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Dive Review of Captain Don's Habitat in
Bonaire

Captain Don's Habitat: "Relaxing Diving", Oct, 2022,

by Patrick Lynch, GA, US ( 2 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 12179.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

Improvised repair to small dock

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling 4 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The resort was comfortable and the diving was good. Nitrox was included at no charge for the boat dives and now also includes Nitrox tanks for the shore dives at no charge. There are 3 boat dives per day leaving at 8:30, 11:00 and 2pm. A signup board reserves your spot the boats and indicate if you require a nitrox tank. The board indicates what the schedule dive site for each boat. There were many dives which didn't go to the schedule site due to other boats on the mooring or weather conditions but that didn't result in disappointment for me. The sites were all consistently good. Many of the dive sites we visited were on Klein Bonaire, all very good. Nitrox fills were a consistent 32%. Boat dives leave from a large dock. Tanks are loaded based on number of divers on the dive. If you chose the same boat for subsequent dives during the day leave your gear on the boat and just disconnect your regulator from the tank valve. It is filled by the staff from a whip between dives (very convenient). The House reef is healthy and very easy to navigate. Snorkeling and house reef diving is done from a separate smaller dock with 2 benches for final gear adjustments and donning fins. This smaller dock had 2 sets of stairs for entry if you chose and for easy exit with gear. During the week a storm which created significant shore wave action destroyed a large portion of this smaller dock and rendered it unsafe to use for the remainder of the day. The staff worked tirelessly to repair enough portions of the dock and replace the destroyed stairs to allow snorkeling and house reef diving by the next day. The sea life was plentiful. We saw several Green Sea Turtles, many Large Tarpon, a few seahorse, one octopus, many filefish, trunkfish, sharp-nose and larger porcupine puffers, banded coral shrimp, lots of angels, creole wrasse and spotted drum to name a few.

The locker area is convenient but could do with improvements. If don't get your lock on an upper locker early you are stuck with a lower level one and your will have the upper locker dripping into it constantly. There are 4 large rinse tanks , each with a faucet for use when necessary. The get pretty murky by the time the 3rd boat dive people are looking for a clean tank to use. Tank fills were alway generous both on the boat and at the distribution areas for house reef and shore diving.

There was significant construction of new buildings and a pool in progress. I hope they do some upgrades to the locker area to support the larger expected clientele.

The restaurant was good but the menu did not change so we ate off site every other day.

Things to do before you go to Bonaire (easily accessible from their website)- Pay the visitors Tax and pay for the Marine Park annual pass. Have the QR codes available.
Websites Captain Don's Habitat   [same]

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving All over the Caribbean, Key Largo, Socorro, Cozumel, Raja Ampat Indonesia, Maui, Kona, Sea of Cortez, Roatan
Closest Airport Getting There Direct flight from ATL. No problems.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No specific restrictions. Requested to limit dive times to less than 70 mins so other divers could get lunch before the afternoon boat.
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 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Large bucket on boat for cameras and separate bucket for masks. Can't speak to camera bucket but the mask bucket had lots of sand in it on one 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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