Dive Review of Captain Don's Habitat in
Bonaire/Near Downtown

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Captain Don's Habitat: "Captain Don's Resort", Jan, 2018, by Gary N. Ring, GA, US ( 1 report with 3 Helpful votes). Report 10284 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
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	I have been taking one or two dive trips per year for over 20 years and this was by far the worst trip ever. The lodgings, restaurant, and more especially the diving were a great disappointment! My fourth and last trip to Bonaire. My most recent trip before January 2018 was June 2010. What a fall from prominence. The first problem was with Budget Rent a car, which was part of our package. Beyond what we had already payed for we found many exclusions. The back roads and parking areas at the dive sites are unpaved be sure to document any damage you find on your vehicle. On the last day when trying to fill the gas tank we found the fuel door was jammed. The last thing we wanted to do was pay an exorbitant gas fee, the rental could not open the gas door either. After, much haggling and needing to get the airport I ended up paying well over $100 gas fee. American Express after much effort was able to finally get the fee waved. The double room had no hot water in one of the bathrooms, for several days, and there was the smell of urine in the other. There was also the stink or sewage occasionally outside our cottage. At our orientation for a large group we were not even required to register our Certification cards but to merely hold up a card and state what agency it was from. In such a large room I could have held up any kind of card!. Our check out dive was completely unsupervised, and they did not have enough weights in the lower poundage to go around. For several days I had to dive with more weight than I needed. We had 2, 1 tank boat dives each day in our package. The briefing were very brief and gave no real details. One briefing to paraphrase was jump it, see things, return. Dive guide Sherman was poor never pointing out any critters and in one instance missed the boat on the return. Geertje was better pointing out small critters like seahorses, flamingo tongues and shrimp. The macro fauna I remember from prior trips was nonexistent. I checked my log book for past trips for the same sites and had recorded many dives were numerous turtles were spotted on this trip I say only one. The reefs appear to be healthy, but pollution, fishing, and Lionfish which we saw on every dive has decimated the Marine life. We were told that the governmental allows the locals to legally fish with hand-lines within the Marine Park. Every morning at breakfast I would see two fishermen plying their trade right on the resort's home reef. The fishing problem goes beyond this, on a dive to one of the remotest beach sites we saw a couple of locals going in with spear guns. Questioned they replied it was to ward off an aggressive Moray eel. Another time within sight of the cruse ships in port while eating a food truck I saw a boat pull up and immediately 5 or 6 rods appeared and soon had their lines in the water. A third time we observed a large boat trolling wit outriggers out. It is very disturbing when you have to pay $25 to support the park. The Rum Runners Restaurant and bar is under separate management from the dive shop. The breakfast that came with our package was OK but the menu never changed. Best meals of the week. Two food trucks along the shore by the airport. Kite City food truck and Blue Cactus food truck (actually a trailer). Awesome fish sandwiches (mahi mahi, lion fish and Wahoo) and to die for Hamburgers (I’m talking HUGE, HUGE Burgers). Words cannot begin to express my letdown with my whole Bonaire trip[None]
Websites	Captain Don's Habitat
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean Mexico
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	-°F / -°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-50 M / 131-164 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	You were follow dive guide or go on your own. Shore dives were strictly on your own
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	Nones
Dolphins	Nones	Whale Sharks	Nones
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	Nones
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
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

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Dive Review of Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire/Near Downtown

Captain Don's Habitat: "Captain Don's Resort", Jan, 2018,

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 Captain Don's Habitat in
Bonaire/Near Downtown