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Dive Review of Buddy Dive Resort in
Bonaire

Buddy Dive Resort: "Loved Shore Diving! Great stay overall.", Apr, 2018,

by Kate, CO, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports). Report 10477.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 5 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments My husband and I spent a week at Buddy Dive. We opted for the shore dive only drive and dive package. It included a one-bedroom unit and a pick-up truck, unlimited tanks for shore diving, plus breakfast. Everything worked well. The breakfast was pretty good but we weren't terribly impressed by lunch or dinner, so we ate in our condo for most of those meals.

First, I would like to thank those who reviews this place before we decided to go. I had concerns about the quality of the diving facilities such as the lockers down by the dock and the boat dives. I decided that we could just carry our gear back and forth each day since we had a unit very close to the dock. We just used a rolling mesh bag to haul it if we were doing in-house shore dives. We also decided not to try any boat dives. The shore dives were so great that I didn't feel like we missed anything by not doing boat dives.

All and all we really loved the independence of shore dives. We got up early and were usually the first ones at some of the more popular spots. We were able to finish two morning dives before most people arrived. We did some afternoon and night dives from the house reef. There was plenty to see there and it was super-easy. Our favorite shore-dive sites were Hilma Hooker, 1000 Steps, Angel City, and Bachelor's Beach. One of our favorite dives overall was watching a blue tang feeding frenzy on the house reef during a twilight dive. We missed the Salt Pier as there was always a ship there or arriving every time we tried to go there.

The facility could do with some updating. The rinse tanks were usually a bit dirty. The drive-though tank pickup always had plenty of Nitrox tanks and we didn't have any tank-related issues. I was a little bit concerned in how easy our door could just pop open even if it were locked. We didn't have any issues with theft though, so that was fortunate. Our rental truck worked just fine. We loved the hooks on the porch to use to hang up wet gear. The staff was polite and helpful.

I would stay here again but might look into other options as well.
Websites Buddy Dive Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 51-100 dives
Where else diving Cozumel, St. Lucia, Cabo, Hawaii, Bahamas, Fiji
Closest Airport BON Getting There Flight on United DEN to BON with stop in IAH
Return flight on Delta BON to DEN with stop in ATL

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy, dry Seas calm, surge
Water Temp 78-80°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Required Marine Park tag, check-out dive, no gloves, no touching anything on the reef.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments The resort had a variety of rental equipment and classes in underwater photography. They let us borrow a charge cable for our Sealife when we realized we left ours at home. Very helpful! Visibility is excellent in Bonaire. There are also some unique photo opportunities such as fluorescent corals. We used our fluro kit and got some neat photos on a night dive.
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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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