Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in
Bonaire/Bonaire & Klein Bonaire

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Buddy Dive Resort: "Windy, but still good diving", Apr, 2023, by John Morgan, AZ, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 12612.
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	The only reason I went to Bonaire was on account of a brand new underwater camera system I just assembled. It's a Sea & Sea Housing for a Mirrorless Camera. I needed to go somewhere where the diving is easy. Bonaire is a perfect 'break in a new camera' destination. All week the dives were shallow, warm water, and with minimal current. Buddy Dive is the perfect place for my needs. They have a well run dive shop that makes shore and boat diving easy. The nearby dock has steps for diving the nearby house reef, and they also have several dive boats. Our 'Reef Seekers' dive group could easily fit the 15 or so divers we would usually have on the boat. Our usual dive day started at Buddy Dive's excellent restaurant for breakfast. The only problem there was the very aggressive sea birds who would snatch your eggs if you were not vigilant. It got pretty annoying. The sea gulls would make a huge racket as they closely watched you eat your food. Outdoor dining has its disadvantages. After breakfast we had 2 boats dive. Most of the time we went to nearby Klein Bonaire. Klein is only a 10 minute boat trip from the resort and generally had the best diving. The water tended to be clearer at Klein and the fish life a little better. The highlight at Klein Bonaire was the sponge spawning. We just happened to be there at the right time of the year. The reef was be covered in a thick milky haze from all the sponges spewing their stuff. In the afternoon we would either dive the house reef or use our Buddy Dive supplied vehicle to go do a beach dive. If you do only one beach dive in Bonaire, make the Salt Pier your destination. The pier is a wildlife magnet. We had reef squid and tarpon hunting among the pilings. I even watched an eel and grouper do a little western style stand off. The small grouper backed off. The only real negative on the trip was the wind. We had strong winds all week. One of the boat hands told me that was typical for this time of the year (April). The choppy water cut the water clarity down a little bit. It was still a consistent 40 to 60 feet on most dives. The reefs are very healthy and you'll see your share of underwater creatures. We had turtles, reef squid, sea horses and a tiny frogfish. The house reef is good too. There's a sloping wall with sponges, tarpon, and lots of creole wrasse. In summary, Bonaire is a very good place if you want warm easy diving and a short flight from the US. If you're after big creatures like sharks or manta rays, try someplace else.
Websites	Buddy Dive Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	California, Hawaii, Palau, Red Sea, Carribean, Maldives, Cocos, Socorros, Sea Of Cortez, Philipines, Indonesia, Coral Sea
Closest Airport	Kranlendijk	Getting There	Phoenix to Miami to Kranlendijk
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
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	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The only negative for me was the fairly long walk from our room to the dock. We had a 2nd story suite that was at the far end of the resort. Schlepping a heavy housing up and down stairs is a little nerve wracking. Dropping my expensive housing was not in my game plan. Liveaboard diving is definitely better for photographers.

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Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire/Bonaire & Klein Bonaire

Buddy Dive Resort: "Windy, but still good 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/Bonaire & Klein Bonaire