Dive Review of Buddy Dive in
Bonaire

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Buddy Dive, Jan, 2008, by John, GA, USA ( 2 reports). Report 3821.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Our family group of five stayed at Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire for a week in January 2008. Their slogan is “Eat, Sleep & Dive”, so we’ll report accordingly. EATING: We liked the daily breakfast buffet, which was part of the resort package. There was an assortment of prepared hot and cold items, plus eggs cooked to-order. Lunch at the Pool Bar was convenient and pretty good. We preferred to go into Kralendijk for dinner. Restaurants we liked included City Café, Cactus Blue, Capriccio & Paris Bistro. Pick up a tourist magazine to find out what days different restaurants are closed. Most restaurants where closed from 2 to 5 pm and practically everything was closed on Sunday. You should probably make reservations to get in the most popular places. SLEEPING: We had a 3-bedroom, 3-bath apartment, with living room and kitchen. The unit was showing its age but was comfortable enough. Each bedroom was air-conditioned and had two twin beds pushed together to form a double. There was no air conditioner or ceiling fan in the living room, so it could get stuffy. Sometimes there was not enough hot water. The kitchen was outfitted to prepare and serve meals. Front desk operations seemed to be a weak point. We were not met at the airport as we had arranged, it took a couple days to repair the apartment door lock, and we encountered another guest who found them less than helpful in resolving a lost luggage situation. The resort has wireless internet service, but if you don’t bring a laptop you will need to use an internet café down the road. DIVING: We did about half boat dives and half shore dives. Bottom conditions were similar at all the sites we saw, consisting of a sandy shelf to about 30 feet and then a steep slope to over 100 feet. Reef conditions were very good, with an abundance of corals, invertebrates and the usual fish. We also encountered some seahorses, eagle rays, turtles, eels and tarpon. Dive staff was friendly, capable and helpful. The shop was well-stocked, has rental gear available, provides storage for dive gear and there is also a digital camera center. Boat dive sign-up is a chalk board system. Most trips were less than full, but we were careful to sign-up quickly to make sure we got the trips we wanted. The boats go to sites not accessible from shore. A divemaster goes in the water and leads a loose group, with dives limited to 80 feet and one hour. For shore diving, you are completely on your own, using a vehicle included in the resort package. We had a low-mileage, seven-passenger Mitsubishi van. Smaller groups get a crew-cab pickup and all that we saw appeared near-new, with manual transmissions. There is a convenient drive-thru for dropping off empty tanks and picking up full ones. Take a look at the notebook of air photos of each shore dive site in the dive shop to help plan your shore diving. Most sites are well-marked, but we did encounter another group using a map that had different site numbers than on the markers. OTHER STUFF: We also enjoyed the mangrove snorkel trip and a night at the casino. The cave exploration trip is interesting, but be prepared for some rock climbing, a few fresh water shrimp that bite, and bees.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Florida Keys, Cozumel, Puget Sound
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	76-81°F / 24-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	For boat dives: Maximum depth 80-100 feet. Maximum dive time 1 hour.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
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
Large Pelagics
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

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Dive Review of Buddy Dive in Bonaire

Buddy Dive, Jan, 2008,

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 in
Bonaire