Dive Review of Captain Don's Habitat/Coral Paradise Resort in
Bonaire

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Captain Don's Habitat/Coral Paradise Resort, Mar, 2010, by George Lock Jr, PA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 5420.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Kenny and Margaret at the Coral Paradise Resort run a first class operation, and they are great hosts. The rooms have everything you need for a relaxing, comfortable, and worry-free stay. The resort is kept very clean and is well maintained. Being so closely situated to Captain Don's Habitat gives you the best of both worlds: you get all the benefits of having a restaurant and dive facility within a two-minute walk, while getting the service and attention you can only find in a small resort. The boat dives at Captain Don's Habitat go to great sites. Dives could easily last for an hour. There was little evidence at depths beyond ~ 30 feet of hurricane or storm damage. However, I found the boats too crowded, often with 20 divers. With that many divers, one had to gear up in shifts. There was only a small camera table on the boat, and the camera rinse tank was too small to handle the photographers’ needs. Boats depart at 8:30 and 11:00 AM and return between dives to reload/refill tanks. Afternoon dives depart at 2:00 PM, but if one takes an 11:00 AM dive, there was rarely enough time to get lunch. A crowded boat makes for a longer trip. Most of the boat crews were very helpful and friendly. One incident was relegated to "minor" status because of the vigilance of the boat captain. Nitrox is available, but probably not necessary for most. The dive packages all include unlimited shore dives. The shore dive at the dive shop is a good one with a lot of fish and macro subjects. The island has many good shore dive sites, but one needs a rental vehicle (abundantly available) to access them. Rum Runners, the restaurant at Habitat had a good buffet breakfast and good lunches, with friendly and efficient waiters. However, dinners at Rum Runners took a long time, and the service was incredibly slow. Our group tried several restaurants in the nearby vicinity and were quite pleased with Richard’s, Mona Lisa, Chibi Chibi (at the Divi Flamingo resort), and It Rains Fishes. Again, a vehicle is necessary to get to these restaurants. The petty crime frequently reported on Bonaire does affect the way one behaves. Everything must be locked up. Nothing can be left in unattended vehicles. So, all of your dive and photo gear must be locked up. While that doesn’t sound so bad, it necessitates a lot more hauling around, from dive lockers and rooms to and from the boats. Contrast that with Little Cayman, where one can leave gear hanging in the open, and cameras soaking in unattended rinse tanks right at the dock, with no fear of problems. Why the local community and businesses allow this problem to persist on Bonaire is a mystery, because it does affect the logistics and ease of diving.
Websites	Captain Don's Habitat Coral Paradise Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Roatan, Belize, Palau, North Atlantic
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	80-81°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Maximum depths were recommended but not limited.
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	Camaras were handled well by the boat crews. Camera tanks on the boats and at the dive shop were usually inadequate in size for the demand.

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Dive Review of Captain Don's Habitat/Coral Paradise Resort in Bonaire

Captain Don's Habitat/Coral Paradise Resort, Mar, 2010,

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/Coral Paradise Resort in
Bonaire