Dive Review of Bonaire East Coast Diving/N/A in
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Bonaire East Coast Diving/N/A: "Turtles Turtles Turtles and more Turtles", Feb, 2020, by Joel Snyder, AZ, US ( Top Contributor 30 reports with 30 Helpful votes). Report 11434 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	On a recent trip to Bonaire (Feb/2020), we scheduled a two-tank boat dive with Bonaire East Coast Divers. Because the East side of Bonaire is considered challenging to dive, we were interested to see what went on over there. The answer is "turtles." There are tons of sleeping turtles, large, small, and in between. You drift past them, waking some up, and watch for other creatures. We saw two small sharks, an eagle ray, and more turtles than we could count. If you want to photograph turtles slowly waking up and heading up for a breath, this is your dive. We didn't actually see any turtles doing anything other than sleeping, but this might have been the time of day and part of the reef we were on. The "East Coast Divers" (ECD) team has really figured out how to offer a more challenging dive environment to almost any diver. They are super safety-conscious, yet delivered some great dives. List price is $120 for a 2-tank dive. Reservations are required and I suggest you do it EARLY in your trip (preferably before you arrive), as they can and will cancel due to rough weather--so you want an opportunity to re-schedule. The drill is fairly simple: drive over to the east side bay, set up your equipment on a small dock and load it into their RIB. During a very slow ride out the bay, the divemaster gives a very extensive briefing on how the dive will go. Exiting the bay through a narrow cut is rough, and then the boat turns towards a reef, another 3-5 minute ride. Backwards roll into the water and drift to follow the divemaster (who has an SMB running at the surface at all times) until the dive is over, around the 52-minute mark. Then swim out to the open ocean, do a safety stop, and an easy re-entry back to the boat (due to some ingenious engineering). Second dive takes you back to the dock to change tanks, surface interval a bit, and then repeat. Although the conditions are challenging, this group has really figured out how to make it easy and safe.
Websites	Bonaire East Coast Diving
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Asia; Carib; Mexico; Hawaii; Red Sea
Closest Airport	BON	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy, surge
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-40 Ft/ 12-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Drift diving time limited to about 55 minutes; stay with divemaster
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
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	[None]

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Mark Magers in CA, US at Feb 27, 2020 00:54 EST

Thanks for submitting this, we spent 4 months on Bonaire last year and did these dives as part of Yellow Submarine Padi turtle conservation class, did not mention it in the 4 month write up. Very good experience people should know about.

By Mark Magers in CA, US at Feb 27, 2020 00:55 EST

By Mark Magers in CA, US at Feb 27, 2020 00:56 EST

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Dive Review of Bonaire East Coast Diving/N/A in Bonaire

Bonaire East Coast Diving/N/A: "Turtles Turtles Turtles and more Turtles", Feb, 2020,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Bonaire East Coast Diving/N/A in
Bonaire