional week). We rented one of Tropical Divers' apartment suites--a one-bedroom apartment with kitchen a kitchen. The air conditioner was in the bedroom and the living room had lots of windows and a ceiling fan for air circulation. We left the air on in the bedroom and closed the door so we could sleep in the cool, non-humid, conditioned air. This allowed us to lounge at ambient temperature the rest of the day. Diving on Bonaire is always great. We saw lots of great fish. We found two frogfish. We spent a half-hour with a family of squid who were posing for our cameras. They seemed to enjoy the attention and were super curious. It was fun watching the tarpon during our night dives, too. Tropical Divers' gear locker is spacious enough for everyone staying at the resort and their rinse tanks are always clean and ready for returning divers. What's great about their location is that they are not right on the ocean, so they aren't overly crowded. It offers a more intimate experience. But they're close enough to Calabas Reef that some of the Open Water students actually walk to the boat ramp entrance. We spent three weeks at Tropical Divers, putting in forty dives and touring the topside in between (getting lost on the island, which is our favorite). By the time we made it to Buddy Dive for our fourth week, we were toast. (I also had a mild DCI scare, which put us off diving for the week.) I don't have anything to report about the resort's COVID response. By November 2022, no one seemed concerned about COVID anymore, so I didn't see any specific protocols. Though, the resort did have the option for daily housekeeping (or no housekeeping at all). We had a great time and will definitely go back.
Websites	Tropical Divers Bonaire
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Vancouver Island, Northern Minnesota
Closest Airport	Bonaire International Airport	Getting There	We've been to Bonaire three times in five years. I think the only times we didn't have problems getting there was when we flew Delta during our first trip. We flew United our second time and American our third and ended up being routed all over the U.S. for multiple connections due to flight changes. Once we reached the final hub for the international flight, it's easy. One simple flight from Atlanta or where to the island is pretty straightforward.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	surge, no currents
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	100-200 Ft/ 30-61 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions. We merely needed to complete a checkout dive to prove we were properly weighted and that we wouldn't destroy the coral.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
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	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	I don't know if there is anything specific to Underwater Photographers to report. I shoot with a SeaLife Micro 3.0 (because I have yet to master or be able to afford a housing with a gasket). That said, there were plenty of rinse tanks specific for cameras and masks (as most resorts have on the island). I brought a small surge protector power strip along to charge batteries. The apartment had plenty of free WiFi and space for me to download, review, delete, and edit images to my heart's content.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Tropical Divers Bonaire in Bonaire

Tropical Divers Bonaire: "Three Weeks for our Third Trip is Long Enough", Nov, 2022,

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 Tropical Divers Bonaire in
Bonaire