Dive Review of Dive Friends Bonaire/Hamlet Oasis in
Bonaire

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Dive Friends Bonaire/Hamlet Oasis: "First Timers in Bonaire", Jan, 2019, by Lindsay Krauss, ON, CA ( 1 report). Report 11013.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	After doing some research on diving conditions in Bonaire, our group of four decided to take a Shore Diving course at the DFB Sand Dollar location to familiarize ourselves with diving conditions on the island. As divers with 75-100 dives each (but largely dives under the supervision of a DM), we wanted to ensure that we could dive safely around the island. We highly recommend the course! It provided us our bearings to become shore divers at the start of our week long stay in Bonaire. We dived with confidence (and freedom!) for the entire week. We were very impressed with the entire DFB operation throughout Bonaire - at each location we visited (Sand Dollar, Hamlet Oasis and Port Bonaire), we were able to quickly and efficiently exchange our tanks and rinse our gear (and ourselves). We also really appreciated the use of the lockers for gear storage at the Port Bonaire location while we made a pit stop for a lunch break in Lac Bay. The DFB operation is well thought out with divers' needs in mind. By the end of the week, between the four of us, we could exchange our tanks for new ones in under eight minutes and be on our way to the next dive site. That nitrox is available throughout the DFB locations is a definite plus. We would use DFB again in a heartbeat. On to the diving: the wind was up on the west side of the island during our trip, making exits a bit tricky, so we spend a lot of our time at the south end where the chop was noticeably less. The corals formations (including staghorn and elkhorn corals) around the island are in excellent shape. Fish life is pretty abundant also, although the large tarpons that swarmed us during our night dive were unwelcomed (even with good lighting practices). Turtles were everywhere, so conservation efforts appear to be working. Most memorable dive sites include the rolling corals of Karpata (although the exit was tricky in the choppy conditions), the fun jump off at Oil Slick Leap, drifting from Andrea II, gorgeous coral formations at Alice in Wonderland and Angel City, Salt Pier (turtles, huge barracuda, tarpon). Only a week long stay on the island and there is so much that we have yet to see. We will be back.
Websites	Dive Friends Bonaire
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Tobermorey (ON), Cozumel, Jamaica, Victoria (BC)
Closest Airport	BON	Getting There	Direct from Toronto on Sunwing
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	-°F / -°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	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]

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Dive Review of Dive Friends Bonaire/Hamlet Oasis in Bonaire

Dive Friends Bonaire/Hamlet Oasis: "First Timers in Bonaire", Jan, 2019,

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 Dive Friends Bonaire/Hamlet Oasis in
Bonaire